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Roberta Arpan
Publicity Director 2012-2013
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The SPLASH JUNE 2012
WHO ARE THE MEMBERS OF THE COTTONWOOD TENNIS CLUB?
By Roberta Arpan
Winners of the Ladies' Wednesday Tennis League: Mary Ann Rice, Maureen Pivec, Mary McCalla, Louise McIlravy, Kathryn Campbell, Paula Lazutin. Photograph by Bernie Tighe.
The CTC is 280 members strong with men outnumbering the ladies, 161 to 119. Recently members were asked to complete a 20-question survey and turn it in with their annual dues; the response rate of returned questionnaires was approximately 30%.
Although the returned surveys might be more indicative of people who like to complete questionnaires than of the membership in total, some interesting trends did emerge. The following was learned from those responding: the age range for men was 54 to 87 with the average being 79 years. Female respondents tended to be younger with an age range of 43 to 80 and an average of 64. The average age for taking up tennis was 34 for men and 37 for women although one male respondent was 74 when he took up tennis and one of the ladies did not play tennis until she was 65.
The overwhelming majority of CTC members gave their club a big "thumbs up". When asked, "What do you like best about your club?", the 78 respondents gave over 123 highly enthusiastic comments. The majority of members wrote "great friends and wonderful people", followed by "great organized activities by member volunteers". A few direct quotes include, "It's the greatest thing that happened to my wife and me when we moved to Cottonwood", "In my 70 years, I have belonged to many clubs, none as well run or as worthwhile as the CTC" and "It is an important reason why we are so enthused about living in Sun Lakes".
Several other questions also elicited overwhelmingly one sided responses: the vast majority affirm their tennis has improved with their participation in the club, practically every respondent believe their tennis would improve with improved overall fitness and the food served during tournaments and socials received an A+. "A better serve" was the most popular response to "In what way would you like to improve your tennis?". In responding to the question, "In what areas could CTC improve?", the majority of the respondents left the space blank or gave a favorable comment.
When asked about their pet peeves on the tennis court, the most popular response was "bad line calls"; however, three claimed, "the net is higher on their side than their opponents' side" and one cheerfully declared the sun was her pet peeve! The Wilson racket was the most popular brand with 25 fans, followed by the Prince with 20 devotees. The Head racket and Weed racket came in third and fourth places.
Other responses indicated the majority of members believe the most important thing about tennis is to have fun and not take the game too seriously. That said, it is noted that about half of the respondents reported pulled muscles, knee injuries or tennis elbow as a result of their play.
When asked to rate the importance of tennis is their lives, the largest number of respondents indicated a high level of interest (giving it a 4 on a scale from 1 to 5). However, according to this survey, the typical tennis player also has several other hobbies including golf, bridge (or other cards), hiking/walking, bicycling and reading.
While numerous tennis club members call somewhere in the Midwest their home, Canadians were well represented and Colorado was the single state most often cited where club members either have a second home or call it their home state.
A big thank you goes out to all who took the time to complete this survey. Although it was impossible to include every remark in this article, all comments were given to CTC President, Al Wagner, who along with other members of the Board of Directors, will give each suggestion careful consideration.
