STAND BY FOR BIG NEWS!

Big news coming soon. It will be a force to behold.

The End of an Era

By now you all now that by the end of USTA season this summer River Oaks will be closed. Bid adieu to all the fond memories of friends and parties and competitions at this wonderfully social club. It's like loosing a life long friend.

Five Seasons Adult 3.5 team rocks River Oaks

Captain Dick is wondering what happened as Captain Gallo of Five Seasons has his Cheshire smile on. The "General"..Dick.. was not use to this position.....

Off to a great start...

The "IT" Girls of Summer powered up in red and enjoyed their first home match of the season with a win over Chagrin Valley 3. We enjoyed being at River Oaks seeing familiar friends and the home courts were a definite advantage! Diane closed off her match 1,2 receiving "grab" bag honors! We are on the road for the next couple of weeks, but will look forward to returning "home" June 10. Towpath here we come....

The "IT" Girls of Summer are back!

The "IT" Girls of Summer are welcoming the start of the USTA season! Welcome to our new team mate: Melanie Schilling. Over the past few months we have played tennis, drilled tennis, dreamed tennis...."ONE GOAL"....(hmmmm heard that somewhere, GO CAVS!)...WIN TENNIS! Let's continue to live life...some pictures from the past!

A little video of the National playoffs

He took one for the team

You couldn't believe how much blood there was! Playing on Friday afternoon with Bob Barker, Mike Crider reached up for an overhead and caught his foot and fell backwards on the court cracking open a large gash in his head. Fortunately our team doctor Dave Bennhoff was there and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. The USTA trainer finally arrived and strongly suggested that Mike leave the courts and go to the hospital. But Mike, being a true team player and competitor wanted to continue the match. The trainer said he couldn't play with blood on his clothes. Mike, who by this time had a series of band aids on his head skillfully applied by good doctor Dave, whipped out a clean shirt from his bag, and a pair of used shorts, then went behind the windscreen and changed.....much to the delight of the ladies who were watching his silhouette as he changed!... Although he and Bob didn't win their match we must cheer Mike for his team spirit. Afterwards he did check into the emergency room and came back to dinner that night with five staples in his head!

Best of times and worst of times

The Super senior team arrived in Surprise Arizona full of vigor and enthusiasm. Friday's matches went well and we won both against the Caribian and the Northwest. Saturday morning we started with clear blue skys and wind gusts to about 40 mph! This made for some interesting tennis. Joe Pare and Ron Longoria won in strait sets but our other two teams went to match tiebreakers and lost. Ugh. I'm sure if the conditions would have be calmer we would have won those two matches. It was the luck of the wind gusts that determined the out come.

We're here!

The super seniors have arrived in Surprise Arizona and are ready to play!

Clark's Team Heads to Nationals!

The River Oaks 7.0 super senior team is on it's way to the national championships in Surprise, Arizona next April. The team headed by captain John Clark swept all matches at the Mid-West Sectional in Indianapolis last weekend.

Joy in Springfield, State Champianships

Captain John Clark and a happy John Witt our newest player who got his first USTA tee shirt.

Ohio State Champs!

7.0 Super Seniors, River Oaks

8.0 Super Seniors, Lakewood Country Club

Old Guys that can still Play

River Oaks and Lakewood Country Club Super Senior 8.0 teams.

OK!! Message from Todd.

Subject: River Oaks signs 3 yr lease

Hi everyone,

I am pleased to announce that River Oaks has just signed a three year lease to stay open until 2011. After enduring a few months of "red-tape" a deal was finally accepted this past weekend.

What does this mean? We will be here for the next three years and during that time we will be actively pursuing the opportunity to purchase the land.

I personally want to thank all of you for sticking with us over the past six months. I know the uncertainty of things was not easy (for me, either), but you weathered the storm and I hope it is smooth sailing from now till 2011. If you have any questions, thoughts, or concerns, just let me know and I will do my best to help answer them. Thanks again for your patience and perseverance.

Todd

River Oaks Super Seniors Rule!!

John Clark's 7.0 Super Seniors completed a sweep of all four of the other teams in their league last nite, by beating up on North Ridge, 3-0. Thus, at the mid-point of the season the team is 4-0, while the closest competitor is 2-2, with four matches to play.

Joe Pare and Ron Longoria ruled on court 1, 6-0, 6-3. Art Stehlik and John Witt prevailed, 6-2, 7-5 on court 2. And finally, Lars Eriksson and Mack Thomas won on court 3, 6-3, 6-7, 1-0. Hank Thomay came out of a two-year layoff for North Ridge on court 3, and continues to baffle his opponents with his junk.

John

A Good Week

The "IT" Girls of Summer had a busy week with 2 matches on Tuesday vs. Mayfield and Wednesday vs. LaTuchie. We had some great matches and everyone played great. This week we have the same teams again...Mayfield on Wednesday and LaTuchie on Thursday. Lets Go GIRLS....and get "IT" done! <>

The "IT" Factor

The Kitt factor: The "IT" Girls of Summer have played some fabulous tennis the past couple of weeks and recorded 3 wins! Jenny tweaked her knee during the Mentor match and hung in there with Deb to pull off a great victory to clinch the Mentor match for our team! We then headed to Racquet East to post the 2nd W of the season. And on Wednesday night we hosted The Cleveland Skating Club at home where we posted our 3rd victory of the season. Our hard work and fun at team practices has been paying off! "IT" is awesome to see the turn out for our practices!

Youth Prevails

Pete Gallo's Five Seasons Team

Yes it's true. The long-in-the-tooth River Oaks Lancaster adult 3.5 team ran out of steam last night and lost to Five Seasons 3 to 2. It came down to the last court with the Oaks Legends on the court playing for the win, but it was not to be. At least the wings were hot and the beer was cold to sooth their aching bones. Maybe it's time to give the old guys two bounces.

Captains Gallo and Lancaster

Another Late Night at North Olmsted

The Lancaster 3.5 adult team was scheduled for 9pm at North Olmsted but with only four courts the matches started late as usual. Rick was captain last night and he and Joe didn't get off the court till about midnight. Geoff won his singles. Ron W. and Lars, Frank and Ron L. , and Rick and Joe all took their respective doubles courts. Experience vs youth was the theme for the night and experience (old age) wouldn't be beat. That makes the record 2 and 0. Nice job guys.

The "IT" Girls of Summer are back...

The "IT" Girls of Summer are back for another fabulous season! The team remains intact for the 2008 season with the exception of Kitt who's rating moved back up to 4.5...we will miss her sure win at singles, but not nearly as much as the fun and "fluff" she brought to the team. Though we didn't start off great, the girls have posted their first W of the season and now hold a 1-1 record. Way to go "IT" Girls. We travel to Racquet East next week. Let's get ready: ROAD TRIP! TAILGATE! PARTY!