President’s Letter

Registration Numbers Are Up!

Summers in Atlanta are always hot, and this year was no exception. However, our teams in the Mixed Doubles, Senior, and Run ‘n Roll Leagues powered through the heat, rain delays, and vacation scheduling challenges to finish the season.

As a result, we have 53 new City Champions.

Congratulations to all of you!

Our team registration numbers for this fall are the highest we’ve seen in four years, and we are thrilled to see that more teams are participating in our leagues. Now that the fall season is about to begin, we can hope for cooler temperatures, but we will likely still be dealing with similar issues because of rain and vacation schedules. Many of the school systems in our area now have fall breaks, which can be a challenge for our members with children in school. As you know, it is permissible to play matches early if both teams agree. I encourage captains to check with their teammates early in the season regarding availability, so you aren’t scrambling to field a lineup at the last minute. While I know there are times when such requests can’t be accommodated, please give your opponent the courtesy of thorough consideration. The same goes for rescheduling rained out matches. Please be as cooperative as possible when this occurs. The goal is for matches to be played and won or lost on the court. Keep in mind, our captains have the first opportunity to set a positive tone for the match with the initial contact. Please remember that all ALTA matches are unofficiated. As such, all participants are expected to work together to ensure an enjoyable experience. We have all encountered unpleasant opponents, and it is important to recognize and take the opportunity to diffuse conflict before it escalates. Although we have little control over an opponents’ actions, we can control how we respond. Many times, it comes down to a choice — do we escalate or mitigate the situation? For example, what if your opponent makes a bad call? How do you respond? Do you accuse him/ her of being blind and cheating? Do you talk about it with your partner loudly enough for your opponents to hear? Do you call the next ball out in retaliation? Or do you just give them the benefit of the doubt and move on? I think we can all agree that the first three responses have the potential to escalate into conflict, while the last one will serve to mitigate any unpleasant issues.

We hope that all teams will enjoy their matches this season, regardless of where they finish. ALTA leagues are recreational leagues. While competition is an important part, fair play and good sportsmanship make the matches enjoyable and the wins more meaningful. Good luck to everyone this fall season.

Debbie Gaster, 2021 ALTA President

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President Debbie Gaster

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