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If you make up excuses for not being active or exercising and want to change those behaviors, then keep reading about Rita Price.

"I told Susie we play at 38 (degrees) and above," Rita calls out to three gals on the court at Gates Tennis Center.

It's a 42-degree February morning, and Rita had no problem getting some friends together for a chilly game of tennis.

As the doubles game begins, Rita doesn't shy away from making comments. Things like: "Oh boy," "She is being kind," and "Oh come on Darlene give me a good shot, come on kid," can be heard often.

Just about everyone Rita faces can be called "kid." Because, even though she dances around on the court like a youngster, Rita has been around a while.

"I play with young ladies (because) I can't get any older ladies to play. There aren't that many," explains the grandmother.

This June, the Aurora resident will turn 83. Yes, 83. But obviously age hasn't deterred her one bit from playing tennis.

And playing it very well.

"In '07 I was No. 1 in the world," says Rita. "I have seven gold balls; I'm No. 2 in the U.S. in singles and doubles in the 80's and No. 3 now in the world in 80's singles."

And yes, there are many more than three players in her age group.

Rita's nickname is "Lobber Babe" and it fits her perfect.

"These younger ladies, they get to get the drop shot but sometimes I get a lob over their heads and they can't get it," she says with a smile. "That's a lot of fun."

Rita credits her tennis success to movement and specifically to her background in tap dancing. A discipline she took up some 70 years ago.

"The tap dancing does a lot," she explains while gracefully moving her feet across the court. "It helps me to move my feet. I do a little soft shoe sometimes when I win."

In other words, she does that a lot because this grandma tends to win more often than not. Believe it not, she doesn't stop at just tennis and dancing.

"Now I'm doing more in my life. I'm dancing, singing, playing tennis, I'm meeting wonderful people, I'm a theater goer," she says. "Once a month maybe I'll clean a bathroom, but that's it. What could be better? My life is, thank you God, its great!!

In addition to her tennis and dancing, Rita takes a Silver Sneakers class every morning which includes weight lifting and aerobics twice a week. Rita says she loves it when her instructor throws a little hip hop into the class.

Rita will be receiving the Perseverance Award at the Sports Women of Colorado Banquet on March 8th. For more information about the banquet and other awards being given out, visit www.sportswomenofcolorado.org.

Men’s Senior Teams 2009

 

Italia Cup, Men’s 35s

1. Willie Dann, Denver, CO, Captain
2. Dougal Williams, Portland, OR
3. Lewis Miller, Denver, CO
4. Chris Carey, Kansas City, MO

 

Tony Trabert Cup, Men’s 40s

1. Martin Barba, San Marcos, CA
2. Richard Schmidt, Orlando, FL., Captain
3. Hunter Galloway, Lafayette, CA
4. Bill Donadio, Winter Park, FL

 

Dubler Cup, Men’s 45s

1. Andrew Stoner, Cave Creek, AZ
2. Michael Rose, Ecorse, MI
3. Doug Elly, Springfield, MO
4. Gil Schuerholz, Luthvle Timon, MD, Captain

 

Fred Perry Cup, Men’s 50s

1. Val Wilder, Ft. Worth, TX, Captain
2. Mike Fedderly, Palm Desert, CA
3. Peter Markes, Austin, TX
4. Ross Persons, Houston, TX

 

Austria Cup, Men’s 55s

1. Phil Landauer, Hilliard, OH, Captain
2. Bill Roach, Papillion, NE
3. Larry Turville, Dunnellon, FL
4. Tom Smith, Alpharetta, GA

Oldsmar, Florida, USA

Abbi Neuthaler took the  photos showing below, and promptly had a disk made and gave it to me...thank you Abbi.

Play continued today...no rain, cool, breezy weather. In the 40s, a tough local player,  Kim Cashman,  upset #2 seeded Susie Brown 75 64. Top seeded Jami Patterson withdrew due to illness the day before, so this leaves the draw without any seeds in singles. Brown, combined later with Betsy Savitt, (filling in for Patterson) to beat Catherine Taylor/Tracy Viebrock in an interesting three set win. Brown and Savitt constantly attacked forward, while Taylor hit heavy topspin from the baseline and Viebrock roamed up and back. They face Cashman/Olson in the final, who upset the #2 seeds, Neuthaler/Lumia in the other semi.

