August 2022

 Hello! 

Hopefully all of you are doing well.  After a year without many updates regarding the Lake Oswego Indoor Tennis Center, we are happy to bring you this information as we prepare to reopen the facility after recent remodel:

Lake Oswego Indoor Tennis Center Rehabilitation and Reopening Updates
The final stages of the Tennis Center Rehabilitation are nearing completion.  Once all work is completed on the project, the courts will be prepared for playing with an estimated reopening in September.  For more updates on the Tennis Center Rehabilitation including reopening updates please visit:

Tennis Center Rehabilitation | City of Lake Oswego.

Tennis Center Coordinator Farewell and Welcome
A huge thank you and congratulations to long-time Tennis Center Coordinator, Lisa West! During the closure of LOTC , Lisa worked as the interim Program Supervisor at the Adult Community Center and recently accepted the offer for the permanent position. We will certainly miss Lisa, but are excited for her new chapter and grateful for her internal consulting during the transition of new staffing and re-opening of the Tennis Center.
 
I am very pleased to announce Ian Miller, as the new Tennis Center Coordinator. Ian has committed the past six years to L.O. Parks & Recreation as the Sports Program and League Coordinator, developing and implementing youth, teen and adult sports camps, classes and leagues.  Ian has sports management experience across a variety of sports. His extensive skill-set was also fined-tuned in the position of Office Administrator for the state-wide Oregon (Soccer) Referee Committee, as a soccer referee assignor, referee trainer and as a high-level soccer referee (youth, collegiate and professional).  Ian was juggling these jobs at the same time as adding tremendous value to the part-time position for Parks & Recreation. He is a Gonzaga University alum (Go Zags!).  
 
Many of you met Ian when he led the Tennis Center front desk operations and staff training during the OHA Covid-19 requirement period and/or during outdoor tennis programs offered the past two plus years.  Ian has been coordinating logistics and communication behind-the-scenes for our summer adult tennis classes held at Westlake as well as our youth summer camps and early fall Special Olympics at Lakeridge H.S.  
 
Please join me in congratulating Ian Miller!
imiller@lakeoswego.city ; 503-635-5550

- Carol Hartley, Recreation Supervisor - Sports Division & Tennis Center

Lake Oswego Indoor Tennis Center Grand Reopening Celebration: Saturday, September 24

The Lake Oswego Indoor Tennis Center will be hosting a Grand Reopening celebration on Saturday, September 24,^, 11:30a – 1p at the Lake Oswego Indoor Tennis Center.  The celebration will include a ribbon cutting and dedication as well as tennis demonstrations taking place on the courts. Come enjoy some refreshments as you tour the newly renovated facility and meet the pros and staff.

Upcoming USTA Seasons: Fall Deadline August 1st

The Lake Oswego Indoor Tennis Center will host USTA League Teams interested in playing at our facility this Fall. The deadline for USTA confirmation forms for the upcoming 18+ Mixed & 55+ Fall season is August 1^st.  These forms must be signed by the facility manager before they can be submitted to USTA.  If you are organizing a USTA team this Fall and hoping to play out of the Lake Oswego Indoor Tennis Center, please submit your form to imiller@lakeoswego.city.  USTA matches will take place on Fridays (8PM), Saturdays (5 & 8PM), or Sundays (5 & 8 PM).

If you'd like to play and don't have a team, call 503-635-5550 or email imiller@lakeoswego.city  with your information: name, rating, league, and level you want to play. We can't guarantee we'll get you on a team, but we do pass the information to captains who may be looking for players.

We're happy to see so many of you back on the courts! Thank you for your continued support of the Tennis Center! 

Registration For Fall Classes: August 8, 10 AM

Registration for Fall 2022 Adult and Youth Tennis classes opens on Monday, August 8^th at 10 AM for residents.  Non-Resident registration will open on August 15th. If you were a part of our Jr. Excellence program in the past, we will send emails in preparation of registration opening on August 8^th.  Registration for all Fall programs and classes are available at www.loparks.org. 

The format for our Youth and Adult classes remain the same as before the renovation.  Classes for Youth are formatted based on the various level of training tennis balls (Foam, Red, Orange, Green, & Yellow) in both Levels 1 & 2 during the week and on Saturdays. We continue to offer our Jr Excellence sessions from 4 – 5:30 PM & 5:30 – 7 PM on either M & W or Tu & Th.  Classes for Adults continue as Adult Tennis Level 1, 2, or 3 classes or Drill & Play classes for based on NTRP ratings from 3.0 – 4.0.  All adult classes take place Mon-Thur with both morning & evening options. For a full listing of Fall Youth and Adult Tennis classes and programs, please visit www.lakeoswegotennis.com.

