This past Saturday, July 20th the 18 & Under Vermont Grand Prix Singles Tournament was a resounding success accompanied by beautiful weather. Held at the Stowe Tennis Club, twenty-one participants from all over Vermont competed in the event in a combined boys and girls tournament draw. The match format was best of 2 sets to 4 games, with a 7-point tiebreaker at 3-3 or if with split sets.

Yuyang Zhang of South Burlington grabbed the win over Stowe’s Parker Guffey, 4-3, 4-1. The duo were evenly matched and played each other previously during the high school tennis season. Despite Guffey's efforts to keep the ball wide and tire out his opponent, Zhang's consistency and ability to return nearly every ball earned him the win. Both semi finals matches were closely contested and came down to a tie break. Parker Guffey narrowly won over Leo Jercinovic of Stowe 4-3, 2-4, 3-7 and Yuyang Zhang bested Stowe's Julia Biedermann in a close tie break 4-1, 0-4, 7-5. In the consolation bracket, Hugo Jercinovic won against Carter MacDonald, both from Stowe, 4-2, 4-2.

Semifinalistis pictured below, from left to right, are Yuyang Zhang, Julia Beidermann, Leo Jercinovic, and Parker Guffey.

Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, and to the players who played their hearts out. It was an incredible showing of local, homegrown Vermont tennis talent!

School is (almost) out and we are looking forward to welcoming all the youthful energy to the club. We have a whole host of groups, events, and programming coming up to keep you and your juniors busy playing tennis and enjoying the pool. Read on to take advantage of all the club has to offer for families this summer. 

First some quick reminders & announcements: If you're hosting guests at the pool, be sure everyone has signed the Release of Liability (especially non-member minors) and paid the $5 guest fee before swimming. Members must be 16 or older to swim in the pool unsupervised and to invite and host guests at the club. Per our group use policy, please let the Pro Shop staff know in advance if you are planning a gathering, pool party or group use of the courts. The full Member Handbook can be referenced on our website. Our Snack Bar is fully stocked with local Vermont beverages and treats and you can view the menu here. The pool is currently heated to 81 degrees and we have pool basketball, badminton, pickleball and pingpong equipment available for use. 

Core Tennis Program begins tomorrow at 1pm. Those registered for week 1 will have received an email from Program Coordinator Michele Whitmore. All the important details are posted on our website. Note that those registered for in the advanced player program (12 and up) start their first session today at 3:30pm. 

Family Night starts this Saturday June 22nd at 4pm. An evening for the whole family, parents and juniors of any age can join in. The format is flexible, inclusive, and most importantly, is designed to allow families use and enjoy the club together. As a new initiative, we welcome your feedback. 

Staffed with our summer program coaches, Family Night activities include warm-up drills, obstacle courses, on-court games, family round robin play and junior ladder matches. Pool time and BBQs encouraged afterwards. This is a recurring weekly event just like the other groups and round robins at the club. There is no sign-up to start, and members can invite guests according to the guest policy. If you can't make it this week, we hope to see you at one of the following Saturdays!

Future Stars begin on June 25th at 3:15pm (4 & 5 year olds) and 4:00pm (6 & 7 year olds). Reach out to Program Coordinator Ryan McDonnell with any questions. Note that there is still space in the program so spread the word to anyone with aspiring young Future Stars players. 

High School Practice with Mike Tasi also begins on Tuesday, June 25th at 5:30pm. Weekly sign up sheets are located in the clubhouse. Sessions are $20 and limited to 12 players. Core Facilitator Sebastian Sweatman will be assistant coach. 

Calling all competitive 18 & Under players! In addition to the High School Practice, we are participating in the local USTA Junior Team Tennis League and will be competing in matches on Thursday nights this summer with the goal of qualifying for regionals. We are also hosting a Junior Vermont Grand Prix 18 & Under Singles Tournament on July 20th & 21st. Registration available online. 