In the 50s, the match of the day was the contentious battle (the players in the 60s match next to them requested an umpire be sent to the court because their discussions were so loud) between #4 seed Suzanne Siegler and Carolyn Franca. Franca, displaying excellent groundstrokes, overcame a set and 45 deficit to beat Siegler 46 76 62. Shefaces Rita Giles tomorrow while Carolyn Nichols plays Kerry Young. The seeds prevailed as well in the 50 doubles.

Andrea Martin of Canada and Florida beat 4th seeded Pat Keleman, 63 62. She plays Brenda Carter next. Brenda beat Judy Louie and her 2 new knees in a well played match, 61 62. Anne Guerrant faces Carol Clay in the other semi.

Semis in the 50s, 60s, 70s are set for tomorrow in singles and doubles; final of 40 doubles and semis of 40 singles are also going on tomorrow along with some RR matches and consolation.

 

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While I was battling on the computer and phone, most of the 50s and 60s players were doing battle on the court after a lengthy rain delay. (I finished just before the rain started, only 2 of us finished before the rain, but then you know how fast I alwasy play....

Tracy Viebrock...welcome back to singles...having won a tough 3 setter yesterday, had another fierce battle today with Cathy Farrell (who was playing her own age division for a change!) The match went down to the wire, won 76 in the third by Farrell...who takes on a well rested Kerry Young, a 61 61 winner over Nancy Szen.

The other marathon match of the day was Pat Keleman and Ellen Goodman. Keleman squeaked out the first set 76, Goodman grabbed the 2nd 75, and Keleman hung on to win the match 64 with the third...under the lights.

Play starts at 9 tomorrow and it's supposed to be cool but dry.

Oldsmar, Florida (near Clearwater/Tampa on Florida's West Coast)

The Spring Grandes Dames for the 30-70 (even) women is a Super Cat II and has a decent field. It is being held at the East Lake Woodlands Country Club, a nice facility.

The tournament began yesterday. Tracy Viebrock played her first singles match in several years and in windy conditions gutted out a close win over the club champion, Bridgette Harrer, who had her big forehand going early. Tracy won 75 in the third.

Today, most players were in action in the 50s and 60s. Play began about 10:30, giving the leagues time to finish their matches, but it rained about noon and play is now delayed. I finished my match with Debbie Hobbs, and doubles, scheduled for 4:30, may not happen as there is a player party at 7. The good thing about the rain is that many courts were dry and slippery, and the rain will make them play much better.

I forgot my camera today...hopefully will post some photos tomorrow.

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Women’s Senior Teams 2009

 

Suzanne Lenglen Cup, Women’s 35s

1. Julie Cass, Austin, TX
2. Trish Riddell, Maitland, FL, Captain
3. Michelle King, Austin, TX
4. Amy Alcini, Malibu, CA

 

Young Cup, Women’s 40s

1. Vesna McKenna, Hollywood, FL
   
2. Renata Marcinkowska, Rock Hill, MD
3. Rachel Gale, Cary, NC Captain
4. Carolyn Wei, Berkeley, CA

 

Margaret Court Cup, Women’s 45s

1. Gretchen Magers, San Diego, CA
2. Fran Chandler, Jacksonville, TN, Captain
3. Mariana Hollman, Winston-Salem, NC
4. Mary Dailey, Delray Beach, FL
   

 

Maria Bueno Cup, Women’s 50s

1. Diane Fishburne, Charleston, SC
2. Susan Wright, Grand Junction, CO
3. Carolyn Nichols, Lodi, CA, Captain
4. Marianne Robertson, Malibu, CA

 

Maureen Connolly Cup, Women’s 55s

1. Tina Karwasky, Glendale, CA
2. Joanne Russell, Naples, FL
3. Martha Downing, Shingle Springs, CA, Captain
4. Mary Ginnard, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

There were a lot of long matches Saturday and Sunday, most of them featuring Kathy Keating and Sherri Bronson it seemed.

Sherri beat Carol Clay in straight sets...sounds routine, but it was anything but...Carol had a set point at 54 in the first set and two or three more at 65 in the second, but Sherri raised her games at critical junctures, refusing to miss, and eked out a 76 76 (9) win over Clay. Kathy Keating edged Jan Kirkland-Cochran when Jan had to retire in the 2nd set with arm and groin injuries. That set up  a match against Kathy, who hosted Sherri during the tournament. Sherri didn't let that deter her from winning the final, 75 60.

In doubles, Keating/Lil Peltz-Petow split with Margie Cooper/Kerry Young and then the latter team retired so Kathy had two retirement wins in one day. The final though went the distance with Cindy LePrevost/Sherri Bronson rallying from a set down and from 2 or 3 set points down in the final set to win 67 60 75 to finish the tournament.

