Volume 1, Issue 2
www.friendsobtennis.blogspot.com
PO Box 454
Orange Beach, AL 36561
friendsobtennis@gmail.com
THE Rally
Match Points:
• 1st FOBT Tourney
• Player Spotlights
• Pro Tip
• Member Listing
• Local League Winners
• Member Birthdays
• Upcoming Events
• FOBT Registration Form
You are receiving this
Newsletter as a benefit
of being a member of
the Friends of Orange
Beach Tennis. The
Board Members Thank
You for your support!!!!!
Friends of Orange Beach
Board Members:
Bart Middleton
Rose Townsend
Beverly Billingsley
Jimmy Steeley
Heather Moore
Michelle Shivers
John Stever Tournament Sponsors:
1st Annual FOBT Tournament
October 16th-18th Combo/Mixed
We are in the progress of organizing our
first tournament to be held at the Orange
Beach Tennis Center. Sign UP Today!!!!!
Divisions:
Women’s Combo 5.5, 6.5, 7.5
Men’s Combo 7.5
Open Mixed & Open Men’s Doubles
Mixed Doubles 6.5, 7.5
Entry Fee:
$35 per player/1st event
$25 per player/2nd event
(2 events max of any division)
Entry Fee Includes: Long Sleeve T-shirt,
lunch on Sat, Ticket for Players Party
Entry Deadline: Wed. October 14th at
noon.
Schedule: Matches begin Fri at 6:00pm. letter or you can download en-
Draws will be emailed, posted on Blog and try form from Blog.
Board Members will call players to inform Mail Entry form with check pay-
them of their play times. able to FOBT at PO Box 454,
Players Party: Tacky Jack’s Cigar Bar Orange Beach AL 36561. Or
(outside) Sat 7-9pm. Food and Drink Spe- email entry form to friendsob-
cials. Snacks and Lunch will be provided tennis@gmail.com or Drop off
Saturday. information at Orange Beach
Entry form located on last page of news- Tennis Center .
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 PAGE 2 THE RALLY

Friends of Orange Women’s Player Spotlight: Monica Davidson

Beach Tennis
Members: Monica Davidson lives in Elberta, Outside of playing tennis, Monica en-
AL with her husband Jerry of 28 joys her Family, grand children, sailing,
Carrie Brabner years. Monica is currently motor boating and gardening. Her
Jenny Sculley preparing for a trip to play in favorite thing to do is relax with
Al Peck & Family the 2009 Super Senior Jerry, her husband. Together they
Phyllis Peck Women Championship in have 19 grand children. Monica is
Linda Bohannon Huntsville in early October. a member of FOBT and plans to
Jimmy Steeley She is also preparing for play in the upcoming FOBT tour-
Senior and Adult Combo nament in October with Cindy Key.
Rose Townsend
State Championship in Gulf
Charles & Judy Tibbs Shores. She also continues Monica was asked “What would
Dave Lewis & Family to stay involved practicing you like for people that do not
Steve Baker and playing matches with know you to learn from this arti-
Dave Brown her Flight 2 GPLTL team. cle?” Monica says “Tennis is my
Barbara Ybarra & Family Therapy and Jerry will
Monica has played on off during agree”. You can play at any age…you
Charlene Allison
the years. She played strong for 6 can start tennis, you can stop tennis for
Laura Elliott
years, took a break for 20 years a while and you can pick it right back
Monica Davidson and has been back strong playing up. You can play tennis when you are
Diane Duffie 7 consecutive years. When asked young, you can play when you are
Kelli Billups how she became interested in ten- OLD (Monica turned 60 in Au-
Beverly Billingsley nis……she says it looked like fun gust!!). Tennis is just a great sport.
Lisa Alonzo McFatter and a great way to get exercise.
John Stever
Bart & Lainey Middleton &
Family Junior Player Spotlight: Melanie Lewis
Rhonda Brantley
Cynthia Cleverdon Melanie is 15 and her hometown is Perdido know you to learn from this article?
Misty & Tim Payne, Family Key, FL. Currently, Melanie is playing tourna- “Orange Beach is a great place to play jun-
ments, taking lessons and working with a ior tennis. Both Rhett and Amy have helped
Christie Watford-Shannon personal trainer to improve her fitness. She me become a better tennis player. The
& Family has started the college recruitment process number of junior boys that play tennis is
Jennifer & McGee Scar- online and is looking forward to playing on double the number of junior girls. When I
brough & Family her high schools first girls tennis team in was in elementary school all I wanted to do
2010. was play as well as the high school girls.
Traci & Dean Mason &
Melanie started taking lessons around 6-7 Now that I'm in high school I hope younger
Family
and played her first tournament at 9. Her girls who see me play feel the same as I
Perry and Doug Benton did.”
interest in tennis was through her Grand-
Linda Alewine mother. She played senior tennis in south
Tom Bagley Florida and gave me a racquet for Christmas,
Sam Alewine which led to a beginner’s clinic at the local
club.
Heather Moore Her biggest supporters are her parents. They
Judy Jordan have been driving her to lessons, tourna-
Doug Jones ments, and camps while making sure she has
everything she needs. Outside of the tennis
Rhett Russell
world, Melanie has started the sports medi-
Amy Russell cine program at her high school. She hopes
Blaeke Mitchell to one day be a physical therapist. She also
Raegan Mitchell enjoys the beach, surfing, hanging out with
friends and she is trying to learn how to play
Brock Mitchell the guitar. Melanie is currently playing the
Micah Racquel Russell local Florida tournaments to increase her
Florida ranking so she will have a better shot
of getting into the 16's Nationals in Pensa-
cola in Thanksgiving.
What would you like for people that do not

