For three years I served on the Arizona State Board and I am now going on year 5 with a little break between terms. Prior to that I had stints as the NY State President back in the day and the NY State Board. Why do I do this? To give something back to the sport is the reason.
So I began thinking about this and it does not matter if it is New York or Arizona, some things run true!For those of you who have never served on the board and or even if you have here are some things for you to think about.
1. Complaints-if you have a complaint try to think of a solution. State boards always need help and could use more people to help. My last year at State doubles we had some great ideas given to us by the players. This helps!
2. If you have a doubles partner and they have a last name, please use the last name. Unless you are playing with Madonna, Elvis or Cher I guess that is okay. But to put down “Buzz” , “Spike”, “Smitty” or “Scooter” and so on means you think we know who that is. We may not.
3. When you add to your entry–I cannot play Friday, Saturday morning or Sunday morning you are really saying “I cannot play”.
4. If there is someone you play all the time and do not want to play them, let the tournament committee know. Do not show up and have a pity party because you are playing your bestest bud first round. We do not have ESP so if you do not tell us, we do not know.
5. The numbers of ranking are flawed. You can enter 20 tournaments and be ranked higher than a player that will kill you. We will try to keep you apart and that is the best we can do.
6. Oh, and regarding #5, If you are such a great player, where does it matter where you are seeded?
7. Diva warmups-if the tournament runs behind do not complain if you show up with the headsets and do a 20 minute warmup.
8. The professionals show up an hour early for matches. Why can’t everyone do that?
9. To be on a state board, work hard, try to do your best and get blasted with complaints is a real downer. I can only hope some of you get the opportunity to serve on a state board, but do not wish for you to get the complaints!
Any thank-you gestures or compliments you can throw to the tournament committee or board will always be in good taste and well appreciated.