While at the club house last Saturday, I noticed a flyer for another tennis clinic that was hosting a tennis tournament. Wondering if it offered clinics, I gave it a call and the receptionist said they didn't but that a coach comes who does and that I should call him. That confused me a little. If the coach gives clinics at the tennis center, in my mind that means the tennis center offers clinics. But I just took the phone number and called the coach.
The coach, named Curtis, spoke fast and sounded a lot like Traey Jordan, the character on 30 Rock. Basically he said he does advanced adult clinics Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 6 - 7:30 for $30 and then we can keep playing afterwards. So it's an hour and a half of class and then he pairs us up with one another for match play. It's on clay and the courts cost $12 an hour so it's a great deal. Still a little confused, but thinking $30 a time is a lot better than $100 per month + $21 per time, I decided to attend the Monday session.
Driving there Monday evening I noticed I was heading into a poor area of town. In my experience tennis seems to be a prep sport for the wealthy, so as I headed into poorer and poorer areas I started wondering about this tennis center. Eventually I came to a park and saw a bunch of clay tennis courts. The tennis center was actually a park district. Now the receptionists odd response about the center not offering clinics made a little more sense. Getting out of the car I made my over to group of people, sitting at a picnic table holding racquets, who reminded me of a scene from Rocky 3 (please forgive the clip and it's overlayed music, it's the best I could find. Just go watch the movie if you shamefully haven't already).
Fortunately, everyone was very nice and welcoming. They were also good players. So from 6:20 (they couldn't have moved slower to start) until 7:30 we Curtis gave a lesson and then from 7:30 until 8:45 I played matches. At that point I felt it was time to go. I was the first to leave. It was 95 degrees out and I was told they meet everyday and that I should come again the next day. I was also told by Curtis that I was going to be on the team and that I had to come Friday to meet with another coach who would hit with me for an hour. At no point was I told what this team was, or asked if I wanted to join. I was simply told I would be on the team and to be there Friday. Finally, it was time to pay, and to my delight I found it wasn't $30 per day, it was $30 per week. So even though I felt very much like Steve Martin the entire time (please somebody get that reference), it was a great evening.
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