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 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 PAGE 3

Men’s Player Spotlight: Charles Tibbs Friends of Orange

Beach Tennis
Hi, folks, our guest profile this time as President of the Board for the Or-
Members:
around is Charles Tibbs. Charles has ange Beach Fire and Rescue depart-
lived in the Orange Beach/Ono Island ment and was a volunteer James A. Cole
area since 1995 when they EMT/Firefighter for nearly 9 Kristi Woods
moved from Dallas, Texas. He years. Very few local folks DD Russo
has been married for 31 years here know that Charles was a Terri Long
to Judy who is also an active professional musician. For Michele Williams
3.5 tennis player. They divide over 40 years playing trom- Michelle & Bradley Shiv-
their time between here and bone in symphonies, big ers & Family
their other home in NE Georgia bands, Dixieland bands and Debbie Holder
mountains where they are also jazz combos. Back in Texas, Jim & Rosa Willis
active in tennis. Charles is a he even played a few rodeo Farrah Keel
young 64 years old and has bands and circus bands. Steve Worley
been playing tennis for about 8 Christine Slaughter
years. He says that Judy got Charles plays mostly at the Donna Russell
him started in the game and he Orange Beach and Gulf Deborah Sanders
discovered it was great fun, Shores tennis courts. Orange Carolyn Kettelson
good exercise and a terrific Beach is much closer and he Tim Arant
social opportunity. prefers the hard courts. Like Tina Stephens
many of us, he’s very excited about the Cindy Key & Family
For the last 25 years, he has been a real Friends of OB Tennis group that has Barb Frerman
estate broker and is currently involved started. He and Judy are both mem- Carol Adams
with developing mountain homes and bers. He is sure that it will help pro- Paula McLeod
lots near Blue Ridge, Georgia. Charles mote more and better tennis in our Ed McLeod
and Judy have an RV and do a fair great community of Orange Beach. Cheryl Scarbrough
amount of traveling in it. He has served Dan Scarbrough
Angie Sessel & Family
Jane Rivers
UPCOMING…..Orange Beach Tennis Center Socials Chris Rivers
Caid Rivers
October 10, Saturday at 9am — Lauren Rivers
Adult/Kid Social Neil Kestner
November 22, Sunday at 3pm —- Davy Thompson
Iron Bowl Social Robina Criteser
December Christmas Social—-TBA Eric Criteser
Miranda
Brenda Langston
Rob Balmut

Pro Tip from Amy Russell: Patty Balmut

Elizabeth Gottfried &

Foundation of Footwork
Family
Jan Olson
Amanda Sanders &
Just like a house needs a good foundation, so does our tennis game. Our Family
foundation in tennis is our footwork. Specifically for the ground strokes, we
need to turn sideways, get stationary and swing through rotating our stom-
ach and hip forward. When we swing, the front foot needs to stay still. On
the back foot, the ankle goes up and the toe stays down as you rotate them
a quarter of a turn forward.

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PAGE 4 THE RALLY

Following up on FOBT:

Have you seen the Blog……….check it out .

www.friendsobtennis.blogspot.com. Give us your comments

The FOBT social (August) to celebrate the Birth-

day of the City of Orange Beach was a success!!!!!
We had 40 players attend the social including the mayor,
Tony Kennon and his wife. Thank you to Jon Townsend
for grilling hamburgers and hot dogs & those that brought
homemade ice cream. Everyone had a great time of fel-
lowship!!!!

Have you seen the Shade at Orange Beach Tennis Center?

