119th St. Tennis Association

Welcome to the 119th St. Tennis Association Website.

You've come to the right place to find association news, learn about upcoming events and tournaments, find new hitting partners, and learn about all of the benefits of membership. We have put together a section for people that are interested in joining. We hope to count you among our members in the 2013 season. Annual Membership Dues: $40 per year. Pay by credit-card at our secure site — your support is needed to keep our courts properly maintained!

Note: NYC Parks and Recreation Tennis Permits are required from Saturday, April 6 through Sunday, November 24, 2013. See the NYC Parks and Recreation website for further information and to renew online. Permits are sold at the Arsenal at 61st Street and 5th Avenue: Adults $200, Seniors $20, Juniors $10; Single Play passes $15 per person. First-time permit buyers must purchase their permit at the Arsenal, Paragon Sporting Goods (in mid-April) or by mail.

Year-round rule: courts are signed for on a first-come, first-served basis. However, between April - November, a season permit or a Parks issued single play pass are required to reserve a court; one hour for singles, two-hours for doubles. Repeats allowed only if there is availability. If no attendant is on duty, sign-in sheets will be available outside the Park's Staff house; please respect the honor system!

During permit season, a $15 an hour reservation system is in effect for city-wide courts, including at 119th Street. For information, please click on the link: http://www.nycgovparks.org/tennisreservation/

Our resident pros are Dave Kardas, Jaime Bravo and Dawn Fox. To sign-up for adult or kids programs or private lessons, please contact Dave at moc.nsm|evresruoy#moc.nsm|evresruoy or call him at 203-520-9815 or contact Jaime at moc.liamg|ydusymmij#moc.liamg|ydusymmij or call him at 561-310-7791. Dawn can be reached at (251) 895-1369 or moc.liamg|xofnwadxof#moc.liamg|xofnwadxof.

Court hours are 8:00 a.m. - sundown. Please be advised that during the official tennis season, court attendants clean the courts between 6:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. We request your cooperation to briefly cease play while courts are maintained. This is for your safety as well as for general cleanliness needs!

2012 Season Highlights—Report from the President:

Our 2012 tennis tournament season, coordinated by Tournament Directors Patrick Duvalsaint and Amy Ayres, is over. We had a terrific celebration at Symposium Restaurant on October 15 at which the trophies were awarded to the champions and finalists. The Men's 60+ concluded on October 1st - Mark Danna def. Bob Aaronson 6-0, 6-2. Earlier in the season, the Inaugural Women's Doubles tournament was held during the Spring Tennis Festival. Liz Hydes and Joanie Schroeder defeated Daisy Siemon and Henrietta Gwaltney in the final, 6-1, 6-0. The Men's Open saw a tough battle between Hiroshi Takei and Adam Davis. Hiroshi defeated Adam 6-1, 6-3. In the Men's 45+ Jon Lurie defeated Patrick Duvalsaint, 6-3, 6-2. In the Women's Open Yuko Takubo defeated Yuka Hirose, 6-3, 6-1. Sumiyo and Naga Endo defeated Yuko Takubo and Marty Appel, 6-1, 6-2 in the very fun and competitive Mixed Doubles. The Men’s Doubles round-robin concluded with an exciting match resulting in team Kasetani/Takei defeating team Simon/Hofmann 7-5, 6-3. The Men's Invitational results: Will McCord def. Jongman Paek, 6-1, 6-2. Whew - it was a season of tough competition and many new 119TA champions!

The Spring Tennis Festival, held on Saturday, May 19 was a great success. About 100 or so tennis players and friends partook of the great picnic spread donated by local restaurants. Please frequent our community sponsor's establishments (see list below) and thank them for their contributions (picnic supplies, raffle items and amazing, yummy food!). Throughout the festival, there was lots of tennis being played with the pros on court 2 and quick-start tennis for kids on court 1. And, some hearty volunteers showed up early to help Napua clean the gutters surrounding the courts. Thanks to all for making the day a success. We raised $2,500 from the raffle, new/renewed memberships, donations and a $1,000 grant from USTA Eastern.

Six of our 10 courts were pressure washed in April but there's more work to do and cracks to fill. We want to do repairs with the money we've raised so far but it will take much more fundraising to do anything significant. We were glad to have Irene back as our court attendant but were short staffed the entire summer due to Park cutbacks.

We once again hosted the City Parks Foundation and Columbia University for free tennis programs for kids on weekday mornings. These popular programs concluded in mid-August.

MTG (Metropolitan Tennis Group) hosted the Annual Matthew Shepard JAM on October 13. Over 60 people participated raising more than $5,000 for the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Thanks for your support and participation!

We appreciate your support especially in these challenging financial times. We could use more volunteer help and membership on our Board of Directors. Please contact me if you wish to be involved! As always, many thanks.

See you at the courts—we keep the nets up all winter long!

Sincerely,

Liz Westbrook Hydes
President

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Thanks to the 2012 Spring Tennis Festival Sponsor: USTA Eastern Metro

Also, hearty thanks to our neighborhood restaurants who provided these sensational items for the picnic buffet:

Bettolona Restaurant (the yummy tiramisu) - Broadway between LaSalle and Tiemann
Henry's (the scrumptious penne bolognese) - Broadway and 105th Street
Indian Cafe - (the delicious chicken curry, vegetable dishes and other Indian savories) - 108th & Bway
107 West - (the refreshing mixed green salad)- 107th & Bway
Pisticci - (the crunchy bruschetta) - LaSalle Street between Broadway and Claremont
Symposium - (the terrific chicken dish, Greek salad, spinach pie, grape leaves, eggplant spreads and more) - 113th between Bway & Amsterdam

Additional contributions for the picnic and generous gift certificates for the raffle were donated by:

Community Food & Juice (112th & Bway)
Vareli Restaurant (112th & Bway)
University Housewares (Broadway and 113th Street)
West Side Market (110th and Bway)
Serene Spa (269 W. 72nd Street)
Silver Moon Bakery (105th & Bway)
YourServeTennis (119th Street Tennis Pros)
Riverside Park Conservancy - our affiliate!

Our "GOLD" raffle drawing of two tickets to the US Open Women's Semi-Final was contributed by Tournament Director Patrick Duvalsaint. MANY THANKS! The winners: Gretchen and Fred Johnson - CONGRATULATIONS — have a great trip to the US Open!

The 119th Street Tennis Association is pleased to be an affiliate of Riverside Park Conservancy.

To reach someone at the Association, check out our contact page.**