LCCTA Partners with Beach Tennis USA on Fort Myers Beach
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| Mike Stevens & T. A. Photo by Steph |
Finally an event I can play without worrying about how well I do! Of course as a competitor I always want
to do well, but if I don’t, I won’t be too concerned about it. I’m entered in
Fun Men’s Singles and Fun Mixed Doubles. Sure sounds like “fun” to me…Steph and
I tried it out on the beach the other day with Mike Curran, Frank Fourgeau,
Sergio Rebolledo, Mike Stevens and their wives. It was a blast, and I know we’re
all looking forward to this weekend!
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| Frank Fourgeau & Mike Curran Photo by Steph |
Listen, there are so many divisions
you can’t help but find a division for you. If you like to have a good time on
the beach, Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles as well as Mixed Doubles, from
Pro to Fun are available. Click
here to check out details of some of the events and click here
to register; today is the last day to enter.
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| How about that form! Photo by Steph |
Oh, one last thing, you that the
Lee County Community Tennis Association (LCCTA) contributes a ton to this
tennis community right? Well, your participation in the Beach Tennis (now being
called “All Volley Tennis”) might just result in a charitable contribution to
the LCCTA as it is a charitable partner for the event.
Three Oaks Opportunities
Speaking of the LCCTA, one its
member sites, the Barbara Manzo Tennis Center at Three Oaks Park, is hosting a
tournament series that is ongoing, with one more weekend in April (27-28) and
two in May (11-12, 18-19). The events offer competitive divisions for both
adults and juniors.
For the adults, the divisions
include men’s and women’s singles from 2.5 through 4.5 ratings, doubles for men
and women, as well as mixed, from 5.0 through 9.0 combo ratings. Essentially,
if you want to compete, there’s a place for you in the Three Oaks Spring Smash
Series. Prizes are awarded to first, second and third place finishers in all
divisions and first round consolation draws will be provided.
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| Future Tennis Star at 3-Oaks |
The Spring Smash Series offers a
variety of opportunities for the juniors as well. Divisions for the kids
include singles and doubles in10 and under through 16 and under divisions. You
can check out Three Oaks Tennis
at the LCCTA website or go directly to the Three Oaks Tennis website. You can
also email Angie Guillette at angie@threeoakstennis.com.
A-Sun Championship for FGCU Men’s Tennis
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| Eagles crowd at USC match |
After splitting their final two home matches against University of South Carolina Upstate (USC) and East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Florida Gulf Coast University
Men’s Tennis Eagles went 1-2 to finish up the regular season and their
conference schedule, losing two 3-4 heart-breakers to University of North
Florida (UNF), No.66 in the country, and Stetson University, which finished No.3 in the
Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun).
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| Former Eagle Mitchell Lvovsky & Coach Weber's dad Mel in the crowd |
The Eagles .500 conference record earned them
a fourth-seed in the upcoming A-Sun Championship (click here for tournament info and results) to be held in Johnson City, Tennessee
this weekend (19 – 21). As it was last year, the tournament amounts to a "home match" for defending champion ETSU, who was seeded No.1 in last year's event, and toppled second-seeded UNF in a close 4-3 battle.
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| Coach Weber flanked by Collin Brown & Jackson Moore, graduating seniors |
In the first round of the
tournament, our fourth-seeded guys in green and blue will take on fifth-seeded USC, a team from which they took a tough victory on March 28 at home. In
that match, Jackson Moore and Lance Lvovsky had to pull out three-set singles matches
to claim victory and the doubles matches were hotly contested as well. The
match promises to be a closer one on a neutral site, given FGCU's 3-6 record on the road.
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| Lance Lvovsky & Tianyu Bao vs. ETSU |
If our guys take the first match, they will meet the top-seeded UNF, which finished undefeated in A-Sun dual match play. UNF squeaked by your FGCU by a 4-3 score and posted the same against ETSU. Your basketball Eagles made some noise in the their tourney, and I'm looking for the tennis Eagles to do the same.
Amazing Madisen’s
Match
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| Madisen in Uncle Duane's arms with celebrity pros, Paul D'Amico & Kim Jones Photo by Gale Van Rossem |
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| 2013 Madisen's Cup crowd |
The event is fast becoming a “must attend” activity for
members of our tennis community. In addition to the fund-raising dinner on
Friday, which, again according to Duane, “…raised
enough money to purchase 3 Vecta
Distraction Stations at a cost of $6,000 each which will be placed in the
Children’s Hospital,” the Tennis Celebrity Clinic, Pro-Am and exhibitions on
Saturday were well attended.
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| Joel Hampton- Doesn't get any better |
New to the event this year was
Madisen’s Cup, a mini, prize money tournament involving some of the top USPTA
Pro Leaguers…and me (hey, sometimes carrying a camera works to your benefit).
Anyway, it was a fun competition, with the winners walking away with a tidy
little sum (only the IRS has to know…well, I suppose wives too).
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| Paul D'Amico- Director of Tennis Photo by Gale Van Rossem |
Quarterfinals
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| Elliot Debolt & Scott Harrington Madisen's Cup |
Owens/Rager def. D’Amico/Barnes 6-0, 6-3
Andreae/Encalada def. Katterfield/Hampton 6-4, 6-3
Harrington/Debolt def. Diggs/Niles 6-3, 6-2
Fourgeau/Jerome def. Rebolledo/Maloney 6-4, 6-4
Semi-Finals
Owens/Rager def. Fourgeau/Jerome 6-3, 6-1
Harrington/Debolt def. Andreae/Encalada 7-5, 6-3
Finals
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| Tyler Owens & Denny Rager, Madisen's Cup Champions |
Owens/Rager def. Harrington/Debolt 7-6, 6-2
In giving his assessment of the
new event, Paul noted, “I believe that the addition of this event
brought some excitement to the overall event. And it is something that we can
build on for next year.” Paul went on to thank the sponsors of the entire
event, which included
numerous local businesses (click here for all sponsors),
but in addition to the Host Sponsor, The Landings Yacht, Golf & Tennis
Club, the Grand Slam Sponsors included Lee County Reprographics, Vein Specialists,
McCulloch Sports Consultants (MSC). I suspect Madisen’s Match will be even
bigger next year.
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| Madisen & Kerry Kendrick |
Area Leagues
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| Hideaway Copper Team at Banquet |
Other than USTA leagues (which
are available year round), our various area leagues, have wrapped up for the
season. All of the leagues, Lee County Women’s Tennis League (LCWTL), SCAT, BonEro,
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| Breckenridge Copper Team at Banquet |
Lee County Men (50 & 70-plus), Southwest Florida Team Tennis (SWFTT), and Ultimate
Tennis seemed to have successful 2012-2013 seasons. I’m looking to have my
League Round Up done by month’s end if not before.
After attending a few LCWTL
banquets and our USPTA District 14 Meeting, there may be some new developments
on the horizon for our most populous league. Stay tuned for discussions about
those as well.
Well, I've got to get this out so that anyone who didn't know about the Beach Tennis deadline can register, so I'll be back with you within the next couple of days. This should be a busy rest of the month for the blog. Don't forget to let me know if you want out. Game, set, match...T. A.
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