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- 2024-25 Co-captain Melissa Craig and Captain Joan Boyle
Sharlene Jerome
I was shocked to learn that the SunBird Sunchix have been around for 15 years and are still going strong! Barb Wallace is our only original founding member who is still on our team. Our coaches Joan and Melissa are responsible for not only our Friday Valley of the Sun game matches, but they coordinate and orchestrate our Monday tennis lessons with Rusty and our Wednesday practice schedules. They also serve as “treasurers” in collecting dues, Rusty’s payments, etc. Both Joan and Melissa share mutual admiration and respect for one another.
Joan was originally co-captain under the tutelage of Christine Terechenok before she retired from the sport. She learned a lot from Christine, which is clearly reflected in how I have seen the club perform these past two years that I have been a member.
Joan expressed, “I loved playing on the team and wanted to be part of the ongoing camaraderie and organizing the team and matchups for upcoming games. She hopes that we remain competitive, keep having fun, and win enough games to stay in the VOS 3.5 1 level. She also praised Melissa and her effective time management skills. Our Friday matches also culminate with “Ladies Who Lunch,” visiting our favorite spots and exploring new eateries, too!
Melissa joined Joan as co-captain to help share the load. She wanted to help the ladies learn to play doubles better together. She describes the team as a fun-loving group of ladies who like to play a bit of competitive tennis. Melissa also finds great joy when she sees players learning a new skill in either lessons or practice and then incorporating those new skills in matches. She admitted that her favorite part of being a Sunchix is the Friday social lunches where we get to know each other a little better on a more personal level. Melissa concluded with, “It has been a pleasure meeting and bonding with the members of the Sunchix. They really have become great friends.”
Well said, ladies!
So, if you are interested in learning more about the VOS league, here is the format: On Fridays between November and April, there are three courts of doubles teams. You play two regulation tennis sets (first team to 6 winning by 2). If you split those two sets, we play a 10-point Komen tiebreaker. First to 10 winning by 2. If the team wins in straight sets, the winning team receives 3 points. If you play a tiebreaker and win, you receive 2 points, but if you lose, you still receive 1 point. If you lose in straight sets, you receive no points.
Other notable, fun-filled activities included our annual Sunchix Christmas Party hosted by Leslie Maach. It is a potluck format with white elephant gift exchanges. Of course, the food and the drinks are always the merriest part of this get-together!