In other words, drop-ins are no longer permitted at Oakridge. Members who wish to use our tennis, squash, pickleball or speed badminton courts must book their court ahead of time via this website.

Rationale

Why we require players to book courts online:

1. Our court booking system can only be accessed by members. Therefore requiring players to book online helps to ensure that only members are using our courts.

2. By booking courts online, it is clear who has which court booked when. This prevents conflicts and disagreements. It also ensures members that the court they want to use will be available when they arrive to play on it.

3. Court time is rationed equally amongst members. By requiring online booking, administrators can monitor the system and spot the few who might abuse it.

4. Online booking creates data that we may choose to study when the time comes to improve our systems and/or rules.

5. The data created by online booking helps us answer questions on grant applications about who is using our courts and when they are using them.

6. Requiring online booking saves us money because we do not have to hire a receptionist to keep an appointment book.

7. Online booking help us with scheduling staff and coordinating maintenance.

Monday Dec. 21               1:15 pm – 2:30 pm
                                        4:45 pm – 5:45 pm

Tuesday Dec 22               1:30 pm – 2:45 pm

 Wednesday Dec 23        10:45 am – 11:45 am
                                        2:45 pm – 4:00 pm

Monday Dec 28                1:15 pm – 2:30 pm

 Tuesday Dec 29              2:00 pm – 3:15 pm

 Wednesday Dec 30        10:45 am – 12:00 noon
                                        2:45 pm – 4:00 pm

Casino volunteering is fun. It’s simple and very social. Basically, a bunch of friends get together and mess around with $200,000 in cash for an evening. And from that one evening the community association earns more than $70,000 which is later matched by the province and turned into $140,000.

Oakridge tennis players have shown strong support for Oakridge charity casinos by committing to get together and covering an entire shift themselves. The hockey people do the same thing. It’s fun, it’s social and it shows the board that tennis and hockey are prepared to help raise the money needed to expand and improve the facility.

2. Pay Your Fees.

When a few players neglect to pay their fees or try to skirt around the rules in order to save a few dollars, it hurts every squash player in our club. Believe it or not, every one of these instances gets back to the board. So man up, guys, and pay your fees. Show the board that squash players are the kind of people that they want to have around their facility.

3. Respect the Staff, Rules and Facility.

Every incidence of people disobeying staff, breaking rules or abusing the facility gets back to the board. When the guilty party is a hockey player, hockey looks bad. When it’s a lacrosse player, lacrosse looks bad. Once again, squash players can help themselves by showing our staff that squash players are good people to have around.

4. Make a Mess? Tell Somebody.

Every time somebody leaves a dirty diaper in the change room garbage can or a blood smear on the wall of the court or lets their kids run around and leave black marks all over the floor, it makes squash players look bad. But we look even worse when we don’t tell the staff about it. So please send an email or pick up the phone and let Sandy know when a mess needs to be cleaned up.

5. Say “Thank You”.

The Oakridge Community Centre is a community facility. Its mandate is to serve people of all ages. That’s why the Quick Fit is there. It might not be busy, but it serves senior ladies in a way that a squash court never will. So rather than complaining about the empty circuit gym or about the fact that the pre-school washrooms are reserved for children or about the fact that the water fountain has been turned off to prevent the spread of disease, try saying THANK YOU once in awhile.

Say thank you for spending $4,000 to repair the front wall of the squash court. Say thank you for spending $2,000 to repair the showers. Say thank you for putting the lockers back in the men’s change room. It doesn’t matter what you say thank you for, just take a minute to say it now and then.

REMEMEBER

Remember that Don Best, Dmitri Khitrov and I sit on the board representing racquet sports players at Oakridge. We have to answer for everything good and bad that squash and tennis players do. And it makes our job a heck of a lot easier when people are saying good things about squash and tennis players than when people are saying bad things.

The City’s tennis expert, Ron Riffel, pointed out that the tennis courts at the community centre are well beyond the end of their expected life cycle. He warned that the asphalt pad is crumbling from beneath and cannot be repaired. He also told us to expect the rate of decay to increase every year.

This corroborates what we were told earlier this year by Tyco Tennis — that the courts cannot be repaired and that replacement is the only option open to us at this time.

The good news is that representatives from the City of Calgary have agreed to work together with the Oakridge Community Association to find a solution that will allow us both to expand our parking lot and rebuild our tennis courts in a more suitable location.

Step 1A – Gather feedback from members over the current season (May, June, July, August)
Step 1B – Gather feedback from league participants over the current season (May, June, July, August)
Step 2 – Formulate a draft schedule based on feedback gathered in Steps 1A and 1B (August)
Step 3 – Incorporate feedback from tennis reps on the Board of Directors (August)
Step 4 – Incorporate feedback from facility manager (September)
Step 5 – Incorporate initial feedback from the Board of Directors (October)
Step 6 – Incorporate feedback from instructors (October)
Step 7 – Incorporate final feedback from club members (October)
Step 8 – Incorporate final feedback from Board of Directors (November)
Step 9 – Board of Directors ratifies the schedule (November)

Steps 1 through 3 are now complete.

Once the final step is complete, the schedule will be published and we will begin marketing it for the 2010 tennis season.