The Junior & Family Round Robin is July 27th at 10am. All of our junior members and Core program participants (members and non-members alike) can choose a doubles partner from their family and join us for this fun event. Creative team names encouraged! For the most enjoyment, juniors should be capable of playing match points and should be 14 and under. Their doubles partner can be any family member, member or non-member, including parents, older siblings, uncles/aunts, grandparents, godparents, etc. Please RSVP.

The Future Stars Prize Day & Awards is scheduled for Thursday, August 1st with a rain date of Friday August 2nd. All program participants and their families are welcome to join us for this final day of the program. 

The Core Tennis Program Prize Day & Awards is scheduled for Friday, August 9th. 

Our Pro Shop is fully stocked with Junior apparel and accessories. We have boys shorts and polos, girls tanks and sets by Lucky in Love, and youth caps. Please stop by! 

That's all for now, I hope you've enjoyed this STC family newsletter - hopefully there will be many more newsletters like this to come. 

Elle 

Club Manager

Calling all members! The Stowe Tennis Club Ladder officially kicks off this Sunday June 16th. Compete against new players outside of your regular groups, track your progress as you climb the rankings, and build camaraderie playing the sport you love. All levels welcome, choose your challenge: Men's and Women's Singles, Men's and Women's Doubles, and Mixed Doubles Ladders available. Don't have a doubles partner? Reach out to us and we will try to assist. Vacation plans this summer? Simply turn your player card over to pause your participation until you return. You can join anytime this season, but we hope you'll kick off the ladder with us this Sunday. More information and rules can be found on our website.  Announcing a new weekly clinic with Mike Tasi at 5:30pm on Wednesdays: This 60-minute mixed clinic is for players rated 3.0 and above and includes live-ball drills focusing on strategy, stroke production and tactics in a fast-paced environment. A maximum of 6 players (men and women) can sign-up each week with a minimum of 3 players. The cost is $20 with the clinics beginning on Wednesday, June 19th. Please call the Pro Shop to sign-up (253-8250). Mark your calendars for upcoming events at the club: Next week marks the start of our Summer Tennis Program which runs on weekday afternoon for juniors aged 8 through 14, with the Future Stars Program starting the following week for ages 4-7.  RSVP for the All Member Round Robin, coordinated by Mike Tasi on June 29th at 10:00am and followed by prizes as well as a catered lunch. Join us on July 6th for the second annual Jack Seivwright Fire Me Up Tournament to celebrate the life and tennis career of junior program alum Jackson Seivwright.  Our newest weekly event, Family Night, starts on Saturday June 22nd. An evening for the whole family, parents and juniors of any age can join in from 4-6pm. Staffed with our summer program coaches, activities include warm-up drills, obstacle courses, on-court games, family round robin play and junior ladder matches.

Coaches Corner with Mike Tasi As America's favorite pastime, the common consensus is baseball. Believe it or not tennis is, in my opinion, a second cousin to baseball. The three skills you need to be successful in baseball are essentially the same in tennis. Hitting with a baseball bat is bio-mechanically the same as when you are exercising your ground strokes in tennis. Catching a baseball is also bio-mechanically the same motion as a volley, meaning we want to think of the volley as a catch. Lastly, the key to baseball is the throw, which is the same motion as a serve or overhead. So, next time you're out on court, simplify your game and go for the home run by subscribing to these three concepts of hitting, catching and throwing.

Spring has sprung and the nets are hung!

Courts 1-4 have been resurfaced with lines nailed down and nets hung. It's an exciting time of year and opening feels right around the corner. However, the courts are still too soft to play. We’ll wait until the clay dries out and firms up to support both a good ball bounce and the pressure of your shoes. Additionally, after today we have a week or more of rain ahead of us in the forecast. Let's hope for some better weather later this month and stay tuned for more updates. The Pro Shop plans to open on Friday, May 24th in time for the holiday weekend.

Curious to know how our courts are prepped for the season? New England Tennis Courts bring an impressive operation to the club and service all nine courts plus the backboard over the course of two days. We are halfway there with one day done and one more day yet to be scheduled depending on the weather. Head over to our homepage to see the photo gallery of court resurfacing in action.

