Board Post

I’m very happy to announce that weather permitting the club will be available for play this weekend. As of this morning the courts were extremely wet and not suitable for play this is a result of the resurfacing just being finished and the showers yesterday. The weekend forecast is not to promising but we are ahead of schedule opening this year. That being said please be mindful of the soft early season surface if your shoes make an impression please do not play. We will make it a point of emphasis to have the courts closed sign up when conditions are too wet. While on the subject of shoes please wear appropriate tennis shoes (no running shoes please). If you haven’t already, please review the club’s protocols on our website. www.madrivertennis.com

If you have not returned your membership and liability waiver, please do so at your earliest convenience. We have had our operating costs spike the past couple of years due to an increase in the lease, surface material, new posts/nets, lines and labor to set up the playing surface. Our goal is to elevate the playing experience while keeping membership affordable for everyone going forward. A new addition is a shoe brush which will be installed shortly by the shed. If our financials look solid, we hope to add new court benches along with a new table, umbrella and chairs.

Welcome to our new members and welcome back to our returning members!

I hope everyone is looking forward to this season as much as I am!

See you on the courts!

Thanks to everyone for the great season which ended on November 2nd. Before we start planning for the 2025 season, I have a couple of questions to hopefully improve on the experience at the club. Feel free to answer all or just a couple of questions that pertain to your experience in 2024.

Please reply to my email [email protected]. You can copy and paste the questions below into the body of an email. A reply to this address will not come back to me. Your replies are confidential and will be summarized for our next board meeting. Remember ” Feedback is a Gift “.

1) How often do you visit the club?

2) Do you find reserving a court when you are able to play available? 

3) How would you rate the quality of the tennis courts?

4) Do you participate in club tournaments, events, clinics or doubles groups? If not, why?

5) How satisfied are you with your overall experience at the club?

6) What improvements would you like to see at the club?

7) Do you have any additional comments or suggestions for the club?

Just a quick advisory. Judy was headed up to play tennis today and the construction at German Flats and 17 held her up for 25 minutes in each direction.

My trustworthy informant Bob Dillon volunteers that the “courts are great” this morning.

Be advised that Route 17 is closed except to local traffic and that there may be work crews active at the damaged road locations between German Flats and Old Mansfield Roads.

-Woody

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

The club spends between the Dry Fast material and labor for set-up of the courts over $5,000. Woody also pours blood, sweat and tears into maintaining the surface. Yesterday I played at 1:30 and both courts were littered with footprints. If you set foot on the playing surface and you leave an indent the courts are too soft to play on. Once the surface is compromised like it has been it is next to impossible to restore it. Be prepared for bad bounces the balance of the year. It is beyond frustrating.

Please check after you sweep both courts had mounds of material on the playing surface after being swept.

I’m happy to report the repair on the court 1 post has been completed. The post needs to set for today and tomorrow. On Friday the net will be tensioned and court 1 available for play.

Thanks for everyone’s patience…enjoy the season!