FOBT has successfully completed the first
project by installing canopy’s over each
bench. ENJOY!!!!!!

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 2.5/3.0/3.5 Team Win State Championship!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday to
Members of FOBT for
October, November and
December 2009:
Charles Tibbs October 4
Mary Lason Gottfried October 5
Christine Slaughter October 8
Jenny Sculley October 8
Sarah Key October 8
Bart Middleton October 11
Doug Benton October 12
Congratulations to these Teams for advancement Jan Olson
Rhonda Brantley
October 15
October 17
to Alabama State Championships!!!!! Dillon Gottfried October 24
Cheryl Scarbrough October 31
7.5 Mixed Doubles Team advance to State in Dothan (September 2009) Julie Key November 13
Mixed Trouble-- DD Russo (Captain), Bradley & Michele Shivers, Barbara Ybarro, Deborah Sanders November 16
Doug Jones, Dave Brown, Ron Lee, Jimmy Steeley, Laura Elliott, Carolyn Kettelson,
Rose Townsend November 24
John Lamberth, Rose Townsend, Beverly Billingsley
James A. Cole November 25
Strung Out-- Lainey Middleton (Captain), Steve Baker, Spencer Adelman, Bart Mid-
dleton, Tim Arant, Christie Shannon; Misti Payne, Traci Mason, Cindy Key, Joannah Dean Mason November 27
& James Martin, David Thompson Carrie Brabner November 27
7.0 Senior Mixed—Point Clear —-Jim Willis, Rosa Willis, Monica Davidson, Ana Del- Brock Mitchell November 28
Carmen, Tom Bice Charlene Allison December 3
8.0 Senior Mixed—Mobile— Marty Halliday Lainey Middleton December 4
Tri Level Teams advance to State in Gulf Shores (September 2009) Sam Alewine December 7
Women 3.0/3.5/4.0 Division Linda Bohannon December 7
Lucky’s Aces— Beverly Billingsley (Captain), Angela Holliman, Monica Davidson, John Stever December 7
Rose Townsend, Michelle Shivers, Cindy Key, DD Russo, Jennifer Scarbrough, Deb-
Blaeke Mitchell December 10
bie Holder, Cynthia Cleverdon
Neil Kestner December 11
OB Fountain— Michelle Fountain (Captain), Deanne Cornett, Donna Fitts, Rhonda
Brantley, Stephanie Loper, Marilyn Booker, Stephanie Barnett, Marianna Mckerall, Sean Sessel December 11
Julie Boles, Rosa Willis, Bridget Van Aller, Julie Shamburger, Carolyn Kettelson. Rhett Russell December 14
Women 2.5/3.0/3.5 Division Amy Russell December 15
Tight Aces-(PICTURED ABOVE) Cheslie Larkin (Captain), Sheri Hicks, Cindy Harden, Heather Moore December 18
Ali Jennings, Sarah Brown, Tammy Loper, Suzette Taylor, Dyan Fentriss, Carrie Brab- Beverly Billingsley December 27
ner, Farrah Keel, Jennifer Peterson
Raegan Mitchell December 27
Men 3.0/3.5/4.0 Division Kristi Ybarra December 28
OB Middleton– Bart Middleton (Captain), Jim Willis, Bradley Shivers, Dave Brown,
Jimmy Steeley, Doug Jones, Steve Baker, Davy Thompson, Tim Arant, Tim Payne,
Dan Scarbrough, John Lamberth
Peninsula Brown— Roland Brown (Captain), Tom Bice, Steve Arnold, Ron David, Don
Jordan, Randy Woodham, Lou Vickery, James Doughty, Gary Woodham, Ken Brown,
Charles Cole, Bob Davidson, Royce Halstead, Riji Dixon
Combo Teams advance to State in Gulf Shores (November 2009)
5.5 Womens Combo– “Smart Aces”—Farrah Keel (Captain), Jennifer McCurdy, Cyn-
thia White, Sherie Harris, Heather Moore, Terri Long, Deborah Sanders, Diane Duf-
fie, Amanda Sanders, Jennifer Peterson, Robina Criteser, Sandy Harrelson
6.5 Womens Combo—-”40LOVE”—Beverly Billingsley (Captain), Rose Townsend,
Cheslie Larkin, Cynthia Cleverdon, Carrie Brabner, Jane Rivers, Debbie Holder, DD
Russo, Monica Davidson, Michele Fountain, Paige Ellison-Smith, Kathy Justice,
Tammy Bryant CONTINUED PAGE 7

5
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 PAGE 6

Thank you to our Local Sponsors:

The Orthopaedic Group P.C. : Dr. L Dean Mason II, MD

Three Palms Real Estate:

Anita Elisar, Realtor 251.980.Palm

Island Drug & Gifts: Jim & Rosa Willis 967.1100

6
 PAGE 7 THE RALLY

Mayor’s Cup Pro-Invitational Tournament Benefiting the Gulf Coast Arts Council.
November 13-15, 2009 at P E N I N S U L A Racquet Club
The Professionals will coach their amateur teammates in lively and competitive
matches. Players must have an NTRP rating. $75 Entry fee. Deadline to Register: No-
vember 1, 2009. Contact Peninsula for more information call 251-968-4164.

