Somerset/Swansea Tennis Association: My Site News

Monday, February 7
FRCTA party to benefit youth tennis foundation April 2 at Dartmouth Indoor

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- The Fall River Community Tennis Association will kick off its fifth year with its first Indoor Tennis Party, with proceeds benefiting its nonprofit Fall River Tennis & Education Foundation.

    The tennis party will take place on Saturday night, April 2, from 5-11 p.m. at the Dartmouth Indoor Tennis Club, Rte. 6, North Dartmouth. The party will feature coed round-robin doubles play, with skill levels taken into consideration, throughout the evening. 
    Players do not need to sign up with a partner in order to participate. The cost of the party, including court time, pizza and soft drinks is $25 per person. Junior players should sign up for the first three hours (5-8 p.m.), with the final three hours (8-11) reserved for adults. There will be prizes and a raffle.

    "We thought a party was a great way to kick off a new season," said Jeff Chace, FRCTA's president. "It should be a lot of fun. It gives us the opportunity to renew acquaintances with familiar faces, meet new players, introduce our programs for the upcoming year and to raise needed funds for our Fall River Tennis & Education Foundation program."

    The youth tennis foundation supports FRCTA's Junior Development Program, Quick Start Tennis kids program and provided scholarships for the USTA Jr. Team Tennis programs. It helps to provide low-cost and no-cost tennis programs for the city's youth, and also to youngsters from surrounding communities.

    "We are providing introductory and development tennis programs for a lot of young people that otherwise would never have the opportunity to play," said Chace. "Another of our ongoing efforts is to get quality tennis programming into the Fall River School System's physical education classes. We have already sponsored a USTA Schools Program workshop at Durfee High School." 

    FRCTA's Jr. Team Tennis 18 & Under Advanced Team, coached by Peter Holt, reached the semifinals of the USTA Rhode Island/Southeastern Mass. League regional playoffs, its best-ever finish. The 18 & Under Intermediate Team, coached by Chace, finished second in the USTA Southeastern Mass. League, also its best ever finish.

     The summer Jr. Development Program attracted nearly 30 particpants and the Quick Start program featured players ages 6 to 10.

    FRCTA will once again be hosting the Leo Strickman Memorial Cup team competition in June at the Fetherdic Tennis Club and the Stop & Shop Fall River Open in August at Durfee. A new addition this summer will be a Doubles League. Clinics and USTA courses are also on the schedule.

To sign up for the Tennis Party, or for additional information, please telephone FRCTA at 508-801-5761.

Participants may also sign up online at www.dartmouthindoortennis.net by scrolling to FRCTA fund raiser on the left.


Tuesday, March 30
2010 US OPEN BUS TRIP - Wednesday, September 1 (3 Buses waiting for you!)

Tuesday, March 30
Congratulations to all members of Team #2 - Breakers on an impressive season.

 

1 - Tim Correia
2 - Steve Kaufman
3 - Frank Prevost
4 - Mike Demoranville
5 - Nicole Pelletier
6 - Tony Martins
7 - Sheryl Langfield
8 - Brian Vautrin

Team 2 defeated Team 3 by a score of 6-1 in the finals.  Team 2's combined 42-9 team record for both the regular season and playoffs has to be one of the more dominating performances this league has ever seen.

 Be sure to check back in the winter for 2010 registration information.

Playoff Standings



Friday, October 30
Emerson Women's Tennis Closes Most Successful Season with Tough Loss - Kayleigh Holt

Kayleigh Holt '10
 
The Emerson College women's tennis team closed its 2009 season with a 6–3 record, having the best winning percentage (.667) in the history of the program at Emerson. Three team members were also honored by the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

The Emerson women's season ended in a heartbreaking 5–4 loss to the Suffolk University Rams in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament semifinals at the Winchester Indoor Lawn and Tennis Club. The loss to the Rams was the second time this season Emerson dropped a one-point decision to its neighborhood rivals.

