Board Post

Dear members,

I hope all of you have experienced minimal impact from the recent weather events. I grieve for our neighbors here and across Vermont and elsewhere who are suffering. 

Rain, heavy at times, continues to menace the Mad River Valley this evening and hopefully will not result in additional damage to our community and infrastructure. Mad River Tennis Club fared remarkably well mostly due to good luck and partly as a result of some proactive action some of us took along with our ongoing effort to prepare and maintain the courts as well as possible. 

At dawn today we discovered that Route 17 was severely damaged close to the club entrance. Thankfully the club’s driveway, which the Board was already planning to repair, was not terribly altered from the way it was before recent events. The courts, although they appeared undamaged from the sidelines, suffered from undermined lines in many places and sediment-buried lines in others. I was able to make repairs to most of these issues between rain showers this afternoon and early evening, but the surface is still very soft and vulnerable to damage from use by anyone who engages in starting, stopping, or turning as part of their tennis technique!

I am optimistic about the possibility that if Friday dawns and continues to be dry, warm, and best of all sunny, then the courts could be playable by the afternoon and coming weekend. 

Please be a conscientious partner in the club. Before you play at MRTC, make sure that any sudden and energetic starts, stops, and turns you make do not make a measurable indentation in the playing surface.  Perform this test around all the baselines, service lines and net of the court you plan to play on. Have a great match when conditions are favorable.  Make an effort to repair any noticeable damage, and, when you’re done please sweep the “whole court” – which means all the way to the fences or grass on all the ends and sides and between the courts. Evenly distributing and smoothing surface material in this way is valuable maintenance and not merely an aesthetic preference.  

Thank you for your consideration.

Woody Dugan
Volunteer Court Custodian

Thank you to all the members who have referred new tennis enthusiasts to our Club. In the last five years, membership has grown steadily, almost doubling. This year the net growth is roughly 10%. One aspect of our Club that we value and wish to maintain is the ease of making court reservations, so we approach growth cautiously and see how court usage plays out each year–thus the importance of signing in at the courts.

We are closed to new members for 2024. Feel free to introduce people to our Club as guests and encourage possible future memberships.

I know everyone is super excited about the club opening and getting on the court. Unfortunately, it’s not in the cards for this weekend. The courts are just about scraped, new material will be added starting tomorrow, the lines on Sunday then nailed Monday. Dee and Scott do a really nice job setting up the surface they want do to it right and I’m sure you all want the same. Once I know the date of completion will send notification.

First off thanks to all that participated in the workday on Saturday. A lot of prep got completed and Scott’s job for laying the surface will be much easier this week. The new net posts are in, they look fantastic. The goal is to have the courts ready at the end of the week. Keep your fingers crossed the weather cooperates. As soon as I get the thumbs up on completion will drop a note to you all.

Now that the weather has turned in the past couple of days, I’m sure everyone is curious when the club will be open for the season. We are scheduled to have new net posts installed starting Wednesday the work was scheduled for earlier in the month, but persistent wet weather prevented the work getting started. In order for the posts to get installed the sprinklers and piping need to be removed for the installation. Scott is preparing the courts this week for the material application and based on all the moving pieces my best guess is the courts will be open early next week. While it is a bummer to lose this coming weekend the addition of new posts, nets and center straps will vastly improve the playing experience. Just think that second serve that just clips the top on the net on game point will now be going in.

As soon as I have an accurate date for opening will post as soon as possible.