Congratulations!

For the 5th straight year, the juniors at San Jose Swim & Racquet Club in San Jose, California have dominated the summer South Bay League play. With outstanding performances by the boy’s 12′s, 15′s and 18′s, SJSRC has captured the best records in league play. There are also divisions for girl’s 12′s, 15′s and an 18′s that is co-ed. It is usually more challenging to field the girls teams so they are often co-ed in the other age divisions as well. SJSRC girl’s 15′s are always competitive and our girl’s co-ed 18′s are league champions.

League matches consist of 4 singles and 1 doubles match, however, coaches may add as many matches as the opposing team can accommodate. This promotes getting more juniors to play matches. Coaching during the matches by the home and visiting coach is encouraged to help the players learn while they play. Match results are mailed in to a league coordinator more as a formality.

A play-off is held at the end of the league play and individuals are awarded trophies as well as the winning team for each of the age groups. Coaches can mix the gender of the age divisions by calling the other coach to notify them that there will be a mix of boys and girls for this weeks matches.

The challenge for each club is getting enough players for each weeks match as many parents schedule vacation times and enroll players in specialty camps during the summer. The next challenge can be getting enough drivers to get all the players to the oppositions club on time that week. It is a hurried adventure for the coaches for those 7 to 8 weeks – but well worth the effort as the players love playing on a team.

In addition to the Junior League Play, there is Junior Interclub which is designed for younger and less experienced players, both boys and girls. Matches are held on Wednesday and include teams of approximately 10 boys and 10 girls (or as many as each club can get together that week).

Players play 5 games of doubles with a partner against the other clubs team. They come in, report their scores and are sent out (with a new partner often) to play another 5 games and come in again for another match.

The matches usually last for 2 hours including an “Around the World” contest where prizes (popsicles and such) are awarded to the winner, runner up and often to the 3rd and 4th place players. To be included in these matches, players need only to be able to serve and keep score. Coaching is encouraged and sometimes parents help with keeping score and where to stand. At the end, the players all line up and do high 5′s with the other team

San Jose Swim & Racquet Club has been the dominate team in Junior Interclub again this year. Many thanks go out to coaches:

• Al Juodikis, who heads up our Junior Quickstart program for kids ages 3-8 and often compete in Junior Interclub, Junior Aces and Junior Challengers.
• Brittany Hall, in her 3rd year with us this summer who assists with all the teams, serves as a driver and coaches the tennis for the Summer Sports Camp.
• Jesse Soza, a former player for the Junior Teams who assists in coaching, driving and teaching.
• Phil Unger, a Junior Excellence player and boy’s 18 player who helps with the younger players.
• Shelby Nemeth, a girl’s 15 and 18 and under player who helps with the younger players and with our Summer Sports Camp program.

A special “Thank You” to all the parents who assist with rides and to all of you who allow us to coach, teach and become fiends and mentors for your children.

We hope you will keep you children in tennis throughout the year. We will continue to have clinics and we will have matches on the weekends for our young junior players.

Keep on playing, Tennis-A game for a lifetime… just ask Dr Ken Hayes, his wife, Janet Grey Hayes, Vic, Xavier, Martha, Charlie, Dick, Betsy, Joanne, Rosemarie and the many club players who continue to play in their 70′s, 80′s and 90′s.

Photo Credits: aloshbennett

• Racquet Review for Wilson K4 /caption] The Wilson K 4 has been my favorite racquet for 2009. Having played with the Wilson K Zen, the heavier version at 10.5 ounces, for 2 years it was time for a change. The 2009 version of the K Zen came only in a lighter version (9.5 ounces) and......
• Australian Receiving Formation – Both Back - 1st Point of the Match **This UDF works well at club level play, USTA league play, junior and high school matches as well as college matches. This (UDF) Unusual Doubles Receiving Formation puts the receiver and partner on the same side of the court.  One player is in the deuce court near the deuce......
• This will be my last update from Aussie Land... [/caption] Today was another great day and we finally had sunshine - yeah... I took the tram to Rod Laver and was able to get in straight away. Met with the Tennis Australia group that ran the Australian Coaches Conference and thanked them for making it such a great experience.......
• “I” Serving Formation – Both Back /caption] **This UDF works well at club level play, USTA league play, junior and high school matches as well as college matches.. This (UDF) Unusual Doubles Formation puts the server in the center of the court to serve like a singles player.  Their partner is standing directly behind them.  The......
• SJSRC Annual Wooden Racquet Tennis Social /caption]Each year, around the 4th of July and Wimbledon, SJSRC Director of Tennis Ken DeHart goes into his storage and pulls out a selection of wooden tennis racquets from his collection of over 2,000 old tennis racquets, gathers up some interesting books on the history of tennis, orders some white......

• 2009 Offense Preview What To Know: With Harvin and Murphy gone, the offense is going to be missing their sure thing stars for receiving, but there is plenty of speed to be burned at running back and so the line should be able to grow into something that is terrific. The quarterback situation......
• US Golf Team Gets Ready for the Ryder Cup The past few Ryder Cups have been a bit of an embarrassment for the US team and as the 2008 Cup draws near, the team is going through some special preparation to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. Although defeat has been common at the Ryder Cup for the US......
• The Major League Baseball Draft As many of you know, Major League Baseball’s draft is coming up next month.  I’m sure that many of you will set your DVRs to record the event.  I certainly will.  (Yes, I’m serious). The baseball draft doesn’t receive the same attention given to the NFL’s draft (which seems to......
• At a Glance - NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Facts [/caption] NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Sport Basketball Founded 1939 No. of teams 65 Country(ies) United States Most recent champion(s) University of North Carolina 2009 TV partner(s) CBS, CBS College Sports Network, ESPN Official website NCAA.com The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single elimination tournament held......
• Wimbledon Championships - Facts and Figures [/caption] The Championships: Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is generally considered the most prestigious.[2][3][4][5] It has been held at the All England Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and......