Penny Petersen

Cottonwood Tennis Club has many activities: daily play, league play, open play time, social events with other clubs and tournaments. A tournament is a multi-day competitive matching to determine the top three teams in each ability level. Members who wish to compete sign up with a partner. Only CTC members are eligible to participate. There are four to five categories of play based on ability level in each tournament. Teams normally play two to three matches; then the teams with the most wins go into a run off. The Men’s and Women’s Doubles and the Mixed Doubles Tournaments are the two largest.

There are also “Socials.” Those are normally one-day events held on a Saturday, and play is with teams from other tennis clubs. Socials are designed for good tennis, but as the name implies, they are tennis-social events. Certainly, there is competition, but the purpose is to get to know members of other clubs. Players sign up to participate in each “Social” whether it is held here or at the location of the other club. Then, the tournament director of CTC meets with the tournament director of the other club, such as Palm Creek, Trilogy, Sun Lakes CC or SunBird CC. Together, they set up matches. By having the two directors meet and set up the matches, it encourages good play. Often people make new friends.

The three most recent “Socials” in which CTC played were against players from Trilogy, Palm Creek and Sun Lakes Tennis Club. For example, at Sun Lakes CC, 18 Cottonwood teams outscored the Sun Lakes Tennis Club teams 22 points to 14 points. The Director for Sun Lakes Tennis, Rick Kendall, managed that Social. When Cottonwood hosted Trilogy on March 2, the results were Trilogy 29 points, CTC 21 points. Jerry Higgins, Adriana Michael, Nadine Sutter and Suzie Dunn were event coordinators.

“Socials” have the added advantage of lunch. The host club always serves lunch and often earlier snacks. CTC usually plays each of the other clubs twice in a season, once in Cottonwood and once at the location of the other club.

In addition to Tournaments and Socials, CTC offers free tennis lessons on M and T evenings, several dinners and parties scattered throughout the season and a favorite Social, the Canada vs. America Social, which includes singing of both National Anthems and a parade of participants led by a “mascot.”

For information about membership in CTC, contact Barb Jorgensen at
[email protected].