Seasonal Lottery

The lottery of seasonal court time from September 2022 – May 2023 is now closed.  All seasonal lottery calls were made last week by Tennis Center staff and court time is beginning to fill.  If you received a call or if you missed the lottery and are still hoping to receive seasonal court time this Fall, please call the front desk of the Lake Oswego Tennis Center at (503) 635-5550 to inquire about available court time.


Ian Miller
Tennis Center Coordinator

July 2019

Hello,

Happy summer!

Lisa West

Tennis Coordinator

lwest@ci.oswego.or.us

503-635-5550


Summer Tennis Opportunities
We've finished with the first two weeks of youth summer camps, and so far we've had a great turnout and a lot of fun! We have two camps each week, morning and afternoon. We also have adult classes for all levels on weeknights. They're a great opportunity to play more tennis and meet more people to play tennis with! For more information, please call the Tennis Center at 503-635-5550.

Housekeeping Items
I try to keep this portion of the newsletter kind of light and maybe a little funny sometimes, but there's been an increase in some bad behaviors lately. I know the overwhelming majority of Tennis Center users are extremely conscientious, but here's a reminder for the few who aren't:

The Tennis Center works largely because we're a community, and we respect the rules and each other. It negatively impacts all of us when people break the rules, or don't observe basic etiquette.

If you abuse your card key privileges, you will lose them. You are required to pay for all the court time you use. If you intentionally break a racquet, or if you spit on our courts (or anywhere in our building), we will ask you to leave. Please enter and exit quietly and on time, and be polite to other users. 
Lake Oswego 4th of July Parade
On a fun note, some of our ladies from City League, led by Nancy Kratochvil, are organizing a tennis group to march in the 4th of July parade in Lake Oswego. This is not an official Tennis Center event, but it sounds like a lot of fun. Participants will meet at the staging area at Lake Garden Court at 9am on the 4th. Feel free to bring a racquet and some candy to pass out to spectators. All ages are welcome. For more information, contact Nancy Kratochvil, 503-997-7114.

Sam Dibbins Memorial Bench
 We are still raising money for a memorial bench for our friend Sam Dibbins. The cost for the bench is $3,500. If you would like to contribute, please make a donation (link is external) or contact the Tennis Center at 503-635-5550.

April 2019

Hello,

In this issue: remembering Sam, contact information, card keys, summer camps, summer adult classes.

Lisa West

Tennis Coordinator

lwest@ci.oswego.or.us

503-635-5550


Sam Dibbins Memorial Bench
As most of you have heard, our friend Sam Dibbins passed away on January 29 at age 82.

Sam not only shared his love of tennis with countless students over the years, but he made friends with nearly everyone he met. If you knew him, you undoubtedly had  a conversation with him about tennis, politics, books or music. Whether you knew him or not, you probably received a friendly smile and a warm “hi, there!”as you passed him in the parking lot.

Sam had a way of making everyone feel like a rock star, and like he was their biggest fan. We want to continue his legacy of connection and friendship by installing a bench and plaque outside the Tennis Center, so old and new friends can have conversations after tennis.

The cost for the bench is $3,500. If you would like to contribute to this project, please make a donation (link is external) or contact the Tennis Center at 503-635-5550.

Please Update Your Contact Information

We'd love to update your customer information to include your cell number. We have a lot of home phone numbers in our computer system, and we don't have a high success rate for reaching people at their home numbers anymore. 

We promise not to spam your phone, but we would like to be able to reach you to let you know a class is cancelled, or to notify you if you have a reservation and the courts are unplayable for some reason. It doesn't happen often, but if we have a maintenance issue or a power outage or something, we would love to actually be able to reach you and save you the trouble of coming down here. We also can text you when these things happen, but only if we know who your phone carrier is. So if you don't mind sharing that, it will help a lot.

Please stop by the front desk, give us a call at 503-635-5550, or email me and let us know your cell number and cell carrier. This is a way you can help us help you, and make communication more efficient. 

Card Keys

A couple of notes about this:

Someone in your group should really have a card key. This is not only important during winter weather, but for the rare occasion when the door may be locked during office hours. You are responsible for access to your court, and the card key solves any problem you might encounter. Some of you have gotten very creative with the ways you prop the door open. While we're impressed with your ingenuity, we are also asking again that you not do that. Please, either have everyone in your group get a key, or have someone wait in the lobby until everyone in your group arrives. That way we know that the only people in the building are the people who are supposed to be in the building.

