The Findlay Country Club Tennis Program

November 27, 2021

A New Direction

As we inch closer to a new year (and yet another Covid variant), I’ll be taking the FCC Tennis Blog in a new direction.

Beginning January 1, 2022, I'll begin using Instagram as the new platform to send the latest news to the Findlay-area tennis community.

Check back throughout December for more information!

September 30, 2021

The weather forecast for the next 10 days looks pretty good!! I will keep courts 1 and 2 playable until October 10. At that time I’ll decide if the weather will allow me to keep the courts open into the second half of October.

Enjoy your extra session of outdoor play !

September 02, 2021

That’s a Wrap !

Wednesday night at the FCC Tennis Complex proved to be a great closing act to this year’s Tennis Championships.

Bohnlein, Heck, Hughes in line for Raffle Tickets

Bohnlein, Murphy, Hughes, Steffen enjoying the perfect weather !

Great crowd gathered for the match and Ries Hohman always finds the camera haha.

Myself in the umpire’s chair and ballboy James Hedrick hard at work.

This night’s main event paired top-seeded duo of John Steffen and Rod Walton against #2 seeded team of Frank Cosiano and Kevin MacDonald. Both teams met in the round robin portion of the tournament, with Steffen/Walton prevailing 7-5, 6-1, thus granting them the top-seed in the final. Tuesday’s encounter proved to be more of the same as 24 lively spectators witnessed the top-seeded team take home the title 6-2, 6-3 in a match that offered long rallies, aggressive play at net, and sky-scraping lobs from both teams.

6.0 Champs - Rod Walton and John Steffen

Although there’s never much consolation in losing a match of this magnitude, the future is bright for one FCC member in particular - Frank Cosiano.

Dr Cosiano, relatively new to the FCC Tennis program, has made leaps and bounds in his game in under a year. We will keep an eye on him throughout the 2022 season! His partner, Kevin MacDonald, actually was seeking his second title of the summer, winning the Men’s 6.5 title 3 weeks earlier with long-time partner Scott Atkins. MacDonald’s game is maturing with every passing year, and surely he has more FCC titles within his grasp.

But the spoils go to the victors, and let’s not forget about the furious effort from another first-time event participant and champion, John Steffen. Steffen, paired with Walton for the first time, proved to be a worthy force to contend with, showing excellent speed afoot and a keen eye for the ball.

Quietly building a fine collection of FCC titles, Rod Walton added his 3rd championship to his resume on this warm, breezy evening. Walton has now captured a championship with 3 different partners- a feat not ever done by any other FCC member. Of all the men who go to battle on our famed clay courts, perhaps it is Walton who has improved the most in recent years. Sleek, smooth, smart, reliable - he gives no quarter in every point he plays.

On another note, our second Racquet Raffle was completed after the completion of the first set, with Kevin MacDonald taking home a new Wilson Clash 100!! In our two raffles, we raised over $500 for our tennis program. A huge thank you goes out to our loyal FCC tennis supporters.

Raffle bookkeeper Judy Cook

Let us not forget about the hard-working ballboys at Wednesday’s match- Owen Vick, James Hedrick and William Cook. These boys represent the future of boys tennis in the FIndlay-area. Along with Tuesday ballboy Luke Williams, these 4 hard-working young men will likely have many great battles on the court in future years. It brings me so much joy to mentor these fine young men as they develop, both on and off court.

Ballboys: (l to r), Owen Vick, James Hedrick, William Cook.

Thank you for a great 14th edition of the FCC Tennis Championships. Our Courts will remain open for member play thru October 13.

Be sure visit my Findlay YMCA Tennis Blog for the latest news about the upcoming indoor tennis program!

Click this link !

The FIndlay YMCA Tennis Program

September 01, 2021

Wait…..What Just Happened !?!

There’s something about that plaque…..that FCC Championship Tennis Plaque, that brings out intensity, effort, passion, anger and joy that we don’t often see in people.

Imagine if you will…. combining the thrills of a rollercoaster and a heavyweight boxing match into a blender and mix those items for 2 hours. That’s what we experienced on Court 1 at the FCC Tennis Complex Tuesday evening…..

