Prime Inc & The Racquetheads

In just a few more days, the Racquetheads will be on their way to Indian Wells, CA to compete in their first time ever at a National Championships.  It has been a tough, and fun few weeks as they work together trying to do a fund raiser and getting families, friends, and co-workers to make a donation to help the team out.  As of today, the team has collected $6,062.00 in donations and fund raiser.  This is over half the amount of the team’s expenses.  Way to go Racquetheads!

Prime, Inc wrote an article about the Racquetheads.

PRIME ASSOCIATES QUALIFY FOR USTA NATIONALS!

Two Prime Inc Associates, Huong Doan and Nancy Winters, recently qualified for the USTA National Championship Tennis Tournament held October 12-14 in Indian Wells, CA by virtue of their team capturing the Missouri Valley Sectional Championship at Oklahoma City.  The Missouri Valley Section is made up of teams from Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa.  Nancy is a stellar doubles player and Huong serves as the team coach and co-captain of the Racquetheads, a 50+ age division team comprised of Springfield, MO-area women. 

The USTA (United States Tennis Association) League was established in 1980; it has grown from 13,000 participants in a few parts of the country and Puerto Rico  to more than 800,000 players across the nation today, making it the world’s largest recreational tennis program.  In 2012, more the 17,000 players have participated in Missouri Valley League play.  The USTA League was established to provide recreational tennis players throughout the country with the opportunity to compete against players of similar ability and levels. 

 Through their efforts, the Racquetheads became one of only seventeen teams nation-wide, and the first-ever women’s team from Springfield, to qualify for this prestigious event.  Congratulations and best of luck as Nancy and Huong represent Prime, Springfield, MO and the state of Missouri in their pursuit of a National Championship!

SPRINGFIELD, MO ASSOCIATES CAN HELP WITH AREA FUNDRAISER HELD ON SEPTEMBER 26TH AT OLD CHICAGO!

MORE INFO HERE: racquetheads_fundraiser.docx

HELP THE RACQUETHEADS GET TO NATIONALS!

TEAM WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK!

Would you like to help the Springfield USTA Tennis team?

Come out to Old Chicago – September 26^th, 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM

2040 E. Independence St.

All monies raised – 10% will be donated to the Springfield RACQUETHEADS Tennis Team that will be competing at Nationals in Indian Well, CA to assist with the costs of team expenses. Every cent counts and you can make a difference. 

Let the players worry about their preparation and focus on the competition and leave the financial burdens behind. 

In supporting these athletes you are showing your support for Springfield's future growth in the sport of tennis. 

Just present this flyer to your server, so the team will be sure to get the 10% for that evening sales.

Thank you - Racquetheads Team

 

"Why Not Us"

On August 23 – 26, 2012 several of our Senior Jammers aka Racquetheads along with their teammates traveled to Oklahoma City, OK to compete in the 2012 USTA Sectionals Championship.  Among those Senior Jammers are:  Teresa Emerson, Kelly Kramer, Lisa Powell, Carol Rollins, Beth Wilson, and Nancy Winters.  Along with their teammates: Mary Ann Daum, Albie Nacke, and Julie Skinner.  The weekend in Oklahoma City was one of the best one ever for the girls and I was there to share it all with them.

 We started out early Friday morning, meeting at 6:00 AM in the hotel lobby to drive together as a team over to the Oklahoma City Tennis Center for the team first match against Kansas at 7:00 AM.  It was still dark out, but the team was ready to play.

The Racquetheads at 6:00 AM on the first day of Sectionals




Smiley faces at 6:00 AM

 Teresa Emerson team up with Nancy Winters to defeat Kansas doubles team of Mitzi A Hackney and Mary Barnes 6-3, 6-1.  Kelly Kramer and Beth Wilson had an easy time against their opponents Tammy Dillon and Anne K Sellers with the scores of 6-2, 6-0.  Albie Nacke and Carol Rollins had a tough time against their opponents Janet L Brinton and Fawn A McDonough, they lost to the Kansas team 6-2, 6-2.

Nancy Winters during the moring match against Kansas

Beth Wilson & Kelly Kramer - early morning match agaisnt Kansas

The Racquetheads had a tougher time in their 12:00 PM match that afternoon.  They took the match against Nebraska with the match score of 3-0, but it wasn’t that easy for them.

Once again Teresa Emerson and Nancy Winters teamed up together and they lost in the first set to their opponents Betty Brooks and Vicki L Shaner 4-6.  They come back and won the second set 6-4.  Fought hard in the tie-break and won it 1-0 (10-8).