Another note about card keys: having a card key doesn't mean you have access to courts anytime you want it. You still need to make a reservation, which includes paying for the court, and enter and exit on time. We do monitor card key use, and if you abuse your privileges, you may lose them.

Summer Camps

Registration for summer is now open. This will be our second year of running youth camps all summer long. Last summer everyone had a lot of fun, and the camps were so popular that we had trouble finding room for everyone! This summer, we will have two weekly sessions of the Racqueteers Camp, for ages 7-18. The morning session will meet Mon-Fri from 9a-noon. The afternoon camp will meet Mon-Thu from 12:30-4p. Last summer, the format worked extremely well and everyone had a blast! We can also do a full-day option if you need that. We expect all of the camps to fill up, but please don't let that deter you from putting your child on a waiting list. Summer plans change quickly, and we have been able to accommodate almost everyone on the waiting lists in the past. To sign your child up, or if you have questions, please call us at 503-635-5550.

  
Summer Adult Classes

Barb and John will be teaching our adult evening classes this summer. We have classes for beginners through advanced players, either once or twice a week. You can search for tennis on our website, or call the front desk at 503-635-5550 for more information.

 

July 2018

Hope you all are enjoying your summer. 

If this is your first issue of our newsletter, and you have kids in summer camp, please be sure to check out the last item below about fall classes and registration.

Don't forget to enter the seasonal lottery! It closes this Friday, July 13, at noon.

Lisa West

Tennis Coordinator

lwest@ci.oswego.or.us

503-635-5550

Lottery Closes Friday, July 13

We're down to the wire for the 2018 seasonal lottery! If you forgot to enter, you have until noon on Friday. 

If you're not sure what the lottery is all about or if you want to enter, check out the details here. 

Barb will begin the lottery calls on Wednesday, July 18, so please try to make a point to be available. Lottery courts begin September 1.

Speaking of Answering the Phone...

We'd love to update your customer information to include your cell number. We have a lot of home numbers in our computer system, and we don't have a high success rate for reaching people at their home numbers anymore. 

We promise not to spam your phone, but we would like to be able to reach you to let you know a class is cancelled, or to notify you if you have a reservation and the courts are unplayable for some reason. It doesn't happen often, but if we have a maintenance issue or a power outage or something, we would love to actually be able to reach you and save you the trouble of coming down here. We also can text you when these things happen, but only if we know know who your phone carrier is. So if you don't mind sharing that, it will help a lot. I've been testing text notifications, and so far they work great.

Please stop by the front desk, give us a call at 503-635-5550, or email me and let us know your cell number and cell carrier. Again, we're not trying to get your information just to have it--this is a way you can help us help you, and make communication more efficient. 

Summer Camps

This is our first year of running youth camps all summer long, and everyone has been having a lot of fun!The Racqueteers Camp, for ages 7-12, meets Mon-Thu from 9a-noon. Smash Camp is for ages 13-18 and meets Mon-Thu from 1-4:30p. The last week of these weekly camps will be August 13-16. If you'd like to sign up, give us a call. Many of the camps are full, but don't let that stop you from getting on the waiting list. Summer is a little unpredictable for people, so we've been able to register a lot of kids who were waiting. 

Maintenance Closure

We'll be doing our annual maintenance closure from August 17-31. One of our projects this summer will be installing heaters!

Upcoming USTA Seasons
If you want to captain a team for the upcoming 18+ Mixed or 55+ seasons, the deadline is August 1. If you aren't sure what you need to do, please contact me. We have a limited number of openings for teams. 

If you'd like to play and don't have a team, call us at 503-635-5550 or email me with your information: name, rating, league, and level you want to play. I can't guarantee we'll get you on a team, but we do pass the information to captains who may be looking for players. 

Fall Registration and Class Changes
Registration for fall opens for Lake Oswego residents on Monday, August 6 at 10am, and opens to all on Monday, August 13.  If summer camp has been your introduction to the Tennis Center, we offer youth classes after school and on Saturdays from September-May. You can search for tennis on our website, or call the front desk for more information. The fall catalog will be out a few days before August 6.

We have changed all of our classes for fall. This includes adult and youth classes. I'll release a newsletter explaining the changes on July 30. For adults, we have changed the class names to make them a little easier to understand. For juniors, we have restructured the classes to help kids be successful more quickly (more success=more fun!), and so that we can offer all of our classes every session. We haven't been able to do that in the past, because of our limited court space. Stay tuned for more information about this. 

May 2018

Hello. We've got a lot of information this month!

Lisa West

Tennis Coordinator

lwest@ci.oswego.or.us

503-635-5550

Be a Good Neighbor!

