NOVEMBER UPDATE: LOOKING AHEAD

Greetings CBTC Family,

We would like to thank everyone who has continued to participate in the meet-ups to keep our vision alive. By doing so, we will continue to build our community of black tennis players here in Charlotte.

We have noticed the decrease in attendance possibly due to the change in weather, shorter days, and the terrible parking situation on Saturdays. To combat all the commotion related to the athletic events on Saturday at Freedom Park, we will be making the following changes effective November 1st: - Saturday Tennis Session will be moved to Veteran's Park. - Sunday Tennis Session added at Freedom Park

• The park Sheriff informed us that very few if not any athletic events are taking place on Sunday

We will follow this schedule until the end of 2021. For those of you planning on playing through the cooler months, please follow the below tips: - Wear several thin layers of clothing so you can take off small amounts as you warm up.

- Sunglasses can be helpful as the winter sun is lower in the sky and more likely to be a constant bother.

- Be sure to stretch a lot before you play and as you warm up. Your muscles will take longer to loosen up in the cold, and you don't want to pull any muscles. Looking Ahead: 2022 As we prepare for a new year, there will be some slight changes to increase availability and more opportunities for training. This summer we hosted a wonderful experience at Johnson C. Smith University engaging in a full-day tennis workshop that had an amazing turnout! We were even able to gift the Tennis Department with a scholarship through ticket sales for the event.

We would like to continue these efforts on our journey to become better tennis players and serve our community in the process. In order to do so, we will be initiating membership dues of $20 for the 2022 season. These dues will be used to assist in the following:

- Coach Guided Training Sessions: Discounted specified training to improve skills.

- Community Events: Volunteer opportunities to bridge the tennis diversity gap.

- Social Engagement: This will give our group an opportunity to meet and engage off the courts increasing our presence in the city of Charlotte.

- Youth Impact: Many people have requested events that allow kids to participate so, we would like to start hosting them as well. This is where representation matters, because it is not only challenging to find black players but coaches as well. Although we are not professional athletes or coaches we can still have an impact on the next potential Serena Williams or Frances Tiafoe!

- Supplies : I see a ball machine in our future! If you have any questions about this information please do not hesitate to reach out to us via email at 704blacktennisclub@gmail.com or chat. I hope you find some, if not all of these plans exciting. We are looking forward to CBTC family continued growth in the new year.

Thank You