News

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!

I should have a definitive answer tomorrow on when we will have the courts operational. The net post that was dislodged is partially repaired and they are returning tomorrow to finish up. One silver lining if you call it that is it has been too wet to play. I’ll provide an update tomorrow.

Good news and bad news…The surfacing of the courts was completed last night. The bad news is that when the net was being installed on court 1 a post dislodged from its mooring. Woody and I met with the contractor this morning and it will be repaired in the next couple of days. Court 2 is available for play. Will advise once court 1 is available.

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.