The first event of the season is coming soon - Clean-Up Volunteer Workday on May 18th. Next, we’ll officially kickoff the season with the Annual Membership Meeting on Saturday June 1st.

Despite the rain on Sunday, we held our Spring Cleaning Sale and collected nearly $200 in donations to support our junior tennis programs and events this season. Around half of our old patio and pool furniture went off to new homes. The new furniture is still arriving, so for those of you planning to attend Clean-Up Day, be ready to assemble!

Looking forward to the season ahead,

Elle

Club Manager

In just over a month, we look forward to seeing you at our annual Spring Volunteer Workday.

Since we operate as a not-for-profit, the club depends on your 2 hours of volunteer work (or more!) each season to offset expenses. Volunteer work has been a cornerstone of the club since its inception, not only to manage costs, but also because of the benefit it brings of growing and strengthening connections within the STC community. This year more than ever, with the cost of labor already so high, your contribution is valued tremendously. From myself as club manager to the Board of Directors, we hope (dare we say, expect) that you consider your volunteer commitment as part of your membership. For those of you who have consistently volunteered, a heartfelt thank you.

You can volunteer during our Spring Clean-Up or Fall Close-Up Workdays or through other ways (serve on a committee, pitch-in during social events, or help with tournaments, etc.) If you cannot attend the scheduled workdays, contact us with your volunteer preferences. We will do what we can to provide alternative volunteer opportunities for you. Available now? There are some tasks that cannot wait for the upcoming volunteer workday, so please get in touch.

Weather permitting we will hold the Spring Volunteer Workday starting at 10am on Saturday, May 18th. The rain date, if needed, will be Sunday, May 19th. For more info and what to expect, see the event description on our website. No RSVP needed.

All volunteers will be rewarded with a sweet treat, a beverage, and a volunteer credit which can be redeemed for a free guest visit or ball machine use.

Reach out if you have any questions!

- Elle

Club Manager

While membership renewal is in progress, we have a lot to share with you about our summer tennis program. Read on to catch the latest news and updates.  Registration is open for the 2024 Core Tennis Program & Future Stars. The deadline for members to register for summer tennis is April 1st. Space is not guaranteed for members after April 1st as we will fill remaining spots with non-members and waitlisted families. Head over to our website for full details and event registration:

Summer Tennis Program Info & Registration

New name, same amazing program: You'll notice some changes to how we refer to the summer tennis offerings at the club. Formerly known as the Junior Program, the Core Tennis Program or CTP runs for 8 weeks of the summer for ages 8 to 14. Formerly known as Forehand Approach, the Advanced Tennis Program or ATP is integrated around the Core Tennis Program to offer motivated 12-14 year olds additional tennis instruction and opportunities to further develop game strategy, match play and strength/conditioning over the course of the 8-week Core Tennis Program. No changes were made to our beloved Future Stars Program for ages 4 to 7!  Announcing our newest hire, Sebastian Sweatman: We love to source staff directly from the membership. Also an active member, Seb will be our Core Tennis Program On-Court Facilitator this summer. We're excited about what he brings to the program and will be solidifying the rest of our coaching staff in the coming weeks. Here's an introduction to Sebastian in his own words:

"I started playing tennis at an early age (before 10 years of age). As a teenager, I got my first job at Windridge in Jeffersonville where in exchange for cleaning the bathrooms I got to participate in the tennis camp! Later I moved to Windridge at Teela-Wooket in Roxbury where I was a Counselor-in-Training for a year and then a Counselor. Tennis has been and still is how I stay in touch with my friends - and make new ones. In the winter I teach skiing with the Stowe Ski School (going on 16+ years) and I teach Middle School math at the Mt. Mansfield Academy. (For more info check out my LinkedIn Profile.) I’m excited and look forward to being with the kids on court, and I plan on learning and playing a lot!"

