The City View Tennis Club is near the LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, inside of a warehouse with large and slow elevator. The surrounding area is very crabby and dirty, and the parking is difficult. The club itself is pretty new, nicely done but somehow, I felt the craftsmanship (bathroom, etc.) is sub par. The little wooden chests that hold hand towels, tissue boxes, etc. between courts are comical. Why don’t they invest more in the chair/seating instead? The white plastic lawn chairs were out of place there.
Unless invited by the opposing team, players may not cross to their opponent’s side of the court to check a mark.
My partner and I finished our match quickly (against two 3.0s) and were playing on court #5 against our own mates. The first doubles on court #4 was still being played out. During a game, I saw our pairs were on their opponents’ side of the court, they were all standing around the net near the middle. I briefly thoughts, oh no, dispute.
After that game, my pair were still there.
How serious could it be?
I wondered and walked over.
No dispute but the young guy had a painful cramp, and he couldn’t move. So the three other players were standing there with him. Good news was that after a prolonged period of time, he was able to move and play, and played well.
I looked over at the opposing captain who was playing with his teammates. This is the third time that an opposing team has injury time out. All three times were cramp and I was there all three times, including my very first league match.
As for the injury time out. At this level of play the rule is that an injured player has a reasonable amount of time to try and recover and continue play. The only circumstance the time out is timed is when an official is present.
Good thing is my team or I had always waited for the player to come out of the cramp. Good sportsmanship should come first.
This morning when I update the scores did I realize that our (last night) opponents were both 3.0. We didn’t feel good at winning such a match and now .. feeling cheated.. .. in light of time we committed and fee paid, we or everyone would want some competitive games for all to enjoy – at least on paper if not in reality.
Only the following pairings are allowed:
6.0 = 3.0/3.0 or 3.5/2.5 or 3.0/2.5
7.0 = 3.5/3.5 or 4.0/3.0 or 3.5/3.0
8.0 = 4.0/4.0 or 4.5/3.5 or 4.0/3.5
9.0 = 4.5/4.5 or 5.0/4.0 or 4.5/4.0
This is not a nice thing to do to my team or any team. If a team doesn’t have the appropriated combo, they should forfeit the court. Dragging us out there to play a such ill fitted match is inconsiderate.
