Northern New Mexico by Dick Johnson
Dick Johnson USPTA Southwest Northern NM District Coordinator It has been a wild Spring with teams dodging Covid tracing and trying to keep a stable team atmosphere. My high school boys are still required to wear masks while playing and I certainly hope the governor and the NMAA eliminate this procedure soon. We are still finishing up dual match playing with district championship slated for early June, followed by State Individual Championships for singles and doubles on June 10-12, followed by the State Team Championships (limited to 8 teams) on June 14-19. At this time, I am still waiting to get the okay to start our summer tennis camps at my school. It has been a long 15 months since we last had any camps. Congratulations to Amy Badger for her new post as the Director of Tennis at the Highpoint Sports and Wellness. Stay well everyone. I hope everyone has received their shots and we can get this country going again. I thought it was interesting that tennis balls are in short supply. With the increase in new and old players manufacturers are having trouble keeping up with the demand. Our game is “rocking and rolling” and I am excited about that. See you soon everyone! And in person!
lesson series. He also volunteered helping coach the Rio Rancho High boys’ and girls’ varsity and JV teams. And he was able to keep teaching some private and semi-private lessons. Dave continued to benefit from USPTA online conferences in various parts of the country, ahead of USPTA Southwest.
John Damgaard in Santa Fe has a whopping 10 teams that he oversees with the Santa Fe Tennis Association. They are all playing in the USTA 18+ Tennis Leagues.
Joe Felice has been at Sierra Vista Tennis Center for 15 years. When Joe started at Sierra Vista in 2006, there was no full time Professionals. Sierra Vista has 4 or 5 USTA League Teams for the year. Now there are 30-35 USTA League Teams each year. Joe will be holding his annual Sierra Vista Grand Prix NTRP Doubles Tournament the last weekend of August. This Tournament has been going for twenty five years and has become one of the most popular events in Northern New Mexico with 150-200 participants. Last year was the only year we did not have it due to the pandemic. Joe also hopes to get his Super Senior Tennis Program going again in the fall or spring.
Kurt Edelbrock in Taos sent me a varied report: Thank you Kurt! You are the best! -He has scheduled: 1. Elevated Tennis camps June 1214 2. Pickleball camps- June 12-14 3. Jr. camps start June 14-16 And: -USTA Taos Open Tennis Tournament (Doubles & Mixed Doubles only) -His “award winning” Aly’s Taos East” (will be serving scrumptious food items out on the patio). Kurt looks forward to terrific season of tennis, pickleball, and swim time! (And do not forget dining)! Plus- His is active with the Taos High School team during the season and offering extra courts for their teams.
Dave Shambach at Rio Rancho reports: The first time since March, 2020, Dave started teaching for the City of Rio Rancho Parks and summer program
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Amy Badger: I started April 1 as the Tennis Director for Highpoint June 2021
