I lived in Atlanta for more than a dozen years before I played on my first ALTA team, shortly after my wife and I moved to a Cherokee County “swim tennis” community in 1991; it’s a great way to meet your new neighbors. But after a couple of seasons and the birth of our first child, I gave it up for eight years until our youngest entered kindergarten and I changed careers such that I didn’t have to travel every week. So ever since the fall season of 2000, I’ve played on a neighborhood ALTA men’s doubles team; I've also played ALTA mixed doubles regularly since the winter of 2002. Additionally, I played nine seasons of singles in the K-Swiss (now Ultimate Tennis) league from 2003 to 2007, one season of USTA men’s and two seasons of T2Tennis men's doubles. I started playing USTA mixed doubles in the fall of 2009 and, most recently, have joined ALTA seniors’ mixed and men's doubles teams.
In addition to playing, from 2001 to 2007 I also served as captain on 16 different teams; I had successfully (and finally) given “that” up until we moved to a Marietta neighborhood, where I was captain of an ALTA mixed doubles team for 3 seasons (see below). Through the years, I earned a handful of “bag tags”, but my most cherished possession was a USTA League Tennis City Champion magnet from 2010, and I was fortunate enough to get to play in several matches at the Georgia Mixed Doubles State Championships in Augusta that August.
However, in 2011 and for the better part of 2012, by the grace of God, my tennis fortunes changed. The summer of 2011, our USTA League Tennis Mixed Doubles team won the Georgia state championships in Augusta! Read about it here. The winter of 2012, the ALTA mixed doubles team that I captained, and on which I play, won the City Championship! Then, not only did our 2012 winter ALTA senior mixed team win its division, but that spring my men's ALTA team won its division and our USTA mixed doubles team not only won its division, but won its second Atlanta City Title in 3 years. The summer of 2012, I played senior men's ALTA for the first time, and we won our division; also, our ALTA mixed doubles team followed up its winter city championship by winning its division at the A-level.
However, I then took August (2012) off, didn't play on a men's team that fall and injured myself during the USTA mixed doubles season. While I did recover enough to play both regular and senior mixed ALTA the winter of 2013, I didn't play very often or very well and after again skipping the men's ALTA season (spring), and playing sparingly on a USTA COMBO 7.5 mixed team, I only played once on a senior men's ALTA team this summer. I haven't entirely retired from tennis, but I'm looking for more social and less competitive ways to engage this passion.
UPDATE (7/18/2014) - after taking off for a while (and letting my ALTA rating fall to zero;-) I'll be playing on a Saturday men's team for the first time in 2 years at C-1 this fall. I have no feel for my skills as I've only played socially twice in the past 4 months, but both were good experiences despite having no timing and hence no serve to speak of. Am looking forward to playing in a nearby neighborhood and getting to know some new guys though ... wish me luck.
UPDATE (2/24/2015) - last fall was fun! Met a lot of new guys and had a relaxing season, my partners and I winning more than we lost at lines 2 and 3. This winter, our neighborhood's senior mixed team won its division and will now compete for the City Finals on the last day of February after winning two playoff matches this past weekend, one at night in the sleet!
UPDATE (7/11/2017) - didn't volunteer at the last two BB&T Opens, but will do so again this summer (in Volunteer Services for the first time). As far as my tennis is concerned, I've enjoyed a 'lighter' schedule of playing ALTA senior mixed in the winter and regular mixed in the summer. Unfortunately our senior mixed team has risen to the A-level, and we're not as competitive, whereas the mixed team I'm on has never been competitive. I play men's in the spring and fall at the C-1 level, and our team got close to winning our first bag tag, but lost 5 on the last Saturday and dropped to 3rd (still haven't even ever made the playoffs on this team, but it's a great group of low-key guys, and we have a good time together).
UPDATE (3/16/2018) - am now a certified USTA official! Haven't been playing as much tennis (I was injured after 3 matches last fall and was out for the past 2 seasons), but am now on a Senior Day men's ALTA and a different regular men's ALTA team this spring. Just won my first and only Senior Day men's match, and am looking forward to playing more this year.
UPDATE (11/18/2019) - I have been working as a tennis official for 2 complete years now. In 2019, I did my first season of college tennis, as a chair and roving umpire. I love it (and it pays more)! I also got to be a line umpire at two ATP (the big leagues!) events, Atlanta and Winston-Salem. I'm looking forward to my next college season (January-April) and line umpiring at Challenger (like triple-A in baseball) and ATP and/or WTA events. I'm doing fewer and fewer junior tournaments, mostly just National Level 2 and above events. As far as playing tennis, I only play ALTA Senior men's tennis on Wednesdays in the spring and fall (I work too many weekends to play on a Saturday or Sunday team regularly).