Summary of Feedback

Feedback from Step 1A

Approximately 80 per cent of members were satisified with the 2009 schedule; 20 per cent of members were dissastisfied with some features. Most members — including those who were generally satisified — were disappointed that we have had to introduce user fees to pay for court maintenance and improvements over the past three years.

Over the course of the 2009 season, most members became aware for the very first time that the City of Calgary does not pay for the maintenance of the tennis courts at Oakridge. Most were surprised to learn that the Oakridge Community Association must pay for all maintenance and improvements on the tennis courts. As a result, most members have come to understand and accept the need for user fees.

Dissatisifed Members

Dissatisifed members fell into four categories:

• some stated that all tennis activities should be free of charge at all times
• some wanted to see more court time available to play alone or with their friends
• some wanted policies changed so that they could “play around” group activities without participating in them
• some did not support either Ladies Night or Kids Night and wanted to see one or both removed from the schedule

Satisifed Members

Most members say they are generally satisified, believe they are getting good value for their money and have indicated that they will be returning next year. In general, satisified members enjoy group activities and feel obligated to make new members feel welcome.

Feedback from Step 1B

All league players expressed satisfaction with their experience at Oakridge; most expressed a very high level of satisfaction. They believed that they were getting good value for their league fees. They wanted to to see more players in every league and wanted to see a wider variety of leagues on the schedule for 2010. Almost all indicated that they plan to return to Oakridge and play next season.

In general, league players are very interested in group activities, are willing to help beginners learn how to play and feel obligated to make new players feel welcome. Not a single complaint was expressed by league players regarding league fees in 2009.

Feedback from Step 3

Board reps agreed that the Oakridge Community Association (OCA) should continue to charge user fees that accurately reflect the costs of maintaining and improving tennis infrastructure at the community centre.

Board reps agreed that the OCA should work harder in 2010 to communicate to members and the general public that user fees are necessary if the tennis courts are to be maintained and/or improved.

Board reps agreed that the Oakridge Tennis Club is maturing and that the 2010 schedule should incorporate more time for players who do not want to participate in group activities.

Board reps agreed that the 2010 schedule should create a better balance between time set aside for group use and time set aside for personal use.

Board reps agreed that group use should continue to be the priority during prime time simply because group use allows use of the courts by the greatest number of people.

Board reps agreed that Saturday and Sunday evenings should be left entirely open for personal use by members — except when the courts are needed for tournaments.

Board reps agreed that Friday should continue to be Kids Night and that Pizzaball should continue to occur on Friday nights.

Board reps agreed that weekday evening league activities should be restricted to 7:00-9:00 pm — except for Kids Night (Friday) — and that outside of those times members should be able to reserve tennis courts online in the same way that they now book our squash court.

Board reps agreed that our attempt to have volunteers supervise court usage in 2009 was not successful and that the only way to make the proposed schedule 2010 work will be to hire a tennis professional to supervise the courts from Friday through Monday.

Board reps agreed that members who are instructors should be allowed to book courts to teach lessons, provided 30 per cent of lessons revenue is paid to the Oakridge Community Association.

Board reps agreed that the OCA should purchase some additional netting for Court 3 so that it will be possible to keep Court 4 open while the ball machine is in use next season.

Board reps agreed that ball machine passes should be significantly cheaper in 2010.

Other Feedback

Our feedback process is continuing. As more feedback is gathered, it will be posted on this page.

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You may learn more about Simon and his work, including his other novels for children, on his website at http://www.simon-rose.com or his blog at http://simon-rose.blogspot.com.

Brought north on the wings of returning snowbirds in recent years, pickleball players formed their first active clubs in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan in the 1990s. Then, in April 2009, they banded together to create Pickleball Canada — a new national organization that hopes to spread the sport from coast to coast to coast.

Created during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, by Congressman Joel Pritchard and his neighbours, the game derives its odd name from a family dog named Pickles who would chase after balls and then hide them in the bushes.

Over the next three decades, the game slowly spread south into Arizona, Florida and other US communities with large populations of vacationing snowbirds. Many Canadians who came into contact with the game became addicted and started dreaming of the day when they would be able to play their favourite racquet sport in their home and native land.

That day has finally come. Canadian Pickleball players have many active clubs to choose from in Ontario and British Columbia. There are also a few clubs in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec.

Alberta’s first Pickleball Club was created this week in Calgary by the Oakridge Community Association with the assistance of Racquet Network. The new club will play its first games this summer on the outdoor courts adjacent to the Oakridge Community Centre. If enough Calgary pickleballers can be found to support a thriving club, indoor facilities will be sought to allow continuous play throughout the year.

Members of the tennis club will also notice new signs on the door proudly proclaiming OAKRIDGE TENNIS CLUB.

Please be sure to renew your community membership ($35.00 per family) and purchase your shoe tags ($20.00 per person over 11) for the 2009 outdoor tennis season.

Exchanges will be honoured from 9 to 10 am depending on the volume of plants coming in. Purchases may be made for a minimal charge after all exchanges are honoured. Please pack plants in containers and list the names of the plants.

For more information call: Barb Yau at 403-238-2425 or Sandy at 403-238-0007