Politics & Government

Paddle Tennis Holds Open House Monday

The paddle tennis club at Colony has a rebuilding year ahead.

The holds an open house Monday at 6:30 p.m. for any and all interested in joining the paddle tennis team.

The Chatham Township Committee ordered some capital improvements to the paddle tennis courts in 2010 and 2011. The courts had lost their electric supply when the old club house was demolished the year before. The committee agreed to let the teams use the rooms above the snack bar as a place to rest and warm up during their matches.

"Paddle tennis members were very grateful," said George Foot of the paddle tennis club. "Unfortunately the work [began] right as the fall paddle tennis season was beginning, and the courts didn't become available until November."

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As a result of the delay, Foot said all the women and eight of the men who had joined the teams left for other paddle tennis clubs. Membership fell from 36 members (24 men, 12 women) in the 2009-10 season to 16 members, all men, in the 2010-11 season.

"Our goal this year is rebuilding the membership, especially the women's membership," Foot said. As of Sept. 23, foot said 33 people had committed to play, 18 men and 15 women.

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"The biggest problem we have at Colony is people don't know it's there," Foot said. "Hopefully we can get the word out. Paddle [tennis] is an extremely popular sport in Chatham and the surrounding areas."

Foot went on to say he believes some other clubs in the area charge as much as $500 for paddle tennis, and Minisink and do not offer paddle tennis leagues without full club membership.

Paddle tennis has two seasons each year, one in the fall from October through December and one in the winter from January through March. The fees was $100 for Chatham Township residents and $150 for nonresidents in previous years and has been atered to $125 for all those interested in playing.


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