Last Week of Practice

Hello players and families!
We will have our last two practices this week at the Bush Tennis Center. Our final match of the season was on Thursday last week, so these two practices are optional. If you would like to come out and play, I will be out there. This will be great for our players that are about to have High School tryouts as well as those who would like to continue to work on skills. Thank you all for a wonderful season and for all your hard work. Don't forget that the Sports Banquet is on May 10th!

Sports Banquet: May 10th! Deadline Purchase: Monday May 8th

Match Tomorrow with Trinity

Hello Families!
We are very excited for our match with Trinity tomorrow. We will have our match at the Trinity Tennis Center beginning promptly at 4:00. Please meet at the facility as soon as you can after dismissal. Please be in your St. Ann's Athletic Shirt, appropriate bottoms, and court shoes and be prepared with your racquets and water. I will have your match assignments when we meet tomorrow as the Trinity Coach and myself are still planning the dual based on the amount of players both teams have. Can't wait to see you all there! The address for the facility is located on the 3900 Block of Trinity Drive. You will see the facility behind the Las Colinas Apartment Complex. Thank you again everyone. See you tomorrow!

Practice Cancelled

Hello Families.
Sadly, the Bush Tennis Center is reporting high winds and low visibility from blowing dust. They have plans to cancel their clinics this afternoon, therefore practice will be cancelled. I will post information regarding Thursday's Dual Match soon. Thank you for your patience and cooperation. Look forward to seeing you all on Thursday.

Tournament Site Information

Hello Players and Families!
The Tournament Director emailed last night with the site information for Saturday's Tournament. This particular tournament will be a DOUBLE elimination format, so players will have to lose TWO matches to be eliminated from the tournament instead of our normal format of one loss resulting in elimination. The sites are listed below and corresponds to your child's division. All players were informed of their division at practice on Tuesday, however I will email each of you specifically with your site assignment.

I will have printed copies of the draws if you would like one at Permian.

Here are the sites for each division:

Permian High School Tennis Courts - All 8th Grade Girls: Singles and Doubles

Odessa High School Tennis Courts - All 8th Grade Boys: Singles and Doubles

Ratliff Stadium Tennis Center - All 7th Grade Boys & 7th Girls Doubles

Odessa Country Club Tennis Courts - 7th Girls Singles

Due to the tournament site being spread out, it is IMPERATIVE that all players listen to the site director as to their court assignments and match time, as well ask ask the site director when their next reporting time will be when they are finished with their matches. I will be rotating sites frequently throughout the day, with Permian High School serving as the Coaches reporting location. If your player and/or their doubles partner becomes eliminated from the tournament as well as confirmed this information with the site director, I must know via phone or text that you will be leaving the site with your child if I am not at your particular site to relay this information to me personally.

Players, you must be represented in team uniform (St. Ann's Grey Athletic Shirt), appropriate bottoms, and court shoes. Do not forget to apply sunscreen frequently, bring light snacks, and WATER! Most of our tournament sites do not provide water on the courts. Reporting time for all matches is at 7:30 a.m. to begin right at 8:00 a.m. We you arrive, notify the tournament director immediately when you get there. There will most likely be a site table set up where the director will be stationed. After that, if you find any open courts, begin warming up with another St. Ann's player, and if you are in doubles, your partner. At 8:00, leave the courts and congregate near the tournament desk to listen for your court assignment. When you leave the court from your match, report the score and if it was a win or loss to the director and ask for your next match time. Most draws will move quickly since the sites are spread out and allow for more courts. Be ready for your upcoming match! 

Lastly, you represent St. Ann's Catholic School. All coaches will remain in constant contact with each other and can identify players based on their uniform. Use your best sportsmanship, effort, respect, and manners. We are there to play, gain experience, and most importantly: HAVE FUN! If you have any problems that arise during the tournament or questions at all, I will have my phone on me at ALL TIMES. I'm looking forward to Saturday! We will discuss more details today at practice. See you all at 4:00!

April 22nd: Odessa Tournament

Time of Matches:

All matches will start promptly at 8:00 a.m., April 22, 2017.  Coaches and players will meet at predetermined sites by 7:30 a.m. The site information is expected to be given to coaches by Thursday morning. A notification will be sent to players and families as soon as available as to your child’s playing site.

Divisions:

There will be one division of singles and doubles for each grade (6th, 7th, and 8th). Your child will be assigned a division and partner (if applicable). Players may not play in a higher grade level or a lower grade level.  All participants must play in their eligible grade level.

Events:

Coaches may their players in singles or doubles, but not both. Your child will be playing in only one division. There will be four tournament sites, mostly likely assigned by player’s division. The four sites are: Odessa Country Club, Permian High School, Odessa High School, and Ratliff Stadium Courts.  There will be a possibility of transitioning sites most likely based on your player’s advancement through the tournament draw. Therefore, it is extremely imperative that parents remain at the tournament site with their child and communicate with the St. Ann’s coaches via telephone and texting to let me know of any issues that may arise in transportation. If the tournament director has informed your child that their matches are finished for the day, please simply inform me via telephone or text that you are taking your child home. I will be traveling between tournament sites to check on our team’s status.