Teresa Emerson during the match against Nebraska

Kelly Kramer teamed up with Lisa Powell in the afternoon.  They also lost the first set to their opponents Sharon K Wiese and Mary K Doghman 3-6.  Kelly and Lisa hung in there to win their second set easily at 6-1.  They also won in the tie-break 1-0 (10-8).

Lisa Powell during the match against Nebraska

Our third doubles for the afternoon were Julie Skinner and Mary Ann Daum.  Everyone must have a slow starter since Julie and Mary Ann also lost in the first set 5-7 against their opponents Diana Meiergerd and Judy T Gitt.  They fought back and won the second set 6-4 as well as the tie-break 1-0 (10-8). 

Julie Skinner, Mary Ann Daum, and Lisa Powell  - Nebraska match

The Racquetheads were ecstatic to have won both their matches on the first day of competition.  They knew for sure they will definitely be playing Saturday afternoon.

Saturday morning, the Racquetheads also had a 7:00 AM match.  This time against an Oklahoma City team.  It was a very tough match for the Racquetheads.  Teresa Emerson and Nancy Winters were the only victorious doubles team that morning.  They won the first set against their opponents Debbie A Bray and Vickie Gorton 6-3.  Lost in the second set 3-6, and hung in there to won the tie-break 1-0 (11-9).

Kelly Kramer and Beth Wilson didn’t do so well Saturday morning, they lost to the doubles team of Diane Pound and Eva A Summers 6-0, 6-3.  No such luck for Julie Skinner nor Mary Ann Daum, they lost to their opponents Loree Jackon and Diane Cline with the scores of 7-5, 6-1.   

It wasn’t one of the best matches the Racquetheads played.  Their opponents didn’t help either.  Oklahoma wasn’t one of the friendliest people on the courts.  With the loss to Oklahoma, the Racquetheads were in second place after pool play.  They are still in it, it just mean, they didn’t get a bye in the Quarter- Finals; they had to play in the afternoon.

 Saturday afternoon was the Quarter- Finals in which four teams battled it out in which two teams will get the remaining spots in the Semi-Finals.  Missouri Racquetheads playing against Heart of America, while St. Louis battled it out against Nebraska.  Oklahoma City and Oklahoma City Wildcard are automatically in the Semi-Finals since they won pool play. 

It was a great Saturday afternoon for the Racquetheads; they took Heart of America team with 3 matches win.  Teresa Emerson and Nancy Winters beat their opponents Marianne McGrath and Pam H Kerr in a match tie-break.  They lost in the first set 3-6, won the second set 6-3, and won the tie-break 1-0 (10-7). 

Kelly Kramer and Beth Wilson once again did great together.  They defeated their opponents Janet K Beasing and Eiko Wise in straight two sets 6-2, 6-4.  While Julie Skinner and Mary Ann Daum had a little tougher time beating their opponents Chris K Haden and Lesley K Gagnon.  Julie and Mary Ann lost in the first set 3-6, come back and won the second set 6-2, and then hung in there to win the match tie-break 1-0.

Beth Wilson & Kelly Kramer during the Heart of America match

 A win against Heart of America guaranteed the Racquetheads to move on to the Semi-Finals on Sunday which they would face Oklahoma City Wildcard.  In the other Semi-Finals, it was Oklahoma City versus Nebraska.  Nebraska upset St. Louis in the Quarter-Finals to earn a spot in the Semi-Finals. 

 The Racquetheads really wanted to be in the Finals Sunday.  If Oklahoma City made it to the Finals, it would be the Racquetheads turn to seek revenge.  So it was back to the drawing board for me and Kelly.  How do we want to do our lineups in the morning match to get us to the Finals?  I told Kelly that the Oklahoma City Wildcard team was watching our afternoon match and taking notes.  I know they are ready for us.  We have to do something different with our lineups.

 So after we got back from dinner Saturday evening I looked over all the matches that Oklahoma City Wildcard and Oklahoma City teams played during their regular season and studied how they do their lineups.  I looked at them over and over again; I looked at how they did their lineups so far during Sectionals.  I couldn’t even sleep Saturday night; I just wanted Sunday to get here already. 

The team went out to dinner Friday night

Celebrating Albie's 77th birthday

Sunday morning came; it rained the night before, so when we arrived, the courts were a little wet.  Our match was once again at 7:00 AM, waiting for the match to start were nerve wrecking.  We were about ½ hour delay due to the wet courts.  Sitting around waiting for our team to be call was not fun at all.  The whole time, I kept thinking, did we do the lineups right?  Will it get us to the Finals?  I told Kelly before we turned it in, I have a very good feeling about our lineups, and I believe it’s a winner!

