Thursday, October 6, 2011

A tennis showdown of my own making this Friday night

Because of some actions I took this summer, Friday night will be a clash between my regular ALTA mixed doubles team and my USTA 7.0 mixed doubles teams. How did I get myself into this mess?

After another great ALTA mixed doubles season this past summer, I wanted to continue the fun we’d had instead of waiting 5+ months for the winter season to begin. Since I’d been a part of a USTA mixed doubles team – out of a public park not far from my neighborhood – in the fall the past couple of years, and I knew that one could be a member on both a regular mixed and a seniors (50 and over) mixed team during the season, I floated the idea to my ALTA teammates, most of whom would qualify for a senior mixed team. Obviously, as a member of a USTA 7.0 regular mixed team already, I couldn’t be captain of the seniors team, so I encouraged one of my ALTA teammates to take the job.

Unfortunately, we learned through the local USTA organization that there were no senior mixed teams out of Atlanta. I still find this hard to believe, especially since there are plenty of ALTA seniors teams. But after reviewing the seniors teams that made it to the Georgia state championships the past couple of years, I saw that all the teams were from non-Atlanta Georgia facilities. What gives?

Well, you guessed it. The ‘new’ captain of what is my ALTA mixed doubles team – and my neighbors – decided to go forward with a USTA 7.0 regular mixed doubles team, and they were placed in the same division as the team I’ve been on for the past two years. This Friday night – on my neighborhood’s courts – will be the matchup that I’ve dreaded since the season began, between one of my teams and the other.

My personal loyalties aside, I hope that it will be a well played match by all the participants; may the best team win!


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