Rancho Peñasquitos

Tennis Center

Volume 30, Number 9

September 2018

1

2018/19 BOARD MEMBERS

PJ Greenwald, President

Dan Scherer, VP

Linda Beach, Rec Sec

Marty Fellenstein, Treasurer

Sharon Gehrke, Membership

Norma Garrison

Steve Leffler

Julie Simone

Sabine Schroeder

Mission Statement

To become the leading recrea-

tional tennis center in San Die-

go’s North County area, by im-

plementing activities, and provid-

ing facilities that cater to the cas-

ual, social and competitive tennis

needs of people in the local com-

munity.

STAFF MANAGEMENT Executive Director, Mike Donahue

Club Director, Julie Maiorano

Office Manager, Connie Komin

LEAGUE COORDINATORS

Men’s League, Dan Scherer

Women’s League, Carol Donahue

Level Coordinators: AA- Megan Steadman A: Norma Garrison/Pete Sievers BB—Barbara Kingston B: Lisa DeVos

Junior Team Tennis League Ernie Blando Minh Vo Nick Bennett

LL EDITOR Julie Maiorano

MESSAGE FROM THE

PRESIDENT

Important Notice: Due to the continual cost

of living increases associated with RPTC’s op-

erating expenses, the Board has approved a

small increase in our annual dues as of

October 1, 2018. The last increase in mem-

bership dues occurred three years ago, and

since then, the minimum wage has increased

almost 6%. Even though Mike, our Executive

Director, has been able to cut costs every way

possible, our utilities and supply costs continue to increase. Therefore,

we believe it is necessary to create a small increase to ensure our club

remains one of the best in San Diego.

New Annual Dues Structure:

Family $425 (from $405)

Single $299 (from $289)

Senior $210 (from $202)

Sr Couple $270 (from $260)

Junior $105 (from $99)

Mike will continue to work with our staff and our wonderful

volunteers to keep the club in great condition, but there are improve-

ments that will continue to cost us money. For example, we recently

completed the required resurfacing of every court as well as having the

windscreens beautifully repaired (instead of replaced). The number one

goal for this Board is to keep our Club in tip-top condition.

To make that possible, we have generated a list of possible improve-

ments, including installation of solar panels on the upper patio that

might provide shade for the patio and, at the same time, significantly

reduce our electrical expenses. We are also searching for alternative

methods to revamp the shade on the patio. Other items on the long list

of improvements include providing shade on each court; updating our

web site to allow more on-line amenities; providing water on the courts;

lighting for the upper patio; and LED lights on the courts, etc.

[continued on next page]

LobLetter September 2018

2

AUGUST BOARD MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

Dues increase approved: Family $425, Single $299,

Senior Couple $270, Senior $210, Junior $105

The board is allowing Pickleball to resume clinics and

open play same as the previous season.

The water was out at the Park, so courts were washed after the tournament instead of be-

fore as was the plan.

Board members agreed to meet with a solar company to discuss panels on the upper patio

Board to schedule a professional survey to evaluate possibility of new courts, and court

usage. Considering increasing the membership cap.

[continued from page 1]

Our first step has been to generate a list of potential improvements; and then to create a well

thought out plan to meet as many of the improvements as possible in a timely manner.

The list is too large to be completed immediately; therefore the Board will prioritize the list based

on:

• cost

• time constraints

• what appear to be the most critical or popular among the membership.

We have also started to talk about the very long-term goal of adding two more new courts,

especially since we have had a significant membership waiting list since 2014, where new members

are waiting 8 to 9 months to gain full membership.

Prioritizing the list can only be accomplished if we get every idea on the table. This

brings me to you, the member. I know for sure that some of our members have good ideas, and

I am hoping that they will share them with the Board. I know that in the past week a member sent

me an e-mail, while another stopped me when I was at the Club to present ideas. Both of these

ideas have been placed on our list for consideration.

So now is your time to be heard! If you have any ideas as to what you would like to see happen

at our Club, please SHARE THEM. This can be done by speaking with a Board member, or by send-

ing an e-mail directly to me at pgreenwald@irr.com , or to the office at office@rptctennis.com .

Thank you!

PJ Greenwald

LobLetter September 2018

3

JTT NEWS (Junior Team Tennis)

The 2018 JTT Fall season will run from

9/23 – 12/2.

