Folsom & El Dorado Hills Community Tennis Update

 

January 8, 2009

Community Tennis Members,

The new year is here, so it must be time for the Australian Open! Action kicks off on the 19th of this month.

If you are a tournament player yourself, then it's also time to think about your 2009 schedule. The USTA has posted their tournament schedule, and I have added all of the local events to our Amateur Tournaments section. SATA has not yet posted their schedule, but when they do, I will add their events to the website.

Last month our poll asked what you most want from Santa. 44% of you said you wanted more local tennis courts, because of the current wait times at our public courts. New courts are hard to come by, but scroll down to learn about the possibility of new courts in El Dorado Hills, at Lake Forest Park.

Feeling a little puzzled about what to do in the cold weather? Then scroll down and try out our new Tennis Jigsaw Puzzle! It's a good way to kill 3 minute! Sorry, I don't think it will improve your tennis game. If you want that, then take a look below at our short instructional video, all about volleying.

        ~ Rob Vomund

The Five Types of Volleys

Player	Player	Score	Rank Change
Kotko, Tammy def.	Vomund, Susan	6-4 6-4	Adv to #1
Seay, Darren def.	Silva, Chris	6-2 6-3	None
Miller, Ray def.	Keim, Terry	6-2 6-3	None
Brandon, Mark def.	Bigelow, Joel	3-6 6-0 6-3	Adv to #3
Vomund, Rob def.	Fredine, John	6-3 7-6	None
Vomund, Rob def.	Silva, Chris	6-2 6-4	None
Brandon, Mark def.	Vomund, Rob	6-4 6-4	None
Palmquist, Dennis def.	Brown, Joe	6-4 6-1	None
Vomund, Rob def.	Silva, Chris	6-4 5-7 7-5	None
Keim, Terry def.	Homen, Steven	3-6 7-6 6-3	Adv to #19
Palmquist, Dennis def.	Bigelow, Joel	6-3 6-1	Adv to #2
Palmquist, Dennis def.	Seay, Darren	7-5 2-6 6-0	None

Lake Forest Park is an undeveloped park in El Dorado Hills, located on Francisco Drive, north of Green Valley Road. It has been designated as a park, but vacant, for over 20 years. It is owned by the El Dorado Hills CSD.

In order to develop the park the CSD needs to fund construction, and the local residents need to pass an annual self-assessment to pay for the ongoing maintenance. Last year voters turned down an assessment for the park.

There were issues that caused the vote to fail. For one, there was much confusion about what folks were voting for, how the voting worked, and how much the assessment was for. Additionally, Lake Forest Park was lumped together with Windsor Point Park, which drove up the annual cost for many homeowners.

This week the CSD Board directed staff to move forward with a new vote for an assessment linked to the park. This time Lake Forest Park will be voted on separately. Where last year some residents were faced with a proposed assessment of over $200 a year, this time the maximum assessment would be around $70 annually. And, in reality, the fee would be much less than this, as the full fee is calculated on the cost to maintain the entire park, as planned. Right now, the CSD has budgeted only for construction of phase one of the park, and thus the assessment would relate only to that phase.

This park is currently designed with two tennis courts in phase one. Optionally, there are two more courts in phase two. However, as phase two is not funded, those additional courts are only on paper as part of a possible future phase.

Residents living in EDH, north of Green Valley Road, will get to vote on the assessment this spring. If it passes, we get a new park. If not, well the park is pretty much doomed!

There is a strong grassroots effort to get the positive word out about this park. Your help in promoting the park, and the benefits it will bring to local residents, will be most helpful! You can view the plans for the park here, and you can visit a website about the park here.

The Fair Oaks Racquet Club has been so kind as to invite everyone from our tennis network to their annual "Love All Tennis Ball." It's being held at the Carmichael Elks Lodge the evening of January 23rd. If you might be interested in attending, and want to learn more, you can read about it in the November Issue of the FORC newsletter, page 6.

The pro ATP tour does its annual stop in San Jose next month from February 9th to the 15th for the SAP Open. Here are some recommendations for this event.

First, Dan Patterson, of Rollingwood Racquet Club, is offering discounted tickets. You can learn more by downloading his information here.

Second, if you choose to stay a night or two in San Jose, Susan and I have really enjoyed staying at the Hotel De Anza. The hotel is just 4 blocks from the arena, so you can walk, there are public tennis courts nearby, and they offer room & ticket packages. Check with the hotel for details.

Finally, if you have never been, try making it to the SAP open to watch some great tennis. If you go during mid-week, buy the cheapest tickets you can get, as you are able to freely move around in the upper deck.