Tournament Recap: Level 1 USTA National Indoors
Vicki Buholz & Lori Robertson
DATES: Oct 14-20, 2024
LOCATION: Boyds, MD
DIVISIONS: Level 1, 40-80
*This event was held at a new location this year and the experience is chronicled below. Members of NWTO leadership were in attendance at the event and have passed this information on to the USTA and the Adult Competition Committee. The USTA responded that they were grateful for the feedback and will use it as a building block to improve the event. We encourage all players to fill out the post-tournament survey to voice your experience, at this event and any others where you compete.
The 70’s and 80’s divisions started on Monday and wrapped up on Thursday, while the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s started Thursday and finished Saturday. This is the first time this facility has hosted this event.
The ladies started on Monday without the amenities that they have grown used to from other quality Level 1 tournaments (thanks to Sue Bramlette). There is a long list of things that they didn’t have. There were no chairs for players to sit on (thanks to Joan for bringing it to their attention, four folding chairs were added per court) and limited spectator seating. Throughout the tournament, there were no singles sticks and lunch was not provided, although the NWTO offered to fund the caterer. There was no player dinner or other hospitality events (we would have offered to, but it was against Airbnb rules). There was no water on the court and only a big Ozark jug by the tournament desk with sports drinks in a cooler, chips, power bars, pop tart, clementines, and ice (no bananas). I think most of the players packed their PB&J sandwiches. Scheduling was also chaotic with late night changes that players were unaware of.
The facility consisted of three bubbles, with A and C for the tournament (4 courts each). On a positive note, there was no trouble getting a warm-up court. Initially, there were two porta-potties (rather disgusting) that were upgraded to two bathroom stalls in an office building rather far from bubble C. Susan Love, among others, was able to log a lot of extra steps. There was no shower and it was rather dirty with no changing stalls. No towels were provided, no trainer, and the one official had to roam between bubble A and C (a good 5-minute hike).
In writing this newsletter, we are feeling rather spoiled and entitled, so sorry for the whining. However, we felt obligated to be candid in our observations and to relay the general consensus (keep in mind we are just the messengers). The general consensus of the players is that this venue is wholly inadequate and they are unlikely to return (so much for getting more players involved in national tournaments).
The facility has very good indirect lighting, however, one of the players wanted us to mention how low the lights were at the end of the buildings and how close the court was to the side curtains (note to self: work on slice serve out wide on the deuce side and kick serve out wide to the ad side). On the last day, someone wised up and at least tied a rope around the curtain to lessen the liability of player injuries.
One final complaint that we promised to include is that flights had to be changed before and after the tournament’s scheduled date, which added to the expense of travel. We were told one week before when the tournament would start and end(which was not consistent with the tournament dates).
On a positive note, the true reason for us traveling to tennis competitions is for the friendships. It was such a fun girls’ trip. With the draws so limited, it made it easier to get to know the other players on a deeper level. Several of the players had their children and grandchildren make the drive to watch them compete and others visited family and friends afterwards.
Make note: There are 3 airports approximately one hour from the venue. We offered Michelle Williams a ride to the airport, after our very long battle on the court, to save her an Uber fare. As we were well on our way to BWI, we happened to mention airports. Her airport was Dulles. We immediately stopped at the bowling alley so she could catch an Uber since we had to return our car by the deadline. She did make it home safely as we did.
Now for a short recap of the wonderful, competitive play. The draws were small, with 4 players in the 40’s and 5 players in the 80’s, so they played a round robin giving each player at least three matches. The 50’s had 11 entries, the 60’s 7 entries, and the 70’s 9 players. There were a lot of great matches. The 50’s finals between Nancy Webster and Inese Williamson was a full-throttle slugfest and a lot of fun to watch, with Nancy coming out on top. Another fun match to watch was the 70’s doubles finals between Elizabeth Kuhle / Andrea Barnes and Tina Karwasky / Jan Kirkland. There was some excellent net play. It's good to have Jan back healthy.
QUICK RESULTS→
🏆 W40
SINGLES: Gold Elizabeth McCannl, Silver Sohee Chu, Bronze Delia Tomoiaga
🏆 W50
SINGLES: Gold Nancy Webster, Silver Inese Williamson, Bronze Leanne Mos
DOUBLES: Gold Leanne Mos / Inese Williamson, Silver Jennifer Cunningham / Simona Kylberger, Bronze Heather Walsh / Delphine Owen
🏆 W60
SINGLES: Gold Vicki Buholz, Silver Susan Love, Bronze Laurie Capra
DOUBLES: Gold Susan Love / Michelle Williams, Silver Lori Robertson / Vicki Buholz, Bronze Ellen Markowitz / Kathleen Haigood
🏆 W70
SINGLES: Gold Tina Karwasky, Silver Elizabeth Kuhle, Bronze Andrea Barnes
DOUBLES: Gold Elizabeth Kuhle / Andrea Barnes, Silver Tina Karwasky / Jan Kirkland, Bronze Joan Oelschlager / Margaret Machoain
🏆 W80
SINGLES: Gold Carolann Castell, Silver Carolyn Clark, Bronze Heather Fiscalini
DOUBLES: Gold Heather Fiscalini / Carolann Castell, Silver Roberta Dimond / Carolyn Clark, Bronze Carol Wood / Sheila Weinstock
FULL RESULTS HERE
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