Beverly Bootstraps comes to Bass River
The Beverly Bootstraps Community Services held its 1st Taste of Beverly cooking contest at Bass River. Chefs from 4 prestigious Beverly restaurants faced off in an Iron Chef style cook-off. Represented were Brendan Crocker’s Wild Horse Café, Harry’s 240, Tryst and Chianti’s. Chefs were required to use 75% of their ingredients from the food pantry and 25% from their own kitchens. The Master of Ceremonies was Billy Costa. Local dignitaries on hand were the Mayor of Beverly, Bass River Tennis Club owner Manny Barros and many others. The evening was a tremendous success with thousands of dollars raised for the food pantry. We even had the local cable channel carrying the action. It would be impossible to thank everyone who made a night like this a success, but Bass River’s Party Coordinator Erin Theriault, the Bootstraps organizations’ Donna Crocker (also a Bass River Club member) Amy Murphy and Andrea Jones among many others deserve credit. We hope this will be an annual event at Bass River for many years to come!

Bass River tries to do its part for Haiti
In the weeks after the devastating earthquakes that hit Haiti, Bass River Members were invited to add $10.00 to the price of their lessons. Bass River pledged to match the amount and many members took us up on it. Some of the teaching staff offered to contribute to the match as well. Thanks to all who gave so generously. On behalf of the members of the Bass River Tennis Club, we sent a check to the American Red Cross in the amount of $640.00.

A Visit from Keep Sound Minds
In January, Irene Lambert of KeepSoundMinds.org came to Bass River to raise awareness of mental health issues. Her non-profit organization sells jewelry and gift items to raise money for this terrific cause. We invited Irene to Bass River on a day when we knew the most ladies teams and in-house programs would be running. The club did not promote Irene’s arrival because we were fooled by the snow storm that never came. However, we will make arrangements to have Irene back in the spring. Keep Sound Minds was the subject of a feature on WCVB Channel 5 on February, 21st. You can watch this moving interview on the WCVB website.

Session 4
Junior Program Begins Soon
Session 4 of our Junior Program begins on March 15th. Our current enrollees are automatically re-enrolled. Anyone who is not in this current session can sign-up on the open enrollment date, March 1st. If you are not currently in session 3, we are sorry that you cannot get in before the 1st. If you have any questions on the enrollment process or simply want to check availability, please talk to Larry Lebatique. Session 4 runs through May 13th. Check out all the details under the “Juniors” tab on our website

Book Your Own Court, Online!
Many of our members are taking advantage of our online booking system. You can, too! Simply click here and arrange for your own court time, 24/7! All you need is your 4-digit membership number. If you are not the primary member on your account, then please contact Mike LaPierre to get set up mlapierre@bassrivertennis.com. If you don’t know your number, you can find it on your monthly statement. We hope you enjoy this convenience. If you aren’t quite ready to embrace the latest technology, be assured that you will always be able to book your court time by calling us and speaking to one of our friendly Member Service Representatives. They are eager to serve you!

USTA Spring/Summer League 2010
The USTA Spring/Summer Leagues for men and women are getting ready to start. The season runs from mid-May to late July with districts, sectionals and nationals extending beyond that. Anyone interested in captaining and/or playing should contact Mike LaPierre. We have posted some very important information on our website. Please go on our site, click on Tennis Links and select USTA Info. Many of your questions will be answered there, but as always, we are happy to assist you. March 3rd is the captain’s meeting at Regis College in Weston. If you played at least 2 matches within the last 2 years, then you can check out your current rating online at www.ustanewengland.com. If you need some help, please call on Mike or Larry to help you.

Do We Have Your Email Address?l
The club has been using our email database to notify members of special events and current happenings. We try to keep you abreast of things like Friday night social reminders and special events not on the calendar, just to name a few. We had to use our data base to notify our members of a car break in. While an isolated incident, we like to be able to reach out to our members quickly if need be. If you have not received these email bulletins, your email address is either not current or correct in our system. Please help us update our records by speaking with a Member Service Representative or send me an email at mlapierre@bassrivertennis.com. We’ll update your record and you won’t miss a thing.

Rares Petritoi
Many of our junior players, and parents, are confused by the “Level” of the USTA tournaments. Here is some basic information that may help you. The lowest, or introductory level in the USTA is called level 7. When you start your competitive career, you start here. In the 10’s, 12’s and even 14’s it is a good starting point for someone who has solid fundamentals and would like to see what sanctioned tournaments are all about. If your serve is still unreliable and you have trouble keeping the ball in play, you are not yet ready. Play your local town tournament, get into our Junior Varsity Program or get into a match play situation without the pressure of a tournament. Refine your skills and then jump in. For the 16’s and 18’s, if you are a high school varsity player, or J.V. player on a good team, you are ready to try. As the levels count down, the caliber goes up. Level 6 is stronger than 7. Level 5 requires a good number of ranking points and level 4 is by invitation only. My view is that you should play level 7 events as long as possible. Even players who are winning them should continue to play them. When the USTA thinks you are too strong for 7’s, they will let you know. Until then, get as much match experience as possible. Let me know if I can help you with this or any tennis related matter, rares@bassrivertennis.com

Summer Junior Team
Returning again this summer! Bass River will run a summer junior boys and girls travel team. Last year was our first year and it was a terrific success. Boys and girls of all ages competed against other summer facilities. Look for more information in our next news letter or speak to Bass River Tennis Pro Gregg Luongo for more details.

Facilities Manager Update, Billy Crusco
We continue the daily work of keeping the club neat and clean. Plans are in the works for some much needed updates, but nothing on the short horizon. Stay tuned.

A request from the entire cleaning staff…Please spit your chewing gum in the trash cans and not on the courts. There is a basket on every court and they are emptied each day.

From Tennis Director, Larry Lebatique
We are 7 months into our indoor season and playoffs are just around the corner for our tennis teams. We have several teams in the North Shore league that are performing very well. One of our A-upper ladies team, Bass River White is currently in 1st place. Our A Serena White team is holding a 2nd place spot in the standings. Our A Venus team is having a very solid year so far and is in 2nd place. The Working Women’s I team is also in 2nd place; and our Working Women’s II team is currently holding 2nd place too. Our A-1 Upper team is making a strong push for a playoff spot; they are currently 6 pts out of 4th place. The Men’s A-team is having a great season so far. Currently they are in 2nd. Our Men’s A1 team is also having a strong season and they are pushing for a playoff spot. They are currently 7 pts out of 4th place. And the Men’s B team is yet again at the top of the league standings with 3rd place. Our two junior teams, boys and girls are having very successful seasons. Both the Varsity girls and boys teams are hanging tough and in 3rd place at this time. And I would like to mention one more team that is doing well for our club; our 7.5 mixed team is having a great season and are in 4th place.
March is upon us and the winter is almost over, which means springtime and good weather, and of course, high school tennis seasons. To all of our junior members that play on their high school teams and to the other juniors that will be trying out for their high school teams, the upcoming weeks are very important. You need to play as much tennis as you can. For those in a program, use what the Pros are teaching you and try it out on your own. For those not in a particular program, get out on the tennis courts and play. All junior members in high school should be taking advantage of their 2 free hours of court time. If you use the next 3 weeks wisely, you will be ahead of plenty of the other high schoolers who are trying out as well and not preparing wisely. Good luck to you all in your high school tryouts. And please, do not forget about our two high school match plays, Friday and Sunday. If you are interested in either, please contact Larry Lebatique.