Fran Chandler pulled out the singles final 26 62 63 over her doubles partner, Susan Boyer. Carolyn Nichols/Mary Dailey won the doubles over Boyer/Chandler 63 62.

In the 65s, Susanne Clark took out Suzi Burgraf in three sets while Donna Fales sailed past Lee Delfausse in straight sets. Sheila Weinstock/DelFausse beat Fales and Judy Louie and Carol Wood/Luisa Tinelli won the other semi. On Sunday Fales played as if she had a plane to catch, beating Clark 61 62 and Weinstock, who did have a plane to catch, and Delfausse were efficient in dispatching Tinelli/Wood.

In the 75s, Boots Van Nostrand followed up on her great win over Mary Boswell to beat Rosie Asch in straight sets, while Boswell beat Lucille Kyvallos in straight sets to place third. Boswell/Burling won the doubles.

Betty Eisenstein easily won the 85 singles.

First things first, the cold front passed and it's warming up...even Carol Clay and Susan Boyer were playing without long pants on today.

There were a lot of upsets on Friday. In the 45s, Mariana Hollman was up 64 and 41 when Boyer started a comeback, hitting FOUR winners in one game to make it 24, then going up 30-0 in the next game. On the next and what would prove to be the final point of the match Susan wrongfooted Mariana who fell and sprained her ankle, and could not continue. She is playing Fran Chandler now (lots of long long rallies).

In the 55s, Kathy Keating eked out a 3 hour win over Elizabeth Froehling 67 61 64...the last game taking about 25 minutes to complete, as Froehling had rallied from 14 down to tie the set at 4-4 against a tiring Keating. Kathy found enough energy to finally win the match, with a large crowd supporting Kathy but also both players.

In the 65s, Lee Delfausse won a three set battle against Luisa Tinelli of Italy. Lee has been in Florida since the beginning of the year and is playing good clay court tennis in her first year in the 65s.

Boots Van Nostrand, who is the ":new kid on the block" in the 75s, beat Mary Boswell decisively in the 75s semis and faces Rosi Asch of Canada in the final.

Update: Susan Boyer is up a set against Fran and Fran is up 21 in the 2nd set.

It was cold today....in the 30s as the 8:30 am matches started with winds gusting today over 20mph, but warmed up to the low 60s later on. The tennis went on in the difficult (very windy, dry slippery courts) conditions and despite the weather there was a good audience for many of the matches, which is one of the charms of this tournament.

The 35s escaped without any upsets.Catherine Taylor won a marathon 3 setter to set up a match with her frequent practice partner, Jessica Wadsworth. Greta Anderson also won a marathon 3 setter.

In the 45s there were no upsets. Three of the four seeds reached the semis today. Mariana Hollman arrived this afternoon (which her opponent didn't know, having looked at the schedule the night before which had her playing at 8:30am) and won her first round match, she'll play the quarters tomorrow and the winner of that match will play the semis tomorrow. I beat Susie Brown in a nearly 2 hour match which was much closer than the score would indicate. Carol Wood said she watched for 25 minutes and only saw 2 games...it was that kind of match.

In the 55s, Elizabeth Froehling proved to be a dangerous floater, and took out the top seed, Kerry Young in three sets to reach the quarters. Donna McKenna upset Susie Peiffer, the 7th seed, also in three sets. Carol Clay, the 3rd seed, was pushed to a third set by Helga Immerfall, but prevailed.

In the 65s, Inge Weber, the 7th seed, and Grace Woo, the 5th seed, fell today, losing to Lola O'Sullivan and Jovette Levine, respecitively. Both are Lauderdale Club members.

The top 4 seeds in the 75s are in the semis.

There were no upsets in doubles today in any age division.

Click here for all results.

A very cold front came in and down in Ft. Lauderdale that's been the talk of the tournament...with 15 mph winds (gusts to 25) and temps in the 30s this morning, the temperature with windchill was near 30 degrees...Fahrenheit. The good news is that it's supposed to warm up starting tomorrow.

There weren't any upsets yesterday, but Sherri Bronson was pushed hard by Ellen Goodman in her first round match, but prevailed in straight sets 64 76.

Carol Clay won the Lamita Jabour sportswoman award for a player who has exhibited great sportsmanship and who has contributed to senior tennis as a volunteer at the sectional and national level. She was shocked, since the TD, Patty Crawford told her someone else was receiving the award. It was well deserved.

Click here to see all results.