ball
ball
ball
ball
ball
ball

http://tennisclub.gsfc.nasa.gov/
This page was last updated on 26 April 2013
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers

tennisball Goddard Tennis Club tennisball GEWA logo

goddard racket The Goddard Tennis Club is one of the many social clubs sponsored by the Goddard Employees Welfare Association (GEWA).
The Goddard Tennis Club (GTC) is built and maintained by its members, who work at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

members Goddard Tennis Club Membership for 2013 PDF icon

All badge-carrying employees of GSFC (contractors, civil servants and retirees) and their immediate family members are eligable to join the Goddard Tennis Club. Members may bring one guest (if the guest is eligable to enter a federal site). See the Club flyer for a summary.

In 2013, annual dues remain $60 for basic membership to cover the annual construction and maintenance costs (no longer paid by GEWA):
- $60 basic membership ($25 for summer interns/students)
- $20 per family member (optional)
- $15 per guest card (optional, limit 1)
- $15 per ball machine privilege and key (optional)

wimbledon man Where to get GTC membership applications wimbledon woman
Fill out the PAPER form and snail-mail it to Andy Negri c/o Stephen Palm at GSFC Code 612.

claycourts Goddard Tennis Facility (click to visit)

GTC has 8 Har-Tru and 2 lighted hard courts in a sheltered area. Click on the courts pictured above to get: a map and directions, a tour, a description of court procedures and services, a history of the club, and GTC court maintenance.

This facility is managed by our elected officials:
- President: Maria Lecha, Maria.C.Lecha@nasa.gov
- Vice-President: Mike Powers, Michael.K.Powers@nasa.gov
- Treasurer: Andy Negri, ANegri@essic.umd.edu

Other jobs are carried out by volunteers:
- Ladder, grounds, and web: Dennis Chesters, Dennis.Chesters@nasa.gov
- Tournaments: Andy Negri, ANegri@essic.umd.edu
- Sprinklers: Dan Mandl, Daniel.J.Mandl@nasa.gov

tennis.ladder GTC Ladder (click for standings)

The GTC ladder season opens on April 15th and ends October 31st, inclusive. Traditionally, anyone can challenge anyone during the first month, with the 10-rung limit imposed for matches played after May 15th. Tournament play also counts as a ladder match, unlimited by the players' standings on the ladder. By the way, you can start your own community tennis ladder using the web site TennisEngine.com to organize a membership list and manage the standings.

sport_tennis GTC Tournaments


- Spring Singles - Memorial Day weekend, give or take a week
- Fall Singles - Labor Day weekend, give or take a week

Past winners of GTC singles tournaments (click to view).

The Memorial Day Weekend 2012 singles tournament was won by Stephane Ritz, who defeated Cliff Liu in the final, 7-6, 6-2.

The Labor Day Weekend 2012 singles tournament was won by John Cannizzo, who defeated Tom Weisz in the final (6-3, 6-0). 


The Goddard Tennis Club (GTC) will host a singles tournament over the
Memorial Day Holiday weekend, Saturday May 25, and Sunday May 26, with
two matches each morning. (Rain date: Monday, May 27). All levels of
play are welcome. The GTC tournament is a "Swiss-style" round-robin:
winners-play-winners and non-winners-play-non-winners every round, so
eventually everybody plays opponents near their own ability. All Goddard
and affiliate (badged) employees and their families are welcome to
participate. The cost is $5, to cover trophies and refreshments, payable
at registration at 9 am May 25 at the Goddard courts. Please express
your interest in participating by registering IN ADVANCE via an email
to anegri@essic.umd.edu by May 22. Participation may be limited to the
first 20 registrants. Day-of registration cannot be accommodated.

The GTC tournaments are Swiss-style round-robin: winners-play-winners and losers-play-losers every round, so everybody eventually plays opponents on their own level.

The tournaments are usually open to anyone qualified to play on the GTC courts: members, family members, and guests.

Tournament play counts as a ladder match, unless one of the players explicitly says "no" before the tournament match begins.

At the discretion of the ladder chairman, ladder members playing in and completing the GTC singles tournaments are promoted to the top of the ladder, in the order that they finish in the tournament. Ladder members who receive this promotion are subject to unrestricted challenges for the next 4 weeks.

Tournament registration is on a sheet posted at courtside a few weeks before the tournament, or via phone or e-mail to the tournament director.

The tournament director is responsible for seeding, based on ladder standings and best judgement of skill. Please don't argue with him/her/it.

Andy Negri, UMd/ESSIC, is the tournament director [anegri@essic.umd.edu].

Here are Andy's recommendations for running a tournament: 
Among the things I bring are:

Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite
Gal OJ
2 gal water with spigot
bananas
fig newtons
pretzels
ice
ice chests
cups
towels
pencils
plexiglass to cover paperwork
index cards to do matchups
cans new tennis balls for sale
plastic tablecloth (nice touch)

Attached are the flyer from 2005 Labor Day tourney (WORD)
and spreadsheet for ranking the players/recording the matches (EXCEL). 
This latter should print out on 11 by 17 paper if you select a tabloid-capable printer.

