10 minute read
Heard Around Atlanta
The Ansley Golf Club held its Annual Charity Pro-Am weekend from Aug. 19-22, 2021. This year’s event included a Tennis Pro-Am for 160 men and women players, a golf Pro-Am for 95 players, and a pickleball tournament that included 24 teams and hot air balloon rides for spectators.
One of the highlights of the weekend was the Saturday night gala that included live music, silent auctions, cash calls, and some of the best food in town prepared by the club’s master chef. The membership was extremely excited about the ability to “feel like normal” for a night at the club that raised approximately $100,000 for charity.
The funds raised will support the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation, Our House, and Folded Flag Foundation. This Pro-Am has earned multiple awards over the past few years, including the USPTA National Charity Event of the Year. Organizers look forward to continuing this event and know that the efforts put into this will benefit deserving groups in the future.
Tennis Industry United Comes to Atlanta
As part of a nationwide tour by Tennis Industry United partners, events are being held in several cities across the country to provide, fun, interactive on-court sessions to help tennis professionals attract new players. Some of the top USTA, GPTA, USPTA-Georgia and other key tennis leaders in Georgia met for this special event at the Atlanta Athletic Club on Oct. 1, 2021. The main objective was to help tennis professionals grow their programs and keep their customers healthy and active in tennis for years to come. In addition to the on-court sessions, local manufacturer and industry representatives were on hand to discuss the latest tennis gear, provide demo opportunities, and share new resources to help tennis professionals expand their business.
Country Club of Roswell’s Charity Pro-Am Raises More than $60K
The Country Club of Roswell held its 43rd Annual Charity Pro-Am from Aug. 6-8, 2021. One of the longest running Pro-Am’s in Atlanta has a history of creating an exciting event for the tennis community. After a year off in 2020, this year’s event came roaring back with a 20’s theme party featuring a live and silent auction with amazing “Roaring 20’s” themed costumes and entertainment! The event saw 56 members playing with 56 pros from the local Atlanta area in a round robin flighted event with playoffs. Charity beneficiaries were Special Pops Tennis and Stand Up for Kids. Fundraising efforts this year saw a record of more than $60,000 raised for these two charities. Next year’s event is due to be held August 5-7.
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Serving for Jesse's House
There is still time to enter the 3rd Annual Round Robin Tennis Tournament, which benefits Jesse’s House, a Forsyth County emergency shelter for adolescent girls who have experienced abuse and neglect. This year’s event features the following:
Women’s Doubles
Friday, November 12 8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Fieldstone Tennis Center and Windermere Tennis Center $50 tax-deductible donation includes registration, box lunch, gift, swag bag, and raffle ticket for raffle baskets.
Junior’s Event
Friday, November 12 5:30 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. Fieldstone Tennis Center $20 tax-deductible donation includes registration, pizza, gift, and raffle ticket.
Men’s Doubles
Saturday, November 13 5:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m. Fieldstone Tennis Center $25 tax-deductible donation includes registration, drinks, snacks, and gift.
To sign up, please go to jesseshouse.org.
Mizuno/Net News Contest Renewed for 2022
The popular Mizuno and Net News contest from this year, in which one ALTA team was chosen and outfitted with new shoes, will return for 2022 — but this time Mizuno will outfit two teams.
One lucky spring Sunday Women's team and one summer Mixed Doubles team will be selected by the shoe manufacturer and provided with new shoes for their entire team. More details and the official rules will be announced in the next issue of Net News. Meanwhile, check out the latest offerings from Mizuno and other major manufacturers in the annual Net News Gift Guide, beginning on page 60.
ALTA — The Game Keeps Growing
We want to give a special shout out to RJ Dunkle and all the tennis professionals with White Columns and ClubCorp. We have seen the growth of the Sunday Women’s League and Thursday Women’s League, as at least three new ALTA teams were added in 2021. You just never know when the ALTA marketing team will show up with some great swag and giveaways, so keep up the great work. We are especially proud of all our Atlanta area tennis professionals and appreciate everything they do to grow the game of tennis. We’ll be sending out more information for a big spring league membership drive, so be sure to go to our website at altatennis.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Northside Hospital’s Tennis Against Breast Cancer Program Supports UnderInsured Women
Each year, the Northside Foundation dedicates every Friday in October to fundraise for the hospital’s Breast Care Program through a fabulous tennis and pickleball event. All the funds raised through the Tennis Against Breast Cancer (TABC) program support screening mammograms and transportation assistance for under-insured women in the community. This year’s events, which were held across Atlanta in Cherokee, Forsyth, North Fulton, and Gwinnett counties, were a great success. To learn more about TABC, please visit: give.northside.com/events/tabc.