Tryouts on Sunday, Sept 2 | THIS SUN!

12:00-2:00pm | Lower Courts

Tryout Schedule:

12:00-1:00pm— Ages 10/12 & under division for INT/SAT/ADV

1:00-2:00pm— Ages 14/18 & under division for INT/SAT/ADV

Players must be a member of RPTC or on the wait list to join the club.

For additional information contact Coach Blando at evlando@san.rr.com.

RSVP TO: sharongehrke@gmail.com

Sa

ve

th

e d

at

e!

LobLetter September 2018

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FALL DWOPS [DOUBLES WITHOUT PARTNERS]

Sundays, October 7th – December 16th, 2018

(no DWOPs Thanksgiving weekend, November 25th )

The format:

Group 1

7:30-9:30 am – 4 courts of 3.5 – 4.5 level, doubles

matches, switching partners for 3 sets total

9:30 -11:30 am – 1 court of 3.5 -4.5 players

Group 2

9:30- 11:30 am – 2 courts of 3.0 – 3.5 level

Cost: $5.00 per player (pays for tennis balls, provided)

If you’d like to participate, please sign up via email, by Friday, September 7th:

Group 1 Karin B, Judy A, Karen G: dwops17@gmail.com

Group 2 Debbie Hansen: sangirl4@hotmail.com

Please include your name, level of play, email address, cell phone number, along with the

dates you are not available to play.

Once registered, you will receive a schedule with a Roster of DWOPs players and their phone

numbers. All players are responsible for finding their own subs, if unable to play.

Questions? Please direct to the emails listed above.

OFFICE NEWS

We applaud the Rangarajan and Ron families, who consistently heed the 9:30pm Monitor Warning to

begin the pack up & pick up/walk off the courts before the timed court lights turn off. The younger

monitors especially appreciate getting to leave on time, especially on school nights.

Its really nice to see the courts continually busy. Its rare now that we find members without their

membership cards. No Shows have lessened somewhat. Flex League players are getting better at ad-

justing to league rules; players are scheduling time slots according to their type of play; overbooking

has decreased dramatically.

We've posted the Membership Handbook to reach out to members (since the 80s); and for those who

don't read the monthly LobLetter or choose not to receive RPTC emails, copies are available in the of-

fice.

To all Members this summer, thank you for reducing the court issues that monitors must keep track of

daily. New recruits may apply in the office!

Thanks for reading,

LobLetter September 2018

5

https://

www.facebook.com/

rancho.p.tennisclub/

All members are to be walking off the courts by 9:40pm.

For safety reasons, members are not to remain on their

court or the patios at the very second the timed court

lights flick off at 9:45pm.

The Monitors are closing the office at 9:30pm and concen-

trating on getting all members and guests packed up and

walking off the courts and patios by 9:40pm.

Some burned out parking lot lights make the surrounding

facility and stairs dark after court lights go out.

Thank you to all members who willingly comply with the

monitors at this last hour.

The Revanta Banerji Family Mitch and Neda Moore

Tony Roberts and Tan Vennice Kushan Pallaka

The Toni Angstead Family The Karthik Rudrapatna Family

The Youghui Chen Family Phillip Vu

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!

RPTC President PJ Greenwald and Past President

Jeff Greenwald with Martina Hingis!

PLEASE REMEMBER:

• Lock the gates before you leave the club

• No sticky food or drinks on the courts

• If you move a heavy court bench for shade, please

replace it before you leave.

• Items left on the courts may be turned in to the

office lost & found

LobLetter September 2018

6

RPTC’s newly renamed Adult Open to Arnold Belinsky Memorial Open was a hit! We are grateful to the Belinsky family (Esther, Larry, Craig, and

