As we bid El Nino an overrated farewell, Spring arrives with much to offer.  High School Boy’s Tennis will hit the halfway mark at the end of next week with updates to follow. The Central Coast Women’s League play is wrapping up the season with a few North County teams looking to fight for the top standings. Current Standings with 2 possible matches remaining are as follows:

A1:

1. SLOCC 21
2. AG 19
3. Avila 18
4. Sinsheimer 15
5. Templeton Tennis Ranch 15

A

1. Sinsheimer West 26
2. SLOCC 23
3. Paso Sports Club 20
4. Avila 14
5. Templeton Tennis Ranch 13

A-

1. Santa Maria CC 34
2. SLOCC 26
3. Sinsheimer 22
4. ABC Classic 17
5. Arroyo Grande 12
6. ABC Red 7
7. Paso Sports Club 4

B+

1. Templeton Tennis Ranch-Slice Gals 32
2. SLOCC Net Assets 28
3. Avila 21
4. Templeton Tennis Ranch– Aces 21
5. Paso Sports Club 18

CAL POLY TENNIS! It occurred to me that many locals drive 7 hours down to Palm Springs each year to take in amazing tennis at the BNP. While this is always a good time, did you know that the Cal Poly Men’s team holds a current NATIONAL ranking of 67? Collegiate tennis is more energetic, loud, and entertaining than you would ever imagine and more and more pros are coming out of the collegiate ranks. If you have never been to a match I would highly recommend setting some time aside this month before the seasons wrap up. Alumni weekend will conclude all local play on April 23rd where the teams will host a double header versus main rival UCSB. The Women will start the day off with a 10:00 match followed by the Men at 2:00. Hundreds will attend with beach chairs in hand to scream at the top of their lungs. More will hang out in the cut outs of the parking garage chanting and cheering. If you have never watched a match that includes yelling,heckling,  and a beer garden then this is your chance. Attendance is always free and the ever popular doubles events begin exactly on time. If you are late, you will miss doubles. It will be a good time as the Big West Title almost always comes down to this day.

THIS WEEKEND:  The Women will kick off play Friday at 1:00 v #1 Long Beach. They will return to the courts on Saturday at 11:00 to host UC Riverside. The Men will then take over the courts on Sunday against Hawaii at noon.

REMAINING MATCHES:  Women:  April 16 v UCSB @ 10:00, April 23 v San Jose @ 10:00  Men: April 11 UNLV @ 10:00, April 16 v UC Davis 2:00, April 23 UCSB 2:00

Winter Tennis can be tricky at best, but there is plenty of action if you are willing to look. Women’s Teams from PRC and TTR have been able to get matches in after a very wet January. The women continue to work hard to represent the North County with matches being played on Tuesdays and Wednesday depending on level.

Boy’s High School Varsity try-outs are this week…schedules to follow.

Cal Poly Men’s and Women’s Teams have a few upcoming home matches. All matches are free to the public and you are encouraged to bring loud cheers and a picnic to enjoy the action. CP is one of the few remaining programs that allow fans to attend for free. Come enjoy D1 tennis at its finest.

In other news, North County Tennis players combined in a letter writing campaign and accomplished the following with regards to the Chalk Mountain/Heilman Courts:

“As previously mentioned the County Department of Parks and Recreation reviewed the proposal for the two Heilmann Tennis Courts suggested conversion to pickle ball courts. Additionally County Parks understands the sport of pickle ball is a fast growing sport and lots of folks enjoy playing it. Moreover we just converted a multi use tennis and basketball court at Nipomo Park to include pickle ball. After reviewing the proposal it was determined that although we were generally supportive of this fast growing sport, we needed to get public input so as to ensure we would not be eliminating one recreational opportunity in favor of another. As you know County Parks determined it would post the intent of converting two tennis courts at Heilmann Park into pickle ball courts and was seeking input from the community similar as to how we proceeded in Nipomo.

County Parks heard from many pickle ball players in support of the proposal to convert two tennis courts at Heilmann park to pickle ball courts. However County Parks also heard form many more tennis players that were against this proposal moving forward. Some key points that were discovered through our research was that the tennis community in the Atascadero area worked with the City of Atascadero and the County Board of Supervisors to do their own fund raising toward the construction of four of these six tennis courts to allow for tournament play. Upon further research, already this new year, all 6 courts have been booked for three months 2 days a week during the week not counting play on weekends beginning in February through May of 2016.

All things considered, the Department of Parks and Recreation has determined that we will not be moving forward with the proposal to convert two tennis courts to pickle ball courts at Heilmann Park. However County Parks is willing to review and determine if there is an area that would accommodate pickle ball courts on a County Park site where pickle ball players could organize to raise funds to build and maintain the courts similar to what the tennis community did several years ago. Please feel free to contact me to discuss this option in more detail. Thank you for your interest in County Parks.”
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