Barb Jorgensen Five separate Valley of the Sun teams came together to form one USTA 65+ team. The team also consists of half Cottonwood Tennis Club members and half IronOaks Tennis Club members—quite the collaboration of otherwise opposing teams. This team has won USTA Sectionals and played in the Nationals, representing the USTA Southwest Division.…
On April 20 the IronOaks tennis courts featured something new—Masters Tennis. IronOaks Tennis Club member Tony Simonelli introduced spectators to Masters Tennis (also known as Senior Tennis) and gave everyone a chance to participate. This fun and easy-on-your-body game is played with a standard tennis racquet on a smaller tennis court with a slower ball.…
Penny Petersen Paul Jorgensen rejoined Cottonwood Tennis Club (CTC) recently. He’s really a golf fanatic but joined CTC as a form of exercise after knee replacement surgery. He and his wife Barb Jorgensen never play together. His sport is golf. Hers is obviously tennis. He plays golf four times a week. He loves golf. Barb…
Penny Petersen Short-court tennis is played on a standard tennis court using a standard net. The singles lines are used, making it narrower. The service line is used as the baseline, thus the title “short-court.” A low compression tennis ball is used, which is exactly what juniors use when learning tennis. A special tennis racket…
Penny Petersen The two-day tennis tournament between Canada and the USA, Can-Am, provided good competition and lots of fun eating and drinking, and the surprise was that the USA won by one point. As Sylvia Page said, “The U.S. squeaked by with a one-point victory, setting up a rematch for next year.” Special thanks go…
This year, the 2024 Jason Morton Tennis Classic of the top doubles team of Coach Kwong (IronOaks tennis pro and Cottonwood resident) and USTA Southwest Director of Adult Competition Matt Gleason were in top form when they ran an incredible 280 entries for this four-day prize money event, with lots of hungry talents. This is…
Neighbors Who Care: ‘Keeping Company’—Respite Care Is Simply Visiting with a Neighbor Remember the days when the crickets were chirping outside and the kids were scrambling to collect fireflies in jars and sitting on the porch keeping company with the neighbors? Shooting the breeze was the way we kept in touch before we scrolled through…
Kwong Young One of the toughest shots a player can display is referred to as a “Tweenie” or a “Tweener.” In this shot, they are chasing down a deep lob that’s heading toward the baseline and swing their racket between their legs, returning the ball to their opponent. A few players, when serving, will trick…
Tournament Director Matt Gleason (USTA Southwest) and IronOaks tennis pro, Coach Kwong, hope to attract top-level players from all over the Southwest and beyond for this prize-money competition. There will be plenty of great volleys and tactics from both singles and doubles play, but in the end, no matter the outcome, the genuine handshake and…
Carole Rockland Jim and Clint Bowles recently won the USTA Senior Father/Son National Clay Court Tennis Championship in Sarasota, Fla. It was the second gold ball in a row for the father/son duo who defended their title from last year. Jim is a five-year resident of Ironwood and an IronOaks Tennis Club member. His son…