Prime Time League

RICHMOND'S PRIME TIME TENNIS LEAGUE

10/02/06- Sort of like the Richmond Ladies Suburban Tennis League, but not as formal, is how the Prime Time League is described by players.

For women ages 40 and over, the league is a great warm-up for competitive matches later in the week. On Mondays during the Fall and Spring, fourteen Richmond-area clubs will be hosting matches at 12:30 pm.

This year, 28 clubs participate in one of the League's four divisions. The League is divided into upper and lower divisions so that play can be more enjoyable for players of different levels and ability. Each year, at the end of the season, scores are turned in to the league coordinator who then decides which teams will move up or down to another division.

Prime Time Players from Burkwood and Salisbury
Getting these women to have their photo taken was not easy so be sure and tell them how young they all looked

Donna Schaaf, the 2006-07 League Coordinator, says that her job has been pretty easy since the season started in September. In July, all the captains met and reviewed the guidelines for the upcoming season. "Notice I said 'guidelines', not rules," said Donna. "There really aren't very many rules in this league. You have to be 40 to be able to play, but you don't have to be a member of the club you play for (unlike Suburban, which has strict rules about that).

"This year, we revised a guideline regarding late arrivals. We allow a player 15 minutes after the start time to arrive and not be defaulted. After that, play still goes on, but just for fun as long as everybody agrees. Maybe next year we'll look at implementing the new Komen tiebreak procedure. Beyond that, I don't even have to worry about people reporting scores to me weekly. Scores aren't turned in until the end of the season.

"So, people aren't overly competitive because, win or lose, it really doesn't count for much."

The Salisbury team that Donna captains has women ages 40 to over 60. "It's fun tennis but still good tennis," said Donna. "If Suburban League's slogan is Fun, Friendly Tennis, then the Prime Time League's slogan would be Very Fun, Very Friendly Tennis, because we're all pretty relaxed here.

"We have good food, for sure." Oh, and she wasn't kidding. I stayed around and helped myself. It's hard work trying to take photos, and I deserved some layered dip and home-made chocolate chip cookies.