First, and most important: I've had the opportunity to talk with and hear from several of our neighbors recently. Many of them have let me know that as a group, we haven't been ideal neighbors. There are a LOT of us, and as we all know, we're in a residential area with one way in and out. 

Please keep in mind that people do live here, and think about how you'd feel if your neighborhood had the amount of steady traffic that this one does. Observe the speed limit (maybe even go a little slower), give pedestrians a lot of room, and please STOP AT THE STOP SIGNS. We're asking you to slow down and consider the neighbors, even if it means you'll be a couple of minutes late for your class or court time.

The Heat is (Almost) On 

A pretty consistent comment that we've received during the public outreach from you, the LOTC community, is that you would like heat in the facility. I wanted to make sure you all know that this is definitely going to happen. I wrote about it in at least one previous newsletter. Because installing heaters will require shutting down the courts and will be noisy and inconvenient, we will do this in August during our annual maintenance shutdown. Next winter will be much more pleasant for everyone!

Addition Project Updates 

Based on the feedback we received from public meetings, other written communication, survey results, and additional information from the City’s Planning Department and City Attorney, we believe that the Original 2003 concept design is a feasible design concept. Any design concept that is acted upon must meet the guidelines of the City Charter, Chapter X, City Code, the City’s planning process, and Sensitive Lands requirements.   

The next step is to present the information we’ve received through the public outreach process to the Parks Board.

The Parks Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 16, 4:00 p.m. at the Lake Oswego Maintenance Center, 17601 Pilkington Rd, Lake Oswego, OR 97035. If you would like to address the Board, please see the guidelines.

The Tennis Center Addition Project information packet for the May 16 meeting is available here.

Thank you again for your interest in this project.  

Also, please check out the Addition Project website. This is where you can get the latest information about the potential addition. 

Lottery Information

At this time of year, people always want to know when their lottery courts end, and when they can sign up again for the lottery.

The last day of lottery courts is Thursday, May 31. If you have a Thursday court, May 31 is your last day. Lottery signups will open again on June 1, and close July 14. I'll send out the link when signups are open. 

Memorial Day

Our office will be closed on Monday, May 28, for Memorial Day. The courts will be open, and you'll need a  card key to access your reserved court. You can get a card key at the front desk, or call us at 503-635-5550 for more information. 

Speaking of Card Keys...

Just a reminder about card keys: your card key is for you to access your reserved court. Now that we have online reservations, it's easy to book a court, even last-minute, before you come in to play. Please make certain you have a reservation before you use our courts. If we notice card key activity that doesn't correspond with court reservations, you may lose your card key privileges. 

City League

Our women's City League teams are now forming for Fall 2018. Have fun, make new friends, and play teams from all around the metro area. For more information, visit or call the front desk at 503-635-5550, or check out their website at http://www.lotccityleague.org/. 

March 2018

We've got a lot of exciting things going on. Please note the information about the public meetings on March 19, and please make time to join us!

Please feel free to contact me about anything.

Lisa West
Tennis Center Coordinator
503-635-5550 front desk
503-697-2832 direct
lwest@ci.oswego.or.us

Public Meetings on March 19

Below is the official announcement about upcoming public meetings regarding the Tennis Center Addition Project. We hope everyone comes to a meeting on March 19! 

The Tennis Center Addition Process has begun!
Join us on Monday, March 19 to make your voice heard,
be part of the tennis community’s vision for its future.

The Lake Oswego Parks & Recreation Department invites the public to attend one of two public outreach opportunities as it begins planning for an addition to the Tennis Center.

Come meet the project team, view concept drawings, and learn what efforts are underway, what the plans are for the future, and how you can help make the addition a reality.

We will have opportunities during the public meetings to get your feedback, input, thoughts and ideas on the information presented.

Date: March 19, 2018
Location: Palisades Gym, 1500 Greentree Road, Lake Oswego, OR 97034
Time: 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

We want the Tennis Center addition to meet the needs of the tennis community. Make sure your voice is heard!

Light snacks and beverages will be served.


We will make every effort to update information as the planning process progresses; please check back often.

Online Court Reservations

We've had a lot of positive feedback about our new online court reservation system. If you haven't used it yet, make a reservation and let us know what you think! It takes about 10 seconds to book your court once you've found the one you want. 

Card Keys
Just a quick note about card keys this month: if you're booking a court outside of our office hours, please remember that you need a card key. There's a reminder on your receipt when you book a court online, but we know not everyone reads those. If you have any doubt, please call the front desk at 503-635-5550 and ask if you will need a card key. We'll do everything we can to make it easy for you to get one.

