Please join me in welcoming our new Teaching Professional, Andy Nnewihe. Before I introduce Andy, I’d like to explain our thinking in making this change.
Numerous members and prospective members have enquired about lesson availability during the week. We feel that providing lessons and clinics is important at STC so that we are able to serve learning members as well as experienced members, and that we need to be able to provide that service during the week, as well as on weekends. Genna Burakovsky, who has been our pro for the past several years, teaches full time on the Cape during the summer, and is not available to us beyond Sundays.
We have been very lucky to have had Genna as a pro. Everyone who has taken a lesson from Genna or has seen him give a lesson or clinic knows what an excellent instructor he is. He has also introduced several new members to the club, and we thank him for that as well. After I sent out the last newsletter, Genna informed me that he too has a tennis shop, right in town, and that he also provides stringing services and everything else a member might want. Check him out at Your Advantage Tennis Shop in Sharon. Thank you, Genna.
Andy Nnewihe has a PhD in Bioengineering and Masters in Biomechanics from Stanford University, and his BS in Electrical Engineering from MIT. (STC seems to attract particularly intelligent pros – if I am not mistaken, Genna attended Northwestern). Andy left the corporate world last year in order to dedicate himself to tennis, opening up the ICON Tennis and Pickleball shop in Walpole. He has played and taught tennis since high school, and is currently also a teaching pro at the Wimbledon 109 Club in Walpole. His teaching philosophy is based on achieving proper biomechanics to optimally strike the ball, achieving power, spin, and consistency, together with developing effective game planning and game management strategies for more advanced players. But above all, he believes in teaching how to have fun playing tennis. He brings an infectious enthusiasm for the sport, and excels at developing children. He is an avid believer in recording training sessions and has done so for many of his clients and for his YouTube channel @tenniswithandy. He has also designed software for optimizing fitness workouts and for cutting dead time in recorded tennis matches. If you have interest in instruction for you or your children, or if you are interested in joining a clinic at any level, please contact Andy at nnewihe@gmail.com.
Other Items
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Women’s Social. Just a reminder that if you are planning on attending the Women’s Social this coming Saturday, please contact Janet Wenzel.
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Port-a-Potty. The toilet vandals are still active. We tried staking the port-a-potty down, but they were undeterred. We will be taking additional measures. I apologize; I know this is unpleasant. We will resolve it as quickly as we can. If you happen to notice anything unusual (besides the fact that the port-a-potty is lying on its side), please let me know, and, if appropriate, I will pass it on to the Sharon Police, who are monitoring the situation.
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Buddies. In the membership renewal form we asked if you were willing to be a “buddy” to a new member. Several of you said yes. Thank you. We would like to try administering the Buddy program through the TeamReach application. Our main group code on TeamReach is “STCTennis”. I have set up a new group code: “STCBuddy.” If you have offered to be a buddy, please enroll in the app, join the STCBuddy group, and introduce yourself as someone available to help new members navigate the club and meet other members (You should also join the main STCTennis group). If you are a new member, join both groups, introduce yourself, and strike up a conversation with a buddy. We currently have around 45 members in the main STCTennis group. I encourage everyone in the club to check it out. You can also set up your own group code, if, for example, you have a group that plays together all the time. TeamReach makes a great alternative to email for scheduling and enrolling. For more info on TeamReach, see the Member Only page of our website.
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Member Directory. The member directory can be accessed through the Members Only page of the website. You can also download the directory app to your phone. It lists all paid-up members who have indicated that they want to be included. Please check and verify that the information for you and your family is correct. Currently we only display email addresses. In some cases we are missing email addresses for family members. Unfortunately there is no self-serve function. If you need to change anything, send me an email.
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Line Sweepers. We know that some of the line sweepers can be pretty finicky. If you encounter a problem with a line sweeper please do not remove it from the court (unless it just doesn’t spin at all). Instead, get a piece of blue tape from the roll that is in the defibrillator box attached to the wall of the shed. Put a piece of blue tape on the handle of the sweeper, but leave it on the court, and send me an email. Sometimes only a small adjustment or some WD-40 is required. And in some cases, it just requires a slightly different technique from the user. New line sweepers are quite expensive – we will plan to replace a few each year.
See you on the courts!
Dan Smith
President
dsmith9.stc@gmail.com
info@sharontennisclub.org