EarthBall GTC News

tennis_sign GTC Tennis Lessons

Goddard Tennis Club will be offering tennis lessons at the Goddard Tennis Courts located adjacent to the Rec. Center starting on April 15. The particulars for this 6-week session are as follows: Mon. 5p.m. – 6p.m. and Wed. 12noon – 1p.m., for beginner and adv. beginners, racquets provided, use of a ball machine, experienced instructors, $60 payable at first lesson (cash or check only). For more information and the application form, click here: Tennis_Lesson_Application_Form.pdf For questions, write to keiji.k.tasaki@nasa.gov.

tennis_sign GTC Tennis Socials

GTC holds occasional fun get-togethers for players at all levels. Drills, lessons, pick-up games, singles & doubles are options.

Questions? Contact erin.wilson@nasa.gov

tennis_sign GTC Mailing List

GTC uses NASA's "lists" service to send mass-mailings to its members. Once on the GTC list, you receive all the club's broadcast e-mail. You can sign up for the GTC mailing list at https://lists.nasa.gov/mailman/listinfo/goddard-tennis-club, subject to approval by the GTC list administrators (the club officials).

tennis_sign GTC Management Reports

Treasurer's Report, end of 2012 (PDF, click to view). 


Goddard Tennis Club Meeting Notes, March 14, 2013, 12 noon

1. Thanks to all for your club support last year.  There are several efforts
coming up for this year where there will be calls for volunteers, plus plenty of
opportunities to lead other activities.   Assistance with maintenance is always
appreciated.  
2. There is an open call for Officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer and
Secretary).   By GEWA policy, only one need be a Civil servant.  Contractors and
Retirees can also step up.   Pending no other candidates, the Officers are:
Maria Lecha, President; Mike Powers, Vice President and Andy Negri, Treasurer.
Thanks to Mike Powers and Maria Lecha for their long run of service as Officers
to the club.  
3. Financially, the club broke even last year, helped by all the volunteer
labor.    The number of members is about the same as the previous year.
Discussion led to maintaining the membership rates the same as last year.
There is some nominal carryover balance.   The membership form on the Website
will be updated.   See items 7 and 8 below, $ donations are encouraged.   Two
club members went to a GEWA Council meeting last year.  GEWA was not in position
to assist financially.  
4. The Har-tru courts are in good shape from the winter.   Line completion for
Court 2 and leaf removal for the Court 1 and 2 and 8 from the maintenance
groups, remain from last year.   
5. The ball machine was checked and is in working order.   
6. Courts 7 and 8 need the top dressing and this will use the remaining Har-tru
from last year.   Due to the right turn radius constraint of the drop spreader,
much of this effort work will be manual.  Call for volunteers will be sent out
when the water is turned on in a few weeks. 
7. The roller still makes noise from last year, so there is potential for
additional costs in the future.  It may need batteries and wiring.  The front
tire of the roller needs repair.  The front tire is part of a motorcycle type
suspension system.   Need to identify a contact that has experience with similar
arrangement for the tire replacement.   The front tire goes flat within a week.
It is probably a short amount of time until the tire does not hold.  
8. There are some large potential expenditure for repair of the cracks and
painting of the hard courts.  Mike Flick is the POC for this effort.  He has
some quotes for some of the materials and repainting ranging from $2K+ for part
of the materials to $15K+.   The initial step is to clean the courts.  He will
be asking for volunteers – also in a few weeks when the water is turned on.
The research provided recommended that hard courts have regular painting.  The
last time for these courts was several years ago – possibly 2006.  
9. Weeds need removal.  Large weeds are best removed by weed wacker.  Small
weeds are treated by sprayer with Roundup.  
10. The scaffold used to work on the electric lights on the hard court needs
rust removal and painting.  
11. Andy Negri is organizing the Singles Tournaments for Memorial Day and Labor
Day weekends.  
12. Some people mentioned willingness to provide tennis lessons and were
encouraged to move forward.  There have been various inquiries about lessons.
Other possible activities that need POCs/Leads are Open House Night(s), other
Tournaments, etc.

You can get a membership application from the bulletin board at courtside, or download the GTC membership application form from this page.

Old GTC news and chat (click to view).

news Tennis Items of Interest

Suess Tennis Fun tennisballbouncing

tennisman Tennis Servers on the Web

tennisnet Tennis Vendors on the Web

White House tennis court Local Tennis

snowy courts Winter Tennis Facilities

End Notes

Important Safety Information

NASA does not endorse any recreational items.

NASA Web Site Privacy, Security, Notices.

tennisman Dennis.Chesters@nasa.gov maintains this GEWA Goddard Tennis Club page


tennis whites man ... GTC Constitution, 1981 PDF icon ... GTC Rules, 1981 PDF icon