Hello Tennis Ladies,

Our outdoor season is ready to begin on May 1^st! I would like to thank our Membership Chair, Colette Lane, our Treasurer, Kathy Wood, our Park District Liaison, Jess Moyer, our VP, Wendy Varygiannes, our Web Coordinator, Ann Iremedio, the rest of the board members and all those who have volunteered for an event. Thanks for all you have done to get our league up and running! Because of all your help, we are ready to start a fun season with lots of events for everyone!

Open Play begins on Friday May 1^st at Hinkley! We have courts 1-4 reserved from 5-7pm on Fridays. Open play also runs Monday & Thursday Evenings 5-9pm and Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday Mornings 8-11am. Players of all levels are welcome to come play! The courts change on the half hour, so arrive at those times, balls are not provided so bring some if you can. It is a great time to practice your skills and meet new friends!

For our new members, we will have a new member meeting at Open Play on May 1^st at 4:30 pm. We will review our activities, rules and answer any questions you may have. Veteran members are also welcome to attend, and regular open play will follow.

Sign up for the June events begins on May 1^st. The sign-up links will be posted on our website. We will have our Singles Weekday Tournament on June 9^th-from 8-12pm, Doubles Weekday Tournament on June 10^th from 8-12pm and the Tennis Clinic on Saturday, June 20^th from 9-11am. For the Doubles Tournament. You will need to sign up with a partner. If you need a partner, please let the chairs know and they will try to match you up. These are single elimination tournaments.  Remember you can only sign up for one of the two tennis clinics (unless there are extra spots) so only sign up if you are not signed up for the May Clinic.

For those of you who have signed up on the Challenge Ladders, May 1^st  is the start of Open Challenge Month. You can challenge ANYONE on the ladder during the month of May. The complete set of rules for setting up challenges is on our website. Here are some important things to keep in mind:

1. Challenges can be made by email, phone or text. Please include all team members in communications.  A suggested way to challenge: “My Partner, AB and I would like to challenge you and CD to a match. Please offer 3 dates and times. Thank you.” If no response in 24 hours, try to contact using another method. If still no response after another 24 hours, a forfeit is given.
2. Play the match within 7 days of when the challenge was accepted. Reasonable starting times are between 8am-8pm, and a weeknight or weekend must be offered as an option. If you cannot offer 3 dates/times within a 7-day period a forfeit is given.
3. The team that asked for the Challenge brings the balls.
4. You can ONLY turn down a challenge if you already have a challenge from behind. For those of you on both ladders: If you get a challenge on the singles ladder, you still must accept a challenge on the doubles ladder and vice versa.
5. Doubles matches consist of best 2 out of 3 sets. If both teams agree before play, a tiebreak may be played in lieu of a 3^rd set. If the teams do not agree, a 3^rd set must be played.
6. Singles matches consist of a 10 game pro-set. If both teams agree before play, an 8 game pro-set may be played, with a tie break at 8 all.
7. Please report all Match Results on the website ASAP after played.
8. Please report Turnovers on the website as soon as you know you are unavailable to play.

The PRWTA Directory will be made available on our website.  It is password protected to ensure your privacy. A separate email will be sent out to current and paid members only, with the password to access the directory. Please do not share this password with anyone. I recommend printing a copy of the directory so you can easily get the contact information you need to make your challenges.

There is much more information about how our league is run, events, rules, etc. on our website. Please check it out if you have any questions or just to get more familiar with PRWTA. Also, if you haven’t already, join the PRWTA Facebook page. It is a PRIVATE group administered by one of our members. You can also reach out to any board member if you have a question or need any help or clarification.

Lastly, I wanted to thank everyone who generously donated to Amy Noble’s memorial plaque for the bench at Hinkley. A big thank you to Colette Lane, Wendy Varygiannes, Jess Moyer, Dupe Henry and Kathy Wood for working on this special fundraiser and coordinating with the PRCW organization.  Thank you to everyone who came out to support Scott and Amy’s family and friends at her Celebration of Life this past Saturday. Because of your generosity, I am happy to report that we have met our goal already!  We will keep you updated as to when the plaque will be installed. We will continue to dedicate this season to Amy’s memory and to keep Scott and Amy’s families in our thoughts and prayers.

Looking forward to a great 2026 season and some fun tennis!

See you on the courts soon!

Ellyn Ryan