In addition to playing, from 2001 to 2007 I also served as captain on 16 different teams; I had successfully (and finally) given “that” up until we moved to a Marietta neighborhood, where I was captain of an ALTA mixed doubles team for 3 seasons (see below). Through the years, I earned a handful of “bag tags”, but my most cherished possession was a USTA League Tennis City Champion magnet from 2010, and I was fortunate enough to get to play in several matches at the Georgia Mixed Doubles State Championships in Augusta that August.
However, in 2011 and for the better part of 2012, by the grace of God, my tennis fortunes changed. The summer of 2011, our USTA League Tennis Mixed Doubles team won the Georgia state championships in Augusta! Read about it here. The winter of 2012, the ALTA mixed doubles team that I captained, and on which I play, won the City Championship! Then, not only did our 2012 winter ALTA senior mixed team win its division, but that spring my men's ALTA team won its division and our USTA mixed doubles team not only won its division, but won its second Atlanta City Title in 3 years. The summer of 2012, I played senior men's ALTA for the first time, and we won our division; also, our ALTA mixed doubles team followed up its winter city championship by winning its division at the A-level.
However, I then took August (2012) off, didn't play on a men's team that fall and injured myself during the USTA mixed doubles season. While I did recover enough to play both regular and senior mixed ALTA the winter of 2013, I didn't play very often or very well and after again skipping the men's ALTA season (spring), and playing sparingly on a USTA COMBO 7.5 mixed team, I only played once on a senior men's ALTA team this summer. I haven't entirely retired from tennis, but I'm looking for more social and less competitive ways to engage this passion.
UPDATE (7/18/2014) - after taking off for a while (and letting my ALTA rating fall to zero;-) I'll be playing on a Saturday men's team for the first time in 2 years at C-1 this fall. I have no feel for my skills as I've only played socially twice in the past 4 months, but both were good experiences despite having no timing and hence no serve to speak of. Am looking forward to playing in a nearby neighborhood and getting to know some new guys though ... wish me luck.
UPDATE (2/24/2015) - last fall was fun! Met a lot of new guys and had a relaxing season, my partners and I winning more than we lost at lines 2 and 3. This winter, our neighborhood's senior mixed team won its division and will now compete for the City Finals on the last day of February after winning two playoff matches this past weekend, one at night in the sleet!
UPDATE (7/11/2017) - didn't volunteer at the last two BB&T Opens, but will do so again this summer (in Volunteer Services for the first time). As far as my tennis is concerned, I've enjoyed a 'lighter' schedule of playing ALTA senior mixed in the winter and regular mixed in the summer. Unfortunately our senior mixed team has risen to the A-level, and we're not as competitive, whereas the mixed team I'm on has never been competitive. I play men's in the spring and fall at the C-1 level, and our team got close to winning our first bag tag, but lost 5 on the last Saturday and dropped to 3rd (still haven't even ever made the playoffs on this team, but it's a great group of low-key guys, and we have a good time together).
UPDATE (3/16/2018) - am now a certified USTA official! Haven't been playing as much tennis (I was injured after 3 matches last fall and was out for the past 2 seasons), but am now on a Senior Day men's ALTA and a different regular men's ALTA team this spring. Just won my first and only Senior Day men's match, and am looking forward to playing more this year.
UPDATE (11/18/2019) - I have been working as a tennis official for 2 complete years now. In 2019, I did my first season of college tennis, as a chair and roving umpire. I love it (and it pays more)! I also got to be a line umpire at two ATP (the big leagues!) events, Atlanta and Winston-Salem. I'm looking forward to my next college season (January-April) and line umpiring at Challenger (like triple-A in baseball) and ATP and/or WTA events. I'm doing fewer and fewer junior tournaments, mostly just National Level 2 and above events. As far as playing tennis, I only play ALTA Senior men's tennis on Wednesdays in the spring and fall (I work too many weekends to play on a Saturday or Sunday team regularly).
UPDATE (3/23/2022) - we moved during the summer of 2020 to the Upstate of South Carolina, and I haven't played tennis in almost 2 years! I continue to officiate college (ACC & SEC) tennis and pro tournaments, though opportunities for line umpires have been limited at the top levels due to electronic line calling.