In front of a one-sided, engaged, strangely subdued crowd of 27 tennis fans, somehow, someway, the first-time magical pairing of Brian Little and Larry Jones scratched and clawed their way to a 6-7, 6-4, 11-9 victory to capture the MEN’S 7.5 DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP.

Brian Little & Larry Jones

On paper, there’s NO WAY this doubles team should work. Little - the tall, strong, hammer-wielding righty, Jones- a veteran of using a variety of lobs, dinks and dumps. It may have been this dichotomous contrast in styles that proved to be too much for the more balanced team of Chuck Stumpp and Scott Atkins.

Match highlights:

Weather: 74*, wind NE 8-10mph.
Attendance: 27
Stumpp saves breakpoint early in first set.
Both teams exchange service holds as Stumpp saves a breakpoint at 2-3 in first set.
Jones saves break point (and set point) at 4-5 in first set.
Little serves at 5-2 in first set tie-break.
Stumpp/Atkins rally to capture first set tie-break 8-6, taking the wind out of the sails of Little/Jones.
Both teams stay on serve thru first eight games of second set.
Stumpp serve broken for first time at 4-all.
Little holds serve to win second set 6-4.
Stumpp/Atkins take first point of Match TB off Jones’ serve and eventually lead 2-love.
Both teams stay within 2 points of one another until 8-all.
Stumpp/Little break Jones serve at 8-all.
Stumpp / Atkins hold championship point at 9-8.
Little/Jones save match point by winning both return points to lead TB 10-9.
Serving at 10-9, Little clinches championship with another unreturnable serve. Win TB 11-9.
Match time: 2:09

Thank you to all the FCC members who attended this classic match-up involving four gentlemen.

Thank you to those who purchased raffle tickets for the racquet giveaway. We earned $200 that will go directly toward supporting our FCC tennis program. Peggy Kelley was tonight’s winner of a new Wilson Clash 100 !!

Peggy Kelley with her new Wilson Clash !

Thank you to my ballboys: William Cook, James Hedrick, Luke Williams. This is very hard work. They appreciate the donations from our fans!

Ballboys: (l to r) J Hedrick, L Williams, W Cook

Next match: September 1, 6pm

Men’s 6.0 Championship,

John Steffen / Rod Walton v Frank Cosiano / Kevin MacDonald

Another Wilson Clash will be raffled-off! Tickets can be purchased until completion of first set. $5/each, $20/5 tix.
Pool bar will stay open thru completion of the match

The weather forecast is great. Come out and support our tennis program. Final match of the 2021 FCC Championships!

August 30, 2021

Upcoming FCC Tourney Matches

This week's final FCC Tournament matches:

Tuesday, August 31, 6pm

Men's 7.5 Championship - (1) Little/Jones vs (2) Stumpp/Atkins

Wed, September 1, 6pm

Men's 6.0 Championship - (1) Steffen/Walton vs (2) Cosiano/MacDonald

We are raffling off a Wilson Clash 100 racquet at each match!

Tickets are $5 each, or $20 for 5 tickets. Cash only.

Raffle open to members and non-members.

Must be present to win.

The FCC pool bar will be open each night until the conclusion of each match.

August 23, 2021

Scenes from a Tournament

The round robin portion of this year’s championships are complete. Here’s the schedule of matches that will decide the final two titles to be captured…..

MEN’S 7.5 CHAMPIONSHIP

Tuesday 8/31 6pm:

(1) Little / Jones vs (2) Atkins / Stumpp

MEN’S 6.0 CHAMPIONSHIP

Wednesday 9/1 6pm:

(1) Steffen / Walton vs (2) Cosiano / MacDonald

Both matches will feature a chair umpire and ballboys. If you’ve never seen a match with ballboys, you’re in for a treat!

I’ve arranged to keep the pool bar open until each match concludes. Please stop by, support our tennis 🎾 program and have a drink 🥃….or two.

Here’s some photos taken in the last few matches….

A Great Day of Fun

The first annual Lady Oilers Tennis Event was so much fun ! Thanks to all those who attended: MaryPat Longo, Jane Bohnlein, Diana Eller, Peggy Kelley, Kama Kett, Diana Kirk, Ries Hohman.