 It was a winner indeed!  The Racquetheads defeated the Oklahoma City Wildcard 2-1 and earn a spot in the Finals.  We played against the doubles teams that I hope we would.  Julie Skinner teamed up with Mary Ann Daum one more time to defeat their opponents Carolyn K Hammon and Sara Schwarts in a match tie-break.  Julie and Mary Ann lost in the first set 7-6, come back and breeze through the second set win 6-1, and hung in there to win a match tie-break 1-0. 

Teresa Emerson and Nancy Winters had a tough match against their opponents Pam Meimerstorf and Kerry D Elias.  They won the first set 7-5 but only to lose in the second set 5-7, and couldn’t hold off in the tie-break, they lost in the match tie-break 1-0.

Kelly Kramer and Beth Wilson also had a tough match against their opponents Brenda K Lewis and Lezlie Colwell.  Kelly and Beth won the first set 6-4, but lost in the second set 3-6.  They hung in there to win it in a match tie-break 1-0.

Sunday afternoon was a time for the Racquetheads to seek revenge against the Oklahoma City team in the Finals.  We were definitely ready for them.  We lost to them once in pool play; we were not going to let them defeat us again.

 For our match against Oklahoma City, this time we have Julie Skinner teamed up with Lisa Powell.  They beat their opponents Donna K Brown and Vickie Gorton in two sets 6-2, 7-6 (10-8).  Teresa Emerson and Nancy Winters teamed up together one last time in hope for a 5^th win for the weekend.  The luck was not in their favor, Teresa and Nancy lost to their opponents, Eva A Summers and Diane Pound in two straight sets 6-4, 6-2.  Our doubles team of Kelly Kramer and Beth Wilson brought in a win for the team.  They defeated their opponents Loree Jackson and Diane Cline in straight sets 6-4, 6-0.

The Racquetheads take down Oklahoma City 2-1 in the Finals so they are the 2012 USTA 3.5 Senior Women Sectional Champions.  Captain Kelly Kramer said it from the beginning of the season.  There are 8 teams at Sectionals, only one team is the winner, ‘Why Not Us’. 

 Every player on the Racquetheads team went to Oklahoma City with one thing in mind.  They want to play to win.  They prove that if they work hard together, anything can happen.  Their dreams to win Sectional becomes a reality.  They all got each other back, they work as a TEAM.  There is definitely no ‘I’ in TEAM with the Racquetheads.    We all had a wonderful weekend in Oklahoma City, winning Sectional is one thing, but doing it by beating Oklahoma City team was icing on the cake.    

 The Racquetheads aka Senior Jammers will be heading out to Indian Wells, CA in October 12-14 for the USTA League National Championships.  They will be representing the Missouri Valley competing against 16 other teams.  If you ask the Racquetheads if they would come home as National Champions?   All of them would probably say ‘Why Not Us.’

So stay tune as I will share with you next time about their adventure at Nationals.   Best wishes for a safe trip to Indian Wells, may the aces be with all of you Racquetheads.

Racquetheads: Front-Julie Skinner/Albie Nacke/Teresa Emerson/Nancy Winters; Back-Beth Wilson/Carol Rollins/Kelly Kramer/Lisa Powell/Mary Ann Daum



Racquetheads after winning the 2012 Sectional Championship

Racquetheads' winning plaque



Jamming With Tracy Austin

On July 19^th, some of the Jammers had a chance to hang out with no other than tennis legend and two-time US Open Champion, Tracy Austin.  I wanted to meet Tracy Austin since I was a kid.  Several years ago, Tracy came to Springfield to promote Cardio Tennis.  This time she was here to do an adult on-court clinic, lunch, and a photo session.  Now who would want to miss out on an opportunity to meet this three-time Grand Slam winner and international tennis ambassador?  Some of us Jammers (Teresa, Kelly, Nancy, Heidi, Debbie, and I) loved that opportunity and were there that day.  We all had a blast and learned something from Tracy.  Debbie and I got our picture taken with her and yes, I got Tracy’s autograph too for my tennis collection.

Here I am with Tracy

Debbie with Tracy

I got Tracy to autograph these

9-0 RECORD, BUT SECTIONALS-LESS

It has been an interesting week for the Jammers.  On Monday, June 9^th, it was their very last regular season matches against the High Strung from Joplin.  All of the Jammers were pretty excited to see if they could make it a 9-0 undefeated season.  It did work out for the Jammers that night; we won 4-1 against the High Strung to have a 9-0 record for our season.  So the Jammers were officially the 2012 Local League Champions.

