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Goddard Tennis Club Facility last edited on 20 March 2012

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tennis shoes GODDARD TENNIS COURTS

The Goddard Tennis Club's members pay dues and donate their time and effort to build and maintain the facilities.
GEWA facilities are NOT government supplied, but come out of membership dues, vending machine fees, and volunteer construction.

Since 1966, the club members have constructed:

hartru courts
Eight Har-Tru courts
hard courts
Two lighted hard courts, with practice wall
picnic
A courtside socialization area

player icon PROCEDURES

Playing season on the Har-Tru clay courts is limited to April-October by the frost-freeze cycle. The hard courts are open all year.

Six of the courts (#1-4, 8 and 9) can be reserved in advance on a sign-up sheet on a clipboard at court side. One sign-up sheet per day is posted for the next few weeks, marked off in 1.5 hour slots, with starting times staggered every 15 minutes. The right to sign up a slot is an option in the annual membership fee. Members can buy one or two sign-up privileges. Each sign-up slot must show two members names, both with sign-up privileges. The sign-up sheet is policed occasionally by the club officials, who cross off illegal sign-ups and talk to the offenders.

The other four courts (#5-7 and 10) are used on a first-come basis, but with a 1.0 hour limit if people are waiting. Walk-ons must write down their time on a lucite board with a grease pencil at the gate, and post their membership cards. If they don't write down a start time or post their cards, they can be booted at any time by other members who do play be the rules.

Hard court #10 also has a practice wall, which may be used for solo practice whenever two members are not waiting to play.

player BALL MACHINE

The Club bought a small Tennis Tutor ProLite-AC ball machine in 2005, replacing a worn-out Prince machine purchased in 1990. It can be used for practice on court 9, a hard court where there are electrical outlets. Court 9 can be reserved for practice, if you have purchased a reservation privilege.

The machine throws balls at the speed of a ground stroke, and can be adjusted for speed, height and side-to-side oscillating motion. It holds about 60 balls. The Club supplies a bucket of long-lived pressureless practice balls. You can buy your own bucket from mail-order suppliers like Holabird Sports in Baltimore.

The Club's ball machine is stored in a locked shed just outside court 9. Access to the machine (a key to the lock) can be purchased from the Club as a annual membership option, approximately the same cost as a reservation privilege. It is a good idea to have somebody show you how to use the machine, the first time.

old backhand GTC HISTORY

PDF icon In 1991, a brief 25-year history of the founding of the Goddard Tennis Club was presented by the court architect and first president, Bob Davis.
(We only have a copy of his typed notes scanned into a PDF file.) PDF icon

You can find Bob Davis on-line (as of March 2012) at http://www.bobdavis.usptapro.com/

running tennis ball GTC MAINTENANCE NOTES ...another page-->

troubled player Emergency cut-offs (click for miniposter)

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The Goddard Tennis Club (GTC) is a member of the Goddard Employees Welfare Association (GEWA), a collection of mutual-interest clubs and services run by the workers at NASA-GSFC.