To Our ATC Family,
At the beginning of 2020, I had my students create a Vision Board - a crystalized version of their hopes and aspirations for the new year. Dreams of spending more time with friends, traveling, and achieving success in extracurricular activities were instantaneously dashed once March rolled around. My knee-jerk reaction, looking back on the assignment, was, “What a waste”. However, it wasn’t until much later, when I sat down to write this letter, that I realized the importance of rebranding those visions as “deferred” and not “dashed”.
I think that the same thing could be said about our little organization. Coming into this position, I, along with the rest of the board, had great aspirations for what the Austin Tennis Club could become: an official 501(c)(3), an increased membership body, a recognized presence in the Austin community, and a formidable force to be reckoned with at the 2020 Texas Cup. In some regards we were successful, but, in many cases, we were hampered by this pandemic. Nothing is more frustrating than feeling like you’re gathering steam, only to be halted in your tracks. Luckily, I work alongside a great group of people who were undeterred by Miss Rona.
2021 will bring many changes in ATC, and I am excited about them. A new, user-friendly website is in the works that will streamline membership involvement with the organization and provide a much needed makeover from the previously existing platform. We want our members to get more out of their memberships, so we are revamping the membership packages. We are looking at ways to increase membership involvement, even during the times of Covid.
With vaccines now available, there is hope on the horizon for a return to normalcy, but we are not there yet. With the recent elevation to Stage 5 preventative measures in Austin, effective immediately, we will have to cancel our Social Tennis outings in the interest of the health and safety of our members. Of course, as the pandemic evolves, we will continue to evaluate the situation. I miss socials and the post-social tennis outings at Fresa’s or Torchy’s just as much as you do, but your safety is priority number one.
With that said, the board will keep looking for solutions for us to “be together” until we can safely be together. Some of the ideas were have brainstormed are:
A virtual Australian Open watch party
A RuPaul’s Drag Race themed trivia night (with prizes for the winners!)
A workout session, focusing on muscles/movements necessary for tennis
We’d love to hear your feedback! If you have suggestions for events you’d like to take place, or improvements you’d like to see to the organization, please don’t hesitate to reach out to myself or any of the other board members - linked HERE.
Looking ahead,
Caleb Phillips
ATC Board President