TECH TALK
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Increased communication options on altatennis.org make your profile information more important than ever before! Please continue to update your mailing address/phone number(s)/email address. Updating your mailing address ensures you will continue to receive Net News Magazine. Updating your phone number(s) ensures your number(s) will display correctly on the Schedule, Roster Member Info sheet, and the Availability page. Updating your email address ensures: • You will receive notice of important ALTA calendar dates/events. • Correct email display on the Schedule – My Account > My Preferences to show email on the schedule. • Correct display on the Roster Member Info sheet. • Emails through the ALTA system from Schedules, My Rosters, the Communicate Message Board, Players Looking for Teams & Teams Looking for Players will be sure to get to you. • Emails from the coordinator will get to captains. Updating the system default birthdate ensures you can play on all teams for which you qualify. Please contact the ALTA office to assist with this update.
—Joan Appelbaum, ALTA IT Manager
TPC Sugarloaf ProAm Raises $120K for Charity
The 2021 TPC Charity Pro-Am came roaring back after a hiatus in 2020. The annual charity event at TPC Sugarloaf contributes to Birdies for the Brave and the Vigilant Torch foundation. These organizations help support members of the military.
This year, through the course of golf, tennis, and an auction, the charity weekend was able to raise more than $120,000 for these organizations. “The tennis staff at TPC Sugarloaf is thrilled to be able to contribute to these great organizations through tennis,” says Mike Robertson, director of tennis at the Duluth-based club.
A Big Success for the 23rd Annual Falls of Autry Mill Charity Pro-Am Tennis Tournament and Monte Carlo Night
In conjunction with the Johns Creek Police Department, the Falls of Autry Mill, an active swim-tennis community of nearly 500 homes, raised $15,000 for Special Olympics Georgia and their related athlete training programs: Special Pops Tennis and Special Ks. This year’s event was chaired by ALTA member Diana Burger and the Falls Tennis Director, Blagi Jurjec, with the help of Johns Creek Police Officer Min Cha, and philanthropist Wendy Green, who did much of the heavy lifting to make this event such a success.
The weekend of charity kicked off on Friday, October 15 with “An Evening at Monte Carlo.” Attendees enjoyed dinner, drinks, wine & bourbon pulls, a silent auction, and casino games. Special guest Jimmy Rice, a Special Olympic athlete with the Special Ks group, briefly spoke to the crowd about his athletic experiences with Special Olympics Georgia. Rice participates in five different sports, including long-distance running and soccer.
The tennis portion of the weekend began on Saturday with 32 women (amateurs and pros) playing in the A or B divisions. Special Pops Tennis put on an exhibition match during the lunch break, before the semi-final and final matches were played. Two Special Olympics/Special Pops players, Mimi Ngo and Jamie Gillispie, played a short singles match and then paired up with two of the pros on-site, Megan Cozad and Bailey Lina, to demonstrate a short Special Olympics style unified partners doubles match. The day concluded with Sandra Pastorello and her pro, Lyn See Cho, winning the A division over Mindy McCorvey and Calena Redondo. In the B division, Elena Chung and her pro, Megan Cozad, edged out a win over Chen Hu and her pro, Kayla Dean.
The men’s tournament was played on Sunday with 40 players (amateurs and pros) who also played in A and B divisions. An ALTA Run ‘N Roll wheelchair league exhibition match was played over lunch. ALTA wheelchair players, Mark LaRotonda and Stacey Rice, played the short pro-set match with visiting pros, Asim Sidigi and Inus Daneel stepping in as their “run” partners. The duos put on a great match for the crowd. Sunday concluded with some great men’s finals matches. The A division was won by Joe Buckley with pro, Blagi Jurjec, over Aashish Patel and Zane Krog; while in the B division, winners were Rob Glazier and Salif Kantevic over Bruce Grantham and his pro, Jared Bones. All amateur men and women participating in this tournament are proud ALTA members who play in a variety of leagues.
Chattahoochee Country Club hosted its 27th Annual Pro-Am on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021. Forty-eight members participated (24 men and 24 women), along with 24 pros coming from all over North Georgia. The Pro-Am was organized as a six-team round robin tournament.
This event is a charity fundraiser for a different local charity each year in the Gainesville, Georgia area. This year, the tournament benefited North Georgia Works!
North Georgia Works! is a 501(c)(3) Christian Ministry & Transitional Workforce Development Center for Men. North Georgia Works! addresses two problems: hundreds of unemployed able-bodied men in Hall County and a labor shortage in many industries. Its goal is to help the men who need help the most to become productive, tax-paying members of society by getting a full-time job and a non-subsidized place to live.
Chattahoochee Country Club sits on Lake Lanier and has a tennis program that is growing rapidly. In addition to tennis, pickleball has been a big hit since being added earlier this year.
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