Team Standings

Team Name	Wins	Losses	Indiv. Wins	Indiv. Losses	Sets Lost	Games Lost
Jammers	9	0	37	8	22	283
Slice Girls	6	3	29	16	37	366
High Strung	2	7	9	36	73	477
TopSpin	1	8	15	30	64	446

Our only lost for the night was when Theresa Lor lost her singles match to Mary Kirkpatrick, 6-2, 6-0.  For the rest of the team, we all got rained out, but we were awarded all the wins since Joplin didn’t want to move to Cooper to complete the matches.  So before we got rained out, Hee-Sun Kim won the first set against her opponent, Julie Ingle, 6-1; Hee-Sun was ahead on the second set 2-0.  The same goes for Karen Griffin and Teresa Emerson, they won the first set 6-1 against their opponents, Debbie Prigmore and Tammy Hunter; Karen and Teresa were ahead 2-0 in the second set when the match were retired.  Carol Rollins and Suzanne Lennard were also ahead in their match against their opponents, Staci Iorio and Kristine Bhend, 6-1, 2-0.  Julie Trout and Margaret Taylor match against Ellen Desmond and Kim Higdon were at 6-1, 0-1 when the rain forces them to retired the match.




2012 Jammers - Front: Karen Griffin, Lisa Powell, Hee-Sun Kim, Suzanne Lennard, Kayla Ratliff;
Back: Margaret Taylor, Kelly Kramer, Heidi Smith, Teresa Emerson, Beth Wilson, Carol Rollins, Nancy Winters, Julie Trout (Not Pictured-Theresa Lor)

2012 Jammers with their captain Huong Doan

The Jammers 2012 season ended unexpected on July 14^th at District playoffs against the Net Force from Columbia, MO.  The Net Force beat the Jammers in the first round 3-2.  Kayla Ratliff lost her singles match to Junko Oba, 6-3, 6-4.  Nancy Winters came through for the Jammers one more time, from being down at 0-3 in the first set to winning her singles match against  Johnna Leak with the scores of 6-4, 6-0.

Our doubles team of Kelly Kramer and Teresa Emerson fought hard against their tough opponents, Patti Roberts and Kelly Fuchs, but lost in the first set 2-6.  They hung in there and won the second set 6-2.  It wasn’t the Jammers’ day, Kelly and Teresa lost in the third set tie-break 7-10.

Beth Wilson team up with Suzanne Lennard and won their doubles match for the Jammers against their opponents, Linda Robertson and Nancy Parker with the scores of 6-4, 6-4.

Heidi Smith and Margaret Taylor were also come up short in their match against their opponents, Tricia Vogt and Lisa Rose.  They lost in the first set 6-1, but hung in there in the second set and won 6-0.  But they lost in the third set tie-break 8-10.



In between matches, the Jammers decided to do this stretch exercise.

Kelly Kramer

Teresa Emerson

Beth Wilson - Suzanne Lennard - Kayla Ratliff

Nancy Winters

Jammers

More Jammers

Theresa Lor

Julie Trout

Heidi Smith

Margaret Taylor

In the second round, the Net Force was also victorious against the Jammers.  They won with the score of 3-2.  Kelly Kramer played her little heart out at singles against her opponent, Patti Roberts.  She lost in the first set 6-2.  Kelly hung in there and won the second set with the score of 6-3.  She gave it her all, and fought for every point, but come up short in the third set tie-break, she lost with the score of 9-11.

Kayla Ratliff tried her hands at singles again.  Winning wasn’t on her side that day, Kayla lost to her opponent, Kelly Fuchs, with the scores of 7-5, 6-2.

Heidi Smith and Margaret Taylor played well together once again, but they couldn’t get a win against their opponents, Nancy Parker and Lisa Rose.  They lost their match with the scores of 7-5, 7-6 (7-4).

Nancy Winters team up with Teresa Emerson and fought hard to win their doubles match against their opponents, Tricia Vogt and Jane Boles with the scores of 7-5, 5-7, and 1-0 (10-8).

Beth Wilson and Suzanne Lennard were also victorious in their match against their opponents, Susan Zurowski and Joan Arthur, with the scores of 6-0, 6-3.

It was a sad day for all of us, we all wanted so bad to win and to go to Sectionals, but it just didn’t happen for us this year.  I kept thinking; what if I would have done the lineup this way, or that way, maybe we could have win.  What if, what if…just a little too late for the Jammers now.  I’m sure the feelings of hurt, disappointment, angry will eventually go away.  Right now, it is just so hard to think that the Jammers won’t be at Sectionals this year.  We worked so hard and we were just SOOO CLOSE.

It just go to shows that it’s not that easy to get to Sectionals, you just can’t assume you are going.  You HAVE TO WORK for it.  Columbia worked for it this weekend and they deserve to go to Sectionals this year.  We just have to learn to live with it and move on. 