Entry Fee & Deadline:

All entry fees have been submitted to the tournament director. Your child's entry fee for all tournaments was included in their tennis fee.

Draws:

A complete seventh and eighth grade draw and information sheet will be available for Coaches on Saturday morning at the Permian High School Courts. The draws will also be distributed to each tournament site and will help the site directors inform of your child's matches. It is extremely important that your child listen to the site director as to their match time. There will be a 15-minute default rule enforced.  If your child has not responded to their match call within 15 minutes, their match will be defaulted as automatically result as a win for their opponent. No-ad scoring will be used and matches (either pro-sets or regular sets) will be determined by the size of the draw.  The tournament director will post the scoring system on the draw sheets.  All matches will have a 12-point tiebreaker at 6-6(8-8 in pro set).

Awards:

Individual awards will be given to all first, second, third and consolation winners. Team trophies will be awarded to the team scoring the most points in the 7th, and 8th divisions. 

I will post and communicate further information to you as it becomes available.  We are looking forward to Saturday! Hope ya'll have a wonderful week and see you all for practice on Tuesday.

Happy Easter!

Great Job Saints!

You all did great yesterday! Congrats to Josh for making it to the semi-finals in 7th Boys Singles and Brad and Santiago for making it to the Finals. Santiago came in 1st and Brad in 2nd! Awesome job to Sasha who came in 1st Place in 8th Girls Singles! All players did great and should be proud of their performance. Way to go Saints!

Tri Match Tomorrow! Reporting: 4:00 p.m.

Hello everyone! Our Tri-Match with Abell and Goddard is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 4:30. Please meet at the facility no later than 4:00 p.m. for warm-ups and match assignments. Please be wearing your St. Ann's Athletic Shirt and come prepared with your racquets and water. If you have not responded yet as to your participation in the match, I must know by noon today to put you in the line-up. Thank you and look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

Saturday, April 8th Match. Reporting Time: 8:00 a.m.

Hello Families and Players!
The tournament director emailed me this morning and informed me that due to other teams' lack of players and scheduling conflicts, the format of Saturday's event has changed. Instead of the original team line up of an 8:30 a.m. dual and a 1:30 p.m. dual, all participants from area schools will meet and play everyone in a variety of singles and doubles matches. This new format will replace both original scheduled matches to accommodate the change in schools' players. All players will be put out on courts as they open, hopefully allowing for more matches and playing time. The goal is to begin at the original start time of 8:30 a.m. and hopefully finish the entire day around noon. I apologize for the moving pieces and thank you for understanding and flexibility. Please meet me at the front of the Bush Tennis Center and we will walk in to the facility to begin warm ups and match assignments. Please come prepared by being in your St. Ann's Athletic Shirt, bringing your racquets and equipment, and a water jug or bottle. If anything has changed in terms of your child's participation due to the match time and format adjustments, please just let me know as soon as possible and we will make accommodations. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow at the Bush Tennis Center at 8:00 a.m.

On a separate note, we have a Tri-Match scheduled for Tuesday, April 11th at the Bush Tennis Center at 4:30 with Goddard and Abell Junior Highs. Please be at the facility at our normal practice time of 4:00 for warm-ups and match assignments and also be prepared with your uniform and equipment. If for any reason you do not believe you can be at this match, please let me know as soon as possible to plan accordingly.

Thank you everyone! See most of you tomorrow and looking forward to both matches! Have a great day!

April 8th Morning Match

Hello families! I was informed this morning that that team for our 8:30 morning match this Saturday maybe short far too many players to travel. The coach will keep me updated, but it may be possible that our morning match will be cancelled on Saturday against Bonham. I have informed the tournament director and asked if there are any other teams that would be interested in filling our opponent's spot in the event that they can not make the morning match. If our morning match is cancelled, I will inform you as soon as possible so you can make arrangements accordingly. This change does not affect our afternoon match against Bowie, and we are still scheduled to begin play on that dual at 1:30. Thank you for your patience and flexibility, and of you believe this possible morning change may affect your child's ability to participate in the afternoon match, please just let me know. Thank you parents and I will be talking to you soon.

Practice Cancelled

I'm sorry this is coming so late notice, but I wanted to hold off as long as possible before cancelling. Unfortunately the Tennis Center is making plans to cancel clinics and close this afternoon due to high winds, so that sadly means our practice is cancelled today. Players, please continue working on keeping score and if you have any opportunities to visit a tennis court for extra practice, that would be incredibly beneficial. Wish this West Texas weather would cooperate. I will update the website this week with information regarding Saturday's dual matches for those who are participating. We hope all our 6th graders have a safe and fun trip to Prude Ranch and our 7th grade safe travels to the Chrism Mass on Thursday. Thank you all and see you soon!