Men's Night Saturday, March 3, 6-8p
Our next Men's Night is tomorrow, Saturday, March 3 from 6-8 p.m. This is a chance to meet new people, sharpen your skills, practice with your teammates, and just have fun! The cost is $15. To register, call the front desk at 503-635-5550, or sign up at loparks.org using activity number 17287.

One-Night Clinics
Join John Auer on Tuesday and/or Thursday nights from 8:30-10 for a fast-paced clinic for players 4.0 and above. Each 90-minute clinic costs $20, and pre-registration is optional, but greatly appreciated.  Call us at 503-635-5550 to register.

Sponsorship Opportunities
We have some new and exciting ways you can be involved at the Tennis Center as a sponsor! If you own or work for a company that might be interested in sponsorship, please send me an email and I can connect you with the person who can make it happen!

Upcoming USTA Deadlines
There are so many different USTA leagues. We know it's hard to keep track of them all. or to know when a new league might be starting. We know this because it's hard for us to keep track, too! We usually have an idea of what's coming up next, but not necessarily when the USTA will send out information to players regarding due dates and etc. The USTA Pacific Northwest (Northern Oregon is our section) publishes their league schedule online and that's really the best way for you to keep up with what's happening and when. 
  
Thanks for reading this issue of LOve the Game, and thank you for your continued support of LOTC! We really hope to see you on March 19!

February 2018

Some exciting announcements in this edition!

Please feel free to contact me about anything.

Lisa West
Tennis Center Coordinator
503-635-5550 front desk
503-697-2832 direct
lwest@ci.oswego.or.us

Online Court Reservations – Coming Soon!

Lake Oswego Parks & Recreation is happy to announce that we are working with Playven Inc. to provide you with an online court booking system. Soon, you will be able to check availability, reserve and pay online. Look for more details in the next few days.
 

The Heat is On

We’ve discovered that our new energy-efficient lights have not only lowered our energy bill, but also lowered our on-court temperatures.  To help warm things back up, we will be installing heaters. Heater installation requires us to close the courts, so to avoid addition disruption in play, they will be installed during our regular August shutdown. Thanks for your patience!

Tennis Center Addition Project

We’ve begun some preliminary planning on a potential addition to the Tennis Center building. We are gathering information, and we’re on target to have concept drawings complete this spring. Look for announcements and more information about the Tennis Center Addition Project in future editions of our newsletter. Meanwhile, if you have any questions or comments about this project, contact Lisa West at 503-697-2832 or Carol Hartley, Tennis Center Manager at 503-675-2547.

 Welcome, Jelena Lazarevic! 
We're really excited to welcome Jelena Lazarevic to the teaching staff. Jelena is from Serbia, and she recently graduated from the University of Portland, where she played tennis for four years.  Prior to that, she played on the WTA tour and achieved a ranking of 1,016, and taught tennis in Serbia with an ITF certification.

 

Men's Night!
We introduced Men's Night in November, and the feedback was so good that we decided to make it a monthly event! This is a chance to meet new people, practice, and just have fun! We will have Men's Night on the first Saturday of the month, from 6-8pm. The cost is $15. The next one will be Saturday, March 3. To register, call the front desk at 503-635-5550, or sign up at loparks.org.

One-Night ClinicsJoin John Auer on Tuesday and/or Thursday nights from 8:30-10 for a fast-paced clinic for players 4.0 and above. Each 90-minute clinic costs $20, and pre-registration is optional, but greatly appreciated.  Call us at 503-635-5550 for more information.

Card Keys
Card keys seem to be a permanent topic in this newsletter. If you reserve courts at the Tennis Center, you (or someone in your group) should have a card key. Even if we are normally staffed during your reservation time, something may come up and the door may be locked. For a stress-free experience, make sure someone has a card key so you can access your reserved court when the door is locked.

Speaking of the Locked Door...
There obviously has been a long history of people propping the door open for their group members who may not have card keys. We see this most often when someone puts a brochure (those cost money, by the way) in the door to keep it from latching, but we've also seen perfectly folded pieces of paper in the latch and, occasionally, the door just left wide open. We understand that not everyone is willing to buy a card key (what we don't understand is why), but we ask again that you either pressure your group members to get their own, or wait for them and let them in. An unlocked door with no staff on duty is a security concern for everyone, but especially for our staff. Please help us by making sure the door locks behind you.

Reminders
This is the time of the year when the courts are packed. You can book courts up to a week in advance, and it's a good idea to plan ahead. Also, especially since there are so many people here, please remember to be considerate of other players. That means waiting until your scheduled time to enter, not talking if you decide to wait behind the courts, and exiting the court when your reservation is done.
  
Thanks for reading this issue of LOve the Game, and thank you for your continued support of LOTC!