The Orange Beach Tennis Center held an adult tour-

nament Labor Day weekend. Even though the rain
came down in the mornings, the tournament went on
and finished by Sunday evening. 75 players signed up
to play and $1000 in prize money was given to win-
ners in the open divisions. In addition to local area
players, some college players joined the competition.
Students from the University of Alabama, Auburn Uni-
versity of Montgomery, Troy University and University
of Southern Mississippi. These guys played some
awesome tennis. Also a THANK YOU to those family's
that opened up their home to house the college students.
Joe & Trella Tucker, Marty Halliday, Del & Charlotte Layne,
Pattie Adams and Carolyn & Dan Kettelson. Pictured:
Charlotte & Del Layne

FOBT is currently making plans to have a

Holiday Party. Stay Tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!

Continuation:
7.5 Womens Combo—”Woods”— Kristi Woods (Captain), Lisa Frick, Jan Guilfoyle, Jean Salter, Cheryl Scarbrough, Angela
Holliman, Bridget Van Aller, Stephanie Loper, Marie Knight, Julie Shamburger, Laura Elliott.
7.5 Senior Combo Team—”GS/Key”— Cindy Key (Captain), Susan Andrews, Jan Guilfoyle, Debbie Holder, Monica David-
son, Carol Nonnenmann, Laura Elliott, Lynn Norwood, Janet Asher, Jane Rivers, Barbie Doherty, Kathy Cunningham
Congratulations Super Senior Combo Team advance to state: Janet Asher (Captain), Carol Nonnenmann, Monica David-
son, Laura Rast, Janelle Buford, Audrey Kitzer, Susan Coyne, Nell Seavey, Jean Goodrich
Super Senior 3.5 Team advance to state in Huntsville (October 2009): Janet Asher (Captain), Carol Nonnemann, Monica
Davidson, Sherry Roberts, Marilyn Booker, Peggy Devaney

7
1st Annual Friends of Orange
Beach Tennis Tournament
October 16-18, 2009
Combo/Mixed ENTRY FORM

Location: Orange Beach Tennis Center, Orange Beach AL Surface: 8 hard courts
Format: Unsanctioned tournament. Shoot-out (non-elimination). Players guaranteed 2-3
matches. Combo based upon current USTA rating/1 point difference allowed in combos/
mixed. USTA membership not required.
Scoring: Play 2 out of 3 sets/3rd set tiebreaker. (coman tiebreaker)
Entry Deadline: Wednesday, October 14th at noon. Prizes: Awards given
Schedule: Play begins Friday at 6:00pm. Lunch will be provided Saturday at noon &
Snacks.
Entry Fee: $35 per player/1st event; $25 per player/2nd event
Party: Players Party Saturday night. Where: Tacky Jack’s 7-9pm
Tournament Coordinator: Friends of Orange Beach Tennis Board Members/Beverly
Billingsley at 251-458-7208 or email friendsobtennis@gmail.com
Friends of Orange Beach Tennis Mission Statement:
Email or Mail Entry form to:
We are a non-profit organization founded in 2009
friendsobtennis@gmail.com with the sole purpose of promoting tennis by part-
Or nering with community groups and city agencies to
PO Box 454 promote youth, adult and senior tournaments and
Orange Beach, AL 36561 events to encourage participation in the sport.

Check out our Blog: www.friendsobtennis.blogspot.com

Name:_______________________________ Rating:____________ 6.5 Mixed Doubles

T-Shirt size:_________ Contact Phone Number:_______________ 7.5 Mixed Doubles
Partner Name (1st Event):_______________________ Rating:____ Open Mixed Doubles
T-Shirt size:_________ Contact Phone Number:________________ Open Men’s Doubles
1st Event Division:________________________________ 7.5 Men’s Combo
5.5 Women’s Combo
Partner Name (2nd Event) :___________________ Rating:_______ 6.5 Women’s Combo
T-Shirt size:_________ Contact Phone Number:_______________ 7.5 Women’s Combo
2nd Event Division :________________________________