Dave Wilcox, President, IOTC
Fun, social and competitive play leads us up to the fall tennis season which began with the annual July 4th Pancake Breakfast Social and was enjoyed by 66 sun-loving folks, 44 desiring to play and 22 more enjoying the social environment and the great pancake breakfast prepared by Carol Mellinger and served by Betty Sanders and Jeri Schultz. Eleven tennis courts were used, including our courts in Ironwood.
In the immediate future, Co-Play Directors Mike Davin and Dar Brasch, with food and beverage volunteers, are focused on plans for the October 14 welcome back social play event. This event is open to all neighboring Robson communities (Cottonwood/Palo Verde, SunBird, Sun Lakes 1) allowing for a wonderful time to reconnect with our returning snowbirds and our neighbors. Put this on your schedule and use the signup sheets when posted on the IOTC bulletin board and the neighboring Robson communities as well.
Current and new IronOaks homeowners interested in knowing more about our tennis community might find this event a fun and casual environment to meet some of our active tennis players of all skill levels and enjoy watching the play.
Our Tennis Club is funded separately. Our dues to schedule tennis play during the primetime with Chelsea are not included in our Tennis Club budget; we organize fundraisers to help supplement expenses of our play/social events. The annual IronOaks Homeowners Garage Sale, November 4, 2017, provides us with a great opportunity to “recycle” useful items we no longer need or use. Norb Guimond is currently looking for a lead to make this another successful fundraiser. Consider joining our “heavy lifter” volunteers. Let him know you are interested!
Not to limit ourselves to social events, we look forward to the December 4-7 IronOaks Mixed Doubles Tournament. Those interested, please put this in your schedule. The co-play directors do a great job of assuring competitive matches.
It should be noted that beyond these club-led initiatives, we have an active group of players leading social and competitive play at all levels. For example, our men and women members are involved in highly-competitive play involving USTA play and other venues of play throughout the Valley. Other individuals have taken the leadership to organize daily play for our members. As examples, Herb Lienenbrugger organizes play for 3.0 players, Thom Tschetter (with current assistance of Dave Anciaux) schedules M-W-F morning play for 3.5 men’s, Rick Kenny organizes Tuesday–Thursday evenings for 3.5 level play and Marie Boyes, Carmella Davin, Joan Anderson and Vivian Guimond organize groups of women from 3.0 to 4.0 for daily morning play – just a sample of the action in the club.
So, a fun start of the year and with the planning and involvement of our volunteers, lots of social and competitive play opportunities are guaranteed. Those interested in joining this active group, please contact Pam Barker, Director of Fitness and Health Services, at [email protected] or Tennis Club President Dave Wilcox at [email protected].