Sheila) who sponsored the tournament to honor the memory of Arnold Belinsky, who loved and supported San Diego tennis. The Belinsky family

has done a great deal for San Diego tennis over the years. Arnold and Esther were original founders of the Barnes Tennis Center and served on

the executive board of Youth Tennis San Diego. Arnold excelled at senior tennis and was ranked #1 in San Diego for 65's in 1996 and won 3

bronze balls. Please take the time to read Arnold's tennis biography at the end of the online tournament notes. The sponsorship included perfor-

mance shirts and beautiful trophies! The tournament had over 225 participants who had a great time competing over the two weekend tourna-

ment. Participants from Texas, Mexico, Pittsburgh and Arizona also came to compete in the first RPTC Arnold Belinsky Memorial Open. The

tournament was very successful due to the volunteer efforts of Mimi Nguyen, Hannah Nguyen, Miriam Lauff, Ting Chao, Ellen Blando and tourna-

ment directors, Solomon Liu and Ernie Blando. The referee and umpires included, Dan Martinez, Hank Curry and Tac Whei Ong, who all did an

excellent job on the courts in managing the matches. Special thanks to Julie Maiorano and Mike Donahue for supporting the tournament’s

logistics when needed; and club monitors in maintaining the courts for tournament play.

RPTC’S ARNOLD BELINSKY MEMORIAL OPEN

The Belinsky Family: Larry, Esther, Sheila, Craig with Solomon Liu

LobLetter September 2018

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PICKLEBALL CLINICS are STARTING AGAIN at RPTC!

Everyone has been asking about Pickleball Clinics, so we are, once again, of-

fering them at RPTC on court 4. Clinics will be held every Monday starting

September 10th from 10-11:30 am for all members ($7) and non-members

($12). Use the link below to sign up.

http://signup.com/go/OQGbYhp

Space is limited, sign up NOW!

Questions?....text or call Tammy, RPTC Pickleball Pro @619-843-1475

LobLetter September 2018

8

Members may NOT use outside coaches to teach on RPTC courts. This includes grandparents, uncles, aunts, family friends, etc.

Violation can result in loss of membership.

ASK THE UMP! Michael E. Kelley

USTA Certified Official

National Hard Courts Tournament Referee

Dead Ball Dilemma,

During a league Doubles match we won the toss and

elected to serve, my partner proceeded to serve. After

returning the serve into the net the receiver called a

let because the ball was “dead.”

I stated she could not claim a let after she attempted

to return the serve and failed. My partner ended up

giving her a let, but I did not agree. Who was right?

That depends. Inspect the ball if it is “broken” that is, if

it has no compression, then it is a let under Rule 3.

However If the ball is merely “soft,” having some compression, then the point stands

under Rule 3, Case 1.

Either way get rid of the ball.

Ump

Submit your Ask the Ump

questions to

office@rptctennis.com

then look for the reply in

upcoming LobLetters!

Note: Mike Kelley, long time member of RPTC, is a highly respected USTA official. He has years of experience in the Southern California area, including college tournaments.

LobLetter September 2018

9

Remember to pay your membership dues!

If your membership dues were due in July or August,

you’re late! (Please include a $25 late fee)

Remember to send in your membership dues on time to avoid late

fees!

Thanks!

RPTC STAFF

MEN’S OPEN PLAY

Saturday mornings and Tues Evenings

(check online scheduler for times)

$8 Guest Fee for Non-Members.

MEN’S WORK OUT

Thursday evenings with Tony Parzanese 7:00-8:30

p.m. / $20 members $25 non-members

BOARD MEETING

Third Monday of each month

@ 6:30 at Canyonside Park PICKLEBALL:

Open Play Weekdays: 10a-12n.

and Saturdays 4:30-6:30pm

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT ARTICLES Free to members, $5 guest fee for non-members

FOR OCTOBER LOBLETTER:

September 24. Photos should be in Jpeg format.

A Note About On-Line Reservations

• When making an online reservation, always refresh the page and check to make sure your

reservation is correct.

• If your opponent or group makes duplicate reservations, please delete the unwanted

reservation(s) immediately or at least within 1 hour so that others may reserve.

• League Captains, please check your home court reservations at least 4 days before each

home match.

LobLetter September 2018

10

GUEST FEES ARE $8.00

It is the member’s responsibility (juniors and adults) to come into the office to pay the guest fees BEFORE taking the court.

Don’t wait for the monitor. Don’t ask if you can pay after your play.

Pay your guest fees before you begin playing.

Membership Cards

When joining RPTC, each family member is issued a

membership card. The RPTC Standing Rule for mem-

bership cards states that cards must be visibly availa-

ble for the monitor to inspect. Be prepared to

show membership cards for every family mem-

ber when using the court. If the cards are not visi-

ble at the time of inspection, the monitor will need to

interrupt play. Remember, membership cards are

non-transferable.