Chrissy Laboissonniere '10 (Pawtucket, RI) was a double winner for Emerson in the match, combining with Kailey Smith '11 (Madison, ME) to rally from three games down to take the second doubles point by an 8–5 score, then dispatching her Suffolk opponent in straight sets at number three singles 6–4, 6–2.

"After her match I told Chrissy how well I thought she had played," Emerson coach Mason Astley said. "She told me that she realized they might be the last matches of her college career and that she was not going to lose them."

Gina Varamo '13 (Washington, NJ) also helped the Lions win two points, teaming with Eliza Hamilton '13 (Bethesda, MD) to take a nail-biting 9–7 decision at third doubles. Varamo then rallied from a set down to defeat Chloe Oldfather 4–6, 6–2, 6–0 and tie the match at 4–4.

A large and loud Emerson crowd tried to will Emerson's best player ever to victory, but Kayleigh Holt '10 (Somerset, MA) tired in the third set after rallying to take the second set in a tiebreaker at number one singles. The win for Suffolk's number one player, Alex Hernandez, gave the Rams the match.

Holt was the number one singles and doubles player on the women's tennis team since the day she arrived at Emerson. For the third time in her career, she has been named a Great Northeast Athletic Conference All-Conference first team selection. Holt compiled a 30–13 (.698 winning percentage) career singles record and a 30–12 (.714 winning percentage) doubles record over the course of her career.

Astley was selected as the Coach of the Year by his colleagues in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. Emerson's second-year mentor has compiled an 11–8 record with the women and led the team to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament semifinals each of the past two years.

Erika West '12 (Trainer, PA) was chosen by her teammates as the Emerson representative to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Sportsmanship team.



Tuesday, September 1
White does not feel track has been given equal attention
August 26, 2009
By GEORGE AUSTIN - Editor, The Spectator

SOMERSET — School Committee member Elizabeth White said last week that she was glad to see repairs being made to tennis courts that are in poor condition, but said that it is also disheartening to her that the same level of attention is not being paid to the track at Somerset High School.

"I feel that the track continues to be overlooked," Ms. White said. "I just feel that little energy, effort and attention has been put on the track and it's sorely needed."

Ms. White said the problems of that athletic facility go back in time longer than the problems at the tennis courts. Track coaches and other members of the community have complained for several years about the cracks, depressions and hardness of the track that they feel could compromise the safety of athletes and cause injuries.

Somerset Public Schools Business Manager James Kiely said the track is in need of repairs or replacement. He said the School Department would have done similar repairs on the track as it did on the tennis courts if that was possible, but said a consultant said that it would not be effective.

"There's no small fix to the track," Mr. Kiely said. "From what I understand, the track needs to be replaced."

Mr. Kiely also said if a new high school is built, it could be constructed in the area of where the track is located now. Ms. White said that issue is a political football. She said town meeting voters approved of funding several years ago to build a new track but the project was never carried through by the School Department. Mr. Kiely noted that the bids to build a new track at that time came in higher than the amount of money appropriated and so the School Department decided not to go ahead with the project. School Superintendent Richard Medeiros said that potential fixes for the track have been looked at, but said there is not any quick fix. He said if the School Department decided to build a new track at this time and then there was a decision to construct a new high school on the site later, a facility that cost several hundred thousand dollars may have to be torn up. Ms. White said that same issue was brought up eight years ago.

Ms. White said the driveway sealer that has been used in recent years to fill in holes at the track does not even last a month. She said better materials were used for repairs at the tennis courts this summer. Mr. Kiely said he considers the repairs that were done at the tennis courts this summer to be small. The cost for those repairs was $10,000 while he said new tennis courts would cost $300,000. Humps in the tennis courts were cut out this month and cracks filled in during what Mr. Kiely said were more extensive repairs than were done in the past in the hopes that it would be more of a long term fix.

Mr. Kiely said repairs have been done annually to the track and tennis courts in recent years, but they have not been enough to keep them in good condition for athletic competition.

Ms. White said she is frustrated and disappointed that the problems at the track have not been addressed properly.

