It was like being at a reunion; everyone was smiling and enjoying themselves so much that they didn’t want to rotate out of their matches after the first hour. Three players from Cliffside Park, Jersey City and Mahwah who often played with each other in the past but hadn’t in a few months on the same day decided they would gather tonight. The Jersey city regular introduced a tennis classmate from NYC to our group. They all had fun…
Friday night parties are still going strong this summer and in fact are more popular than they’ve ever been in the past 5 summers. It seems the young and older players blend in quite well with each other. Whether it’s the people, the atmosphere or it’s TGIF mentality – it sure works well…
What a nice surprise to see 2 friends from Yonkers that I rarely see during the winter season. One is captain of about 20 teams and the other is another fierce competitor on court with a smile, kind of like FDR “Speak softly but carry a big stick.” It was so much fun on their court that a regular from Fort Lee, aka Ice Cream Man…
There was so much going on at the parties last week that I hardly had time to record the events, although a couple of things stood out. A newcomer from Livingston is the first mortician I’ve ever met! Contrary to this death-related profession, she is a very social and outgoing person. For being a newcomer she mingled, joked, laughed, smiled and enjoyed the whole evening.
Our 5th Annual Memorial Day Sunday Bash at Packanack Lake stole the show this week! It was a beautiful Sunday with players from all over NY and NJ. As each one arrived, there were hi’s, hello’s, hugs and smiles from players who met for the first time and players who had seen each other just days before…
Although it was a small group than the usual winter crowd, everyone still had fun. It’s always a pleasure to hear different players say things like – “It’s wonderful that I can always call you the day of and you can accommodate me” or “It’s great to have a place to go play when other parties locales stop after April.” I am a true tennis addict…
A couple of Tuesdays ago when 2 friends from Fort Lee signed up, I couldn’t pass up the chance to play with them. Immediately I was on the hunt for a fourth. A newcomer from New City joined us and we had the best of times the 1st hour. Then for the 2nd hour, 2 of us split up to play with 2 other players. The fun and the laughs continued on both courts. The men from NYC and Tenafly had different kind of fun – fierce doubles.
When a newcomer from Warren arrived on Friday, I immediately thought of another newcomer from West Orange who has attended the past few weeks. They seemed to have so much in common – youth, athleticism and congeniality, so I picked up the phone to call the West Orange player to see if by chance he would like to play. Voila!
A regular moved from NYC to Jersey City a couple of weekends ago. Sick with a virus and fatigued from moving, she thought she had to be carried out on a stretcher. Feeling better and ready to play, she signed up for the party stating – “We are still sorting out our stuff. But I know where all my tennis gear is!” I like her priorities.
I started out feeling ambivalent about matching up players from the Bronx, Riverdale, Clifton and Fort Lee. But after watching only a few games, my fears turned into excitement as great points started to emerge with the perfect pairings…