Anyone who has lost their membership card is responsible for obtaining a new card

from the office and paying the $5 replacement fee.

When paying your renewal fee, you will be given stickers for your cards, rather than

“new" cards.

RPTC STAFF

COURT USAGE POLICY!!!!!!!

5. RESERVATION INTERVALS—PLEASE READ

a) Multiple reservations in one day require at least two (2) hours between the end of one reserva-

tion and the start of the next one. Valid reservations may be split between different courts if one

court is not available for a match.

b) Members may NOT book courts back-to-back (i.e. with less than a two-hour gap) under different

names for what is essentially one match (e.g. Player 1 books a court for 1.5 hours, and Player 2 books

the same court for another hour immediately before or after, and then Player 1 and Player 2 play a sin-

gles match for two (2) hours.

LobLetter September 2018

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POLICY REGARDING LATE AND NO-SHOW SUSPENSIONS

The Staff is still recording NO SHOWS weekly.

Monitors are required to document every court reservation. They must docu-

ment who was on the court, that cards were checked and guest fees are

paid. Courts that are considered Late Cancellation or No Show are part of the

documentation. Monitors cannot excuse a late cancellation or no show or any

court violation. There is a process that must be followed that ensures the rules

are enforced fairly to all members.

If you are late arriving or move to another court, it is your responsibility to find

the Monitor on duty and inform him so that you are not marked as a NO SHOW.

Note: Members who are suspended from reserving courts may use the courts

with no other restriction other than they cannot reserve a court until their reser-

vation suspension has ended. Please no calls to the office as the office staff

does not have the authority to reverse a no show penalty. You may email

questions, requests or comments to: office@rptctennis.com.

Infraction Consequences/Procedure

**NO SHOW: Member books court, fails to cancel and does not show up to play at the scheduled time.

Member will immediately lose all reserva-tion privileges for sixty (60) days. No exceptions.

LATE CANCELLATION: Cancels within 4-hours before scheduled court reservation.

1st offense: the telephone call to the office will be your reminder of the procedure (essentially a warn-ing).

2nd offense within a 30-day period: Member will lose all reservation privileges for thirty (30) days.

TIMELY CANCELLATION: Cancels on-line or by phone to the office prior to 4 hours before court reservation time (may leave a message for monitor).

No consequences.

Reminder of Additional Reservation Rules

The name on the reservation must match the player on the court. If a Player who books a court is

not on the court they are a no show. If you are at the club and are not on your reserved court you

should communicate with the monitor.

Members may not book courts back-to-back (i.e. with less than a 2-hour gap) under differ-

ent names for what is essentially one match (e.g. Player 1 books a court for 1.5 hours, and

Player 2 books the same court for another hour immediately before or after, and then Play-

er 1 and Player 2 play a match for 2.5 hours).

Also, regarding the above rule, keep in mind, player B could risk being a NO SHOW if the players fin-

ished their match in time and never took the additional reserved court. RPTC has a no tolerance policy

for NO SHOW, it's an automatic, without warning, 60 day scheduling suspension. If you show up late, let

the monitor know so you won’t be marked as a No Show.

LobLetter September 2018

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CONGRATS TO RPTC MONTITOR RYAN AMYOT.

He and his fellow CANYON CREATURES bandmates will appear on

Saturday, September 15th at KAABOO in Del Mar. They

are representing San Diego! What an honor and to be on the same bill

as Robert Plant, Foo Fighters, and Katy Perry.

So instead of Ryan checking you in on the tennis court….. please go

check him out on stage! (Tourmaline stage at 12:15pm)

LobLetter September 2018

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The Southern California team champs from San Diego took the 2018 Gar Glenney Cup from the Northern California team on the 8/18—19, 2018 week-end. The Gar Glenney Cup is the Junior Team Tennis championships of sec-tional winners between the best from Northern California and Southern Cali-fornia. The NorCal team has dominated the event for the last six years, but this year’s team that includes Zach Pellouchoud, Kevin Thai, Jeffrey Chen, Mike and Jay Blando, along with Coach Phil Pellouchoud and Ernie Blando brought the cup back to SoCal!The 36th annual Gar Glenney Cup was held in Southern California in the City of Irvine at the Great Park Sports Complex on August 18th – 19th, 2018.