The Adult Jammers won’t be at Sectionals this year, but some of our Senior Jammers are still going to Oklahoma City for their Sectionals.  At least they will have something to look forward to.  We all have something to think about with this lost, we have plenty of time to think about it between now until our next chance at District playoffs next year.  For 2013, I am sure all the Jammers will work their butt off to make sure they can get to District playoffs, not only that but play their heart out to win District so they can be at Sectionals.  I’m sure a lot of them will think about this past weekend for a long time.  I know I will.

OMG...HOLY FISH

OMG…HOLY FISH…This week match was like the very first match of the season.  It was a nail biting match for sure.  The Jammers took on the TopSpin team and it wasn’t an easy win for them like the last two times the two teams met.

Our doubles team of Carol Rollins and Suzanne Lennard met up against Nancy Skinner and Linda Donnelson, it wasn’t our night for the Jammers, Carol and Suzanne lost their match 6-1, 6-4.  Kelly Kramer and Lisa Powell had a tough first set against their opponents, Lori Young and Judy Daugherty.  Kelly and Lisa fought hard and won in a tie-break 7-6 (7-5).  Then they cruise through the second set with the score of 6-0.  Heidi Smith and Julie Trout were victorious together again with their match with the scores of 6-2, 6-3 against their opponents Lori Robinson and Leah Clark.

Theresa Lor played at singles again, but this time, she was beaten by her opponent, Lisa Acosta, with the scores of 6-0, 6-2.  Our princess, Nancy Winters, played the other singles for the evening.  Nancy admitted she was nervous in the first set, and didn’t think she was able to win the match.  She hung in there, fought hard, and came out victorious against her opponent, Gerri Mach, with the scores 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 1-0 (10-7).  We needed that win to win as a team, and our little princess pull it off for us.  Super Kudos goes out to her this week.

Even though the Jammers won this week, it was hard for me to watch them play.  I didn’t get to watch them play the whole match since I was gone the first half of the match.  I felt like a failure as a captain since they came so close to losing the match this week.  Did I not do the line up right?  Did I not match up the players the best way it should be?  Where did I go wrong?  I kept thinking, am I the only one that wanted an undefeated record?  Am I that competitive?  Since we’re in District playoffs, the team doesn’t think the last two matches matter?

As I walk around watching some of them played, they all acted like they don’t even know each other.  There were no COMMUNICATIONS on the courts.  I don’t know how many times I’ve told them to talk to each other on the court.  If things don’t go right for you, talk to each other and change things up.  Don’t do the same things over and over again and expect a different result.  That is the same for whether you are playing singles or doubles.  I wanted the Jammers to learn from each match they played.  If they win, what did you do to win, so you know to do it next time.  If you lose, what did you do wrong, so you won’t do it next time.  I’ve read this quote once ‘Sometimes you learn more from losing than winning.  Losing forces you to reexamine.’  I like this quote; maybe I am too hard on the Jammers.  Maybe I should let them lose once in a while so they can learn from their losses?  On the other hand, if you keep losing, and learn nothing from it, what’s the point?  Correct?

I guess I shouldn’t expect everyone to be as competitive as I am.  To me, if you don’t want to be competitive, you can’t be a Jammer.  That is really a big different between the Jammers and the other teams.  If you can’t give 110% to the Jammers, you shouldn’t be on the team.  This week I looked at some of them and wanted to say ‘can you not give me that 110%?’

I met a man by the name of Jim Holcomb from Arkansas a couple of months ago.  He really wanted to form a 3.5 USTA Men’s League.  We tried, but couldn’t come up with enough players to have 2 teams, so we have to abandon the idea for 2012 season.  This week, I have the opportunity to place him on one of our 7.0 Mixed Doubles League Team.  Why am I telling you this?  Because I like this guy, as soon as I put him on a team, he didn’t really ask when Sectionals is going to be, he wanted to know when Nationals is going to be.  Now that is the kind of attitude I like all my Jammers to have.  Every time they step out on the court to play, think of why they are playing, what is their goal, why are they working so hard in the heat to win a match, is it worth it?  For all those Jammers that had been to Sectionals, I guarantee you; the answer would be ‘Yes, it’s worth it’.

Jammers are 8-0 this week; they have one more match to go next week before District playoffs.  Oh, I almost forgot, thank you Debbie O’Reilly for filling in as captain this week.  You did a great job!

Whether we win or lose next week, the Jammers cinch the Local League Champion title second year in a row.  Let’s win our third trip to Sectionals!!!  Go Jammers!!!