School Committee member Victor Machado said the committee should not wait for the Massachusetts School Building Authority to approve funding before pursuing new tennis courts, a new track and new bleachers for the football field. There was also no funding put into this year's budget to buy bleachers for Hanson Memorial Field for the upcoming football season. At a meeting at Somerset High School in March, MSBA Executive Director Katherine Craven said the state agency would only pay for "simple fields" when it comes to athletic facilities at schools. Mr. Machado said he does not want to hear that a student/athlete broke his ankle in competition because of the poor condition of the track and doesn't want to be a School Committee member who has to decide to close the track because it is in poor condition. He said he sees members of the community using the track.

The Somerset High School track used to be used for the Eastern Athletic Conference Relays every year, but that event is no longer held in town because of the poor condition of the track.

 


Tuesday, November 24
A Farewell to Harold "Banny" R. Bannister
Monday, June 29
Somerset's Craig Hall wins South Coast Open Men's Singles title in Fairhaven



 2008 STRICKMAN CUP WINNERS:

2008 STRICKMAN CUP WINNERS: The Somerset-Swansea Tennis Association captured the inaugural Strickman Cup team competition, beating out five other teams at the Fetherdic Tennis Club in Fall River. Pictured: (front) Kayleigh Holt, Craig Hall, captain Rick Dubois and Carlos Alves. (Rear) SSTA president Peter Holt, Mike Machado, Ben Holt, Keith Dubois and Aaron Silvia.



08 SSTA Strickman

SSTA captures 2008 inaugural Strickman Cup
Wednesday, March 11
2009 USTA Rhode Island /SE Mass. Jr Team Tennis Summer League

Dates:             July 3 – August 11
Ages:               14 & Under and 18 & Under 
Deadline:        June 6 to register your team
Fee:                 $ per team.
All players must be USTA Junior Members.

The deadline for teams to commit to play in the 2008 USTA Rhode Island Junior Team Tennis League is Saturday, June 6th. The league is open to public and private clubs, recreation departments and any other organized teams in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.

The League has two Advanced or Open Divisions – 14 & under  and 18 & under and two  Intermediate Divisions – 14 & under  and 18 & under
The league will run from July 3 to August 11, with the State Championship.  
State champions will advance to the USTA New England Junior Team Tennis Championships to be held August 18-19 in Springfield, Mass., with the New England champions advancing to the National Championships in Mobile, AL later in the fall.

League matches are scheduled on Fridays from 1-3 p.m, and two Wednesdays in July.
   Fri, July 3        Fri, July 10      Wed, July 15      Fri, July 17     Fri, July 24            Wed,  July 29          Fri, July 31      Fri, Aug 7
                
The State Championship tournament has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 11 at Slater Memorial Park in Pawtucket (8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.).
The rain location will be Centre Court in Riverside, RI.

The structure of play is the USTA Junior Team Tennis format :
1 Boys Singles                                               1 Boys Doubles
1 Girls Singles                                               1 Girls Doubles
1 Mixed Doubles

A minimum of 4 boys and 4 girls are needed per match.  There is a fee per team to play in the league and every team and player must be registered on Tennis Link at the USTA’s web site.  All teams will play home and away matches.  Private clubs may schedule their matches at outside facilities, if they choose. There is no per match fee for visiting teams.

The USTA Rhode Island Junior Team Tennis League is operated by the South County Community Tennis Association.   An organization league meeting will be scheduled for entered teams before play begins.
WHO CAN ENTER TEAMS?
Parks & Recreation Departments, Public Clubs, Private Clubs, Community Tennis Associations, schools and educational associations, parents; basically anyone that can get a team together and secure a facility to host home matches. Parents are particularly encouraged to get involved, and local public and school facilities are often available by securing a permit from municipal agencies for use during scheduled home matches (often at little or no cost if local children are involved).
  
For additional information, or anyone interested in having a team in the league should contact:  Sandy Sweet at 401-932-9345, e-mail: sccta@aol.com.