Not Just a Holiday Party: A Tennis Extravaganza!
Brooklake Holiday Party
Video
Brooklake Tennis hosted a free
tennis party for its indoor members (the only indoor club to do so) which
included fun, interactive tennis activities for
all.
The evening kicked off with cocktails and a
sumptuous buffet in the newly decorated Tennis Lounge. Interior decorator
Nancy Block’s finest work to date. The festivities then moved to Court 1, which
became the Dance Court. A DJ played music while three
professional dancers got the crowd jumpin’.
With the gang in high gear, personal trainer-extraordinaire Christine Boyer took over and led the guests on a number of
warmup exercises specifically designed for tennis
players.
Once everyone was loose, it was instruction galore as Brooklake’s Mega-Clinic
began. For a solid hour, players rotated courts at their leisure,
gaining valuable tips from Brooklake's expert staff of teaching professionals.
(See more pictures below)
The court schedule was:
-
Court
2: Doubles Beat the Pro: David Kramer and Rayni Fox-Borinsky
-
Court
3: Serve by Bob Merk
-
Court
4: Forehand by Kathy-Mueller Rohan
-
Court
5: Backhand by Tom Levine
-
Court
6: Volley by Jim Cross
One-Point Shootout...
Immediately after the
Mega-Clinic, a 1-point tournament ensued, with competitors playing 1 point
to determine who advances to the next round.
Players go at each other in this unforgiving format
like gunslingers in the Wild, Wild West.
Sixty-four players entered the shootout.
 After the smoke cleared and
62 points were in the books, two finalists were left standing: the charismatic phenom Larry Leibowitz
against the crafty veteran Jimmy Mason.
(From Left to Right: Jimmy
Mason and Larry Leibowitz)
With the crowd on its feet for the final
showdown, Larry won the toss and elected to serve. Jimmy chose to return
serve on the forehand
side.
The players turned and then walked 20 paces to their
respective positions.
Larry strolled to the baseline, as loose as a broken
string on a racket. He chitchatted with spectators and even joked about
"the trophy."
Jimmy, on the other hand, took a businesslike approach
toward the decisive face-off. Looking like a man on a mission, Jimmy
meticulously fidgeted
with his strings to make sure each one was in place,
and he never once let his focus wander from the court.
As Larry bounced the ball to get into the
rhythm of his serve, you could feel the tension in the air.
Wasting no time, he immediately went for the
knockout blow as he brought the heat on his first serve. Larry
crushed a 90-mph delivery down the middle.
Displaying Agassi-like reflexes, Jimmy lunged for
the ball, shortened his backswing and blocked the return down the line to
Larry’s backhand. With nerves of steel, Larry confidently stepped in and
ripped a topspin backhand crosscourt, a shot so deep, so heavy and so
clutch, Roger Federer
would be proud to call it his own.
Hustling as if his life depended on it,
Jimmy did all he could to dig the shot out of the corner. Screeching his
sneakers while grunting like Monica Seles on every step, he floated a
harmless, dying quail of a shot softly over the net and it gently landed just
inside the service line.
As Larry lined up for his patented inside-out forehand (Leibopower at its best) Jimmy scampered like crazy to get back to position.
What happened next is anyone’s guess.
Either feeling the pressure of the moment, taking his
eye off the ball or downing a few too many drinks, Larry inexplicably hit the
ball in the net with his trademark weapon.
And that’s how the West was won…
The evening culminated with a round-robin
mixer.
I would like to thank all those who attended, especially
the Guest of Honor, Beverly Kramer, who (in my unbiased opinion as her son) is the best
director of
tennis in the history of directors of tennis!
Yours truly,
David Kramer
Director of Tennis
Please scroll down to view pictures
of the Holiday Party. |
