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 coming 2010 season.

Note: NYC Parks and Recreation Tennis Permits are required from Saturday, April 3rd through Sunday, November 21, 2010. See the NYC Parks and Recreation website for further information and to renew online. Permits are available at the Arsenal at 61st Street and 5th Avenue (Adults $100, Seniors $20, Juniors $10). First-time permit buyers must purchase their permit at the Arsenal, Paragon Sporting Goods or by mail.

Court time at the 119th Street and Riverside Park location cannot be reserved in advance. Courts are signed for on a first-come, first-served basis. 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.

Update from the President - Winter 2010 - Your Dues at Work

Mark your calendar: 2010 Annual Meeting for Members - Monday, March 22 - 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at the Interchurch Center.

Annual Membership Dues: Early bird special! Join now and save $10. Dues remain $25 until June 1st, 2010. After June 1st, dues will increase to $35.

Highlights of the 2009 Season:

Our 2009 tennis tournament season, coordinated by Tournament Directors Marty Appel and Amy Ayres, concluded in September. Many thanks to Daisy Siemon and Masaki Kasetani for all their help with the tournaments, especially during the rainy days of June and July where their valiant efforts at squeegeeing helped keep the matches moving forward.

The annual reception honoring our tournament champions and celebrating the tennis season was held on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009. The 119th Street Tennis Association's newest sponsor O.N.E. paid for the tournament trophies and contributed yummy and healthy coconut water samples for our guests. Fifty-eight Association members attended the lively reception, held at Symposium Restaurant. Pictures from the event are at our photo gallery.

Recap of the 2009 tournaments: The Men's Invitational Final took place on September 12 with a match between Gabriel Topor and Kyle Warner. Kyle def. Gabriel 6-1, 6-4. Other results of completed tournaments: in the Men's Open Final, held in June and early July, John Fumi def. Will McCord 6-4, 6-0. Niki Sandoval def. Deb Milek 6-4, 7-5 in an exciting Women's Open Final. In the Men's 45+, Andy Rubien def. Masaki Kasetani 6-4, 6-2. In the Mixed Doubles Final, brother and sister team, John and Liz Suh def. defending champions, Tom Holz and Lauren Kende 6-3, 6-1. The Men's Doubles was completed in a one day round-robin event. John Suh and Don Nguyen def. Wataru Yanai and Shigeno Ichimura 7-5, 6-4. Our first Men's 60+ concluded on Sept. 22nd with a tough battle between Leopoldo "The Maestro" Mucci and Mark "Doctor Marcus" Danna. Mark won in the tiebreak 3rd set, 0-6, 6-3, 7-4. Congratulations to our champions and finalists.

Throughout the spring and summer we co-hosted with NYC Tennis Partners a series of sold out Speed Tennis and Mixed Doubles Mixer events, coordinated by Dorlene Kaplan. Many thanks to Dorlene and her husband Larry for arranging these events that are fun and excellent fundraisers for our court maintenance.

The 11th Annual Matthew Shepard JAM was held at our courts on Oct. 4th. Over 50 people participated in 4 hours of round-robin play on a stunning Sunday afternoon. There were ample refreshments, including free bottles of O.N.E. coconut water. We're pleased to announce that the event raised $4,700 for the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

In late July and early August we hired Oval Tennis to pressure wash slippery, slimy areas of our courts. They also completed crack repair to the most needed areas. We thank you for your patience as courts needed to be temporarily closed for this work.

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

Mallika Fernando is our resident pro. She is at our courts giving lessons and has a variety of clinics for adults and children. She can be reached at 917- 679-0548.

We appreciate your support especially in these challenging financial times. We don't want to let the courts fall into disrepair as they did years ago. We're pleased to report that we've exceeded last year's record for membership. We now have a record 175 Members for the 2009 season. As always, many thanks!

The courts will remain open this winter, weather permitting. Come on down and play tennis!

Sincerely,

Liz Westbrook Hydes
President

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

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