Happy 90th Birthday to Ivan Shaffer and Hal Reimer!
Jenifer Walden
We all gathered together on Feb. 17 on the clubhouse patio to join two of our longtime members and dear friends, Hal Reimer and Ivan Shaffer, celebrate their 90th birthdays! Both fellows are respected veterans and seasoned SunBird Tennis Club members. We’ve all enjoyed our time with them on and off the courts over the years. It was a privilege to celebrate with both the boys, and we can only hope that we will all still be active Tennis Club members and playing our favorite sport when we are 90!
We visited Trilogy for a tournament on Feb. 1, and although it was a very close match, Trilogy prevailed 29 to 27. Then on Feb. 8, we invited our friends from Sun Lakes to play on our beautiful new courts! Big thanks to Holly Benson and Barb Filiere for preparing a scrumptious sub sandwich lunch and kudos to our generous members who donated salads and desserts. We love our volunteers! Score? It was a nail-biter, but we ended up in a tie! SunBird 13; Sun Lakes 13. On Feb. 29, we hosted our next-door neighbors from Springfield. (Sorry but since this article was written before the match even happened, I have no score to report as yet! I will clue you in next issue.)
The month of March is our last month of scheduled social tournament play for the season. On March 14, we travel to Palm Creek to play at their beautiful facilities. And finally, on March 21, we get to play on Springfield’s new tennis courts! Dianna Wreford (our very talented and dedicated tournament coordinator) will be emailing you all to encourage you to sign up for these events. She will also post a sign-up sheet on the Tennis Club bulletin board at the sports courts.
And finally, to finish out the season with a bang, we will have our year-end picnic and in-house tournament at the courts on Wednesday, March 25. Tennis anyone?
Tennis Tips & Tricks:
Your ground stroke: When you hit the ball, your head should at all times remain above your center of gravity, and your head at all times should stay relatively still. This provides more balance and enables you to more efficiently track the ball and recover for your next stroke. If your head moves away from your center of gravity, or does not remain still as you run toward the ball or as you swing, your strokes will no doubt suffer. Practice! Practice! Practice!
If you are interested in joining our SunBird Tennis Club, please contact our president, Pam Tiffany, at 480-848-1389. Our dues are only $40 a year and $15 for Associate Members! Such a deal!