January 6, 2018
Dear TTA Friends,
Happy New Year! We would like to thank you for your support of the Tuscaloosa Tennis Association and the game of tennis in the Tuscaloosa area. Through your membership in TTA and participation in adult and junior leagues, both TTA and USTA sponsored, our organization continues to grow and expand tennis opportunities for all levels of play. You are currently a TTA member until January 31, 2019. Your TTA Board thanks each of you for your support.
2017 was an active and successful year for TTA. We kicked off the year with our annual meeting, Meet, Greet and Eat (MGE), at Band of Brothers. We reviewed our 2016 activities, 2017 plans, congratulated our USTA state champions and introduced the Alabama Tennis Teams. Our 2018 MGE will be held on January 30th at Band of Brothers from 6 – 8 pm. We hope to see you there.
We held the first annual Emily Baker Women’s Classic in March with 88 participants and over 30 patrons. With the proceeds of the tournament we established the Emily Baker Scholarship and Youth Tennis Fund. In the spring we were in 3 elementary schools teaching 95 children to play tennis using USTA’s Rocket Tennis program. In the fall we partnered with PARA and USTA’s newest youth programming Net Generation and taught 590 children in 6 elementary schools how to play tennis. We could not have done this without your support of the Emily Baker Women’s Classic. We are currently in discussions with the City Board of Education to expand this program to all city elementary schools.
We applied for and received two grants to offer Apprentice Tennis for Wheelchair players. Evan Enquist, the Head Coach of the Alabama Wheelchair team taught the classes. The individuals that complete this program are given a one year USTA membership and a TTA membership.
We offered a week long low cost tennis summer camp. It is offered through the YMCA in the lower income area of Tuscaloosa, to PARA (Parks and Recreation) and to the public. There is no cost to the YMCA, PARA pays $5 per child and we charge $15 for the week for one session and $25 if the child attends both sessions. We had 55 children in the program this summer.
We also sponsored, advertised, provided volunteers and a meal for the IFT Alabama Open Wheelchair Tournament held August 18-20th.
We were a Gold sponsor for the Spring Swing Tournament in April. This is an up / down tournament hosted by the University of Alabama club team to help fund their travel costs.
We were sponsors in several charity tournaments and events including DCH Breast Cancer, Keith’s Classic, Northridge High School, County High and participated in Tuscaloosa’s Tinsel Trail.
We were approached in early summer by Dr. Cynthia Warrick, the President of Stillman College to help them open their courts to the community. In July 2017 we started having Monday night open tennis at Stillman and invited friends of Stillman, faculty, and TTA members. In our first session we had 55 people attend and had 3-5 courts each week. This ran through the first of November. We will start again this spring. This has been a great opportunity to get new players on the courts.
We continued to support the Alabama Tennis teams. We had a TTA Day for both a men’s and women’s match in the spring. TTA members were invited to the matches and dinner was provided. This past fall there was a TTA Play Day where TTA members were invited to play on the courts with Alabama coaches and players. We also organized and marched with the tennis teams in Alabama’s Homecoming Parade.
We ended 2017 with a member appreciation mixer at CCT.
2018 1st Quarter Activities
The first TTA Play Day in 2018 will be on January 12th from 6 – 8 pm at the indoor University of Alabama varsity courts. Please join us. All ages and levels are welcome!
In accordance with the Bylaws Article VI, Section 5, the annual meeting of TTA (MGE) will be held Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at Band of Brothers from 6 – 8 pm. All members are welcome and encouraged to attend.
The Emily Baker Women’s Classic will be held February 22nd – 24th at CCT. You can register at www.tuscaloosatennis.com/tournaments. We have enclosed a Patron form if you are interested in becoming an EBWC Patron.
We are pleased to announce TTA was awarded USTA Southern’s Member Organization award for 2017. This award is given to the USTA organization that best exemplifies service to the community, service to its members through junior and adult programs and service to the game of tennis. We will receive our award on January 20th in Atlanta.
We will start an adult tennis ladder in January. To learn more visit www.tuscaloosatennis.com.
We are looking for individuals to volunteer to serve on our committees and help at our events. Please contact us at Tuscaloosa.tennis.assoc@gmail.com if you are interested in helping us in 2018.
We have had exciting growth in tennis in 2017 and with your support through TTA membership and participation, we look forward to continued growth this next year. Thank you again for your support and help in growing tennis opportunities in Tuscaloosa.
See you on the courts and Let’s Go Play!
Sincerely,
Kathryn Hornsby
President