Coaches Workshop: On Saturday March 9th, our Program Coordinator, Michele, and four of our tennis program coaches attended a workshop at the Edge in Essex. It was a great day of learning new drills, group games and strategies to enhance the summer tennis program experience for all. Thank you Julia, Max, Lucy and Mallory for attending the workshop! Swim Lessons: We are gauging interest in member swim lessons this summer. Our swim instructor may be available for group lessons during the first two weeks in July. For group lessons, 4-5 swimmers are needed to fill the class. Interested families, please email us and specify your swimmer's age, current swim ability (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and your swimmer's availability this summer.  Junior Ladder: We are excited to announce the return of the junior ladder to the Stowe Tennis Club! For our U10, U12 and U14 junior members and Core Tennis Program participants, non-members and members alike, there will be plenty of healthy ladder competition this summer. Plans are in the works for the adult ladder as well. More details to be announced soon!   Reach out with any questions:  Elle, Club Manager Michele, Program Coordinator

We are delighted to welcome our new Junior Program Coordinator, Michele Whitmore. Read below to get to know our latest hire as she introduces herself to our membership:

Hello to the Stowe Tennis Club Community:

I am absolutely delighted to join this community as the Junior Tennis Program Coordinator for Summer 2024. I have had the pleasure of playing on the STC courts a few times with my good friend Charlie and to now have the opportunity to spend more time here, coordinating the junior tennis program, supporting our program’s coaches, and promoting this amazing sport to our program participants, makes me smile and anxious for summer to arrive.

A little about me. For 29 years, I was a higher education administrator at the Johnson campus (Johnson State College, Northern Vermont University, and now Vermont State University). For 12 of those years, I was Head Coach of the women’s tennis team and also during that timeframe, coached four seasons of the men’s team. Coaching was not part of my plan. I never coached tennis or played competitive tennis growing up; I just loved to play recreationally and watched A LOT of tennis on tv (still do…); however, the team needed a coach and I agreed to help out the tennis program for one season…and that was all it took. Coaching was such a positive and impactful experience for me and that experience gave me an even greater love and appreciation for the sport. I played competitively through the USTA for several years in the 4.0 division, mainly playing the 1 or 2 spot in singles and the 2 or 3 spot in doubles.

With the help of the coaching staff, my goal is to create an engaging and fun tennis program for all of our participants with solid on-court instruction; opportunities to improve strategy and tactics; to appreciate the importance of good sportsmanship and to hopefully further increase the love of and respect for the game of tennis.

I am grateful to have this opportunity, to spend more time on the courts, supporting a sport I love, and getting to know the STC community.

Tennis high-five,

- Michele

Dear Members, 

Membership Renewal is right around the corner. Catch up on the latest club news in our President's Letter. 

Congratulations to the Stowe High School Girl's and Boy's team members on their outstanding tennis season! The SHS girls took the Vermont State Division 1 Championship for the third time in a row.  The boys advanced to a spot in the Finals, narrowly missing the title in a deciding match against Burlington with final team score 3 - 4, and coached by Club members Pete and Joanna Graves. 

In the Vermont State Individual Tennis Tournament, dynamic duo Gabby Doehla and Kate Tilgner continued their reign as the state’s best girls doubles team, winning the Championship over Champlain Valley.  Charlotte Stevens earned the Finalist spot in singles competition putting up a good fight against the eventual champion, Aroa SanJuan Mas from BFA-St. Albans, who defeated #1 seed, Julia Biedermann, in a quarter finals match tie-break.  

Please join us in congratulating Stowe Tennis Club junior members and staff and the following Stowe Raiders players.  Girls:  Julia Biedermann, Charlotte Stevens, Gabby Doehla, Kate Tilgner and Lucy Andrus.  Boys: Max Biedermann, Bo Graves, Parker and TJ Guffey, Leo Jercinovic, JP Marhefka and Ben Nissenbaum.  Additional Stowe players rounding out the Raiders squad include: Jessie Brown, Harper Freund, Lula Paumgarten and Woody Reicheldt.

Well done, Go Raiders!