San Francisco lost its bid to become the American city contending in international competition to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. New York got the nod from the U.S. Olympic Committee's board of directors. The Big Apple had significant corporate support and a plan that placed all activities within a 20 mile radius of its projected Olympic Village in Queens. Bay Area venues were more spread out. Part of the San Francisco plan was a $40 million tennis stadium to be built at Mission College in Santa Clara. In the unlikely event now that it has a future, it would be in the hands of some group willing to pick up the torch.

National League Winners all! Galvin Park's Men 5.0 team became the first USA Adult League team from Santa Rosa to win a national championship. They did it the hard way. Down 3-6 in the finals in the deciding 10-point tiebreak after splitting matches, then sets, Randy Flachman and Ryan Branciforte (a last minute replacement for injured John Vigil) stormed back to win 10-7. Also putting on a well-deserved national crown was the Mixed 6.0 team from Walnut Creek which played in San Diego. Other indomitable national winners this year came from the Senior Leagues: the 3.5 Women from Napa and the 3.5 Men from Sunnyvale, winning in Palm Springs.

Here's a winner. Top NorCal juniors 10-16 are potential candidates for six free tennis memberships at the prestigious, lakeside Olympic Club in San Francisco. The member organization club is starting a Junior Merit program in 2003 to assist the development of promising NorCal- and nationally-ranked youngsters. For those selected, the club would become their home courts. They would receive Olympic Cblub apparel and partial tournament travel and entry fee subsidies. Candidates must qualify also with their grades and deportment. Call Nigel O'Rourke for additional information at (415) 404-4350.

Don Schaefer, the retired facilitator of tennis at Cuesta Park in Mountain View, died while fishing on the Klamath River. He was 66. During his 30-year career as a city Park and Rec supervisor, Schaefer ran tennis programs at Cuesta Park and the Mt. View Open in the days when it attracted Stanford stars Sandy Mayer and Roscoe Tanner. He was tournament director of the National Hard Court Girls 12 in the late 1970s and 1980s. For the last 20 years, Schaefer and his wife Jere, divided their time between the Klamath and Mt. View. He helped coach the Del Norte High School girls team. Donations can be made to Don Schaefer's Memorial Girls' Tennis Scholarship by writing to Doris Whalen, 1301 Eldorado, Crescent City, CA 95531.

The Tennis Link question, about whether to go forward with the computer system in 2003, is still undecided. NorCal is continuing to have discussions with national and as we go to press nothing has been decided about the program through which players can register online for tournaments and leagues. Members should check our website for the most up-to-date information.

Globe-trotting Sasha Podkolzina, NorCal's top junior, helped the five-member US team end Great Britiain's nine-victory win streak in the Maureen Connolly Trophy competition in Bournemouth, England. The Concord teenager won her two singles matches as the US triumphed 7-4 in the 19-and-under competition in October.

The Adult Leagues Committee has been directed by the NorCal board to review the 10-point tiebreak (in lieu of the third set) decision that applies to regular league matches. The board wants the committee to come up with a rule having discretionary latitude based on facility considerations and what the competing captains, or players, want. The board expects a decision in time for the 2003 Adult League season.

Who Wins that 10-pointer? USTA NorCal recently completed an interesting study of who wins a league match after opponents split sets. Looking at 2001 results from Adult men's and women's, Mixed, Senior and Super Senior leagues, the winner of the first set won the third set and match 49.2 per cent of the time. In 2000, it was 50.2 per cent of the time. In 1999, it was 49.8 per cent. Then the 2002 results were examined from the first leagues to employ the Super 10-point tiebreak, i.e., Combo, 50 Mixed, Senior and Super Senior. It was found that the winner of the first set won the Super tiebreak 51.2 per cent of the time.

NorCal's Women's 35 Intersectional team, unseeded, snagged a third place in the annual competition last fall that drew 11 sectional teams to the Texas playoff. Team members were Carol Akre of Granite Bay, Eva Jackson of Monte Sereno, Kristy Erickson of Santa Rosa and Mary Johnson of Sacramento. They edged Florida 3-2 in the 3/4 playoff.

Don Johnson's tennis programs may get an additional boost from USTA grants to supplement the $10,000 his San Jose city court site is receiving from the Siebel Open for re-surfacing and renovation. The tournament announced the "give back to the community" largess Oct. 5 for the four courts at Los Paseos Park where Johnson runs low-cost children's programs. NorCal Executive Director Bruce Hunt suggested that both sec-tional and USTA national court assistance grants could supplement the effort by as much as $7,500.

The Umpires and Referees' Committee voted to name its rookie umpire award after the late Conrad Alano who epitomized the qualities the committee seeks in new officials. The first recipient of the 2001 award is Anthony Montero. Also honored by their colleagues for the 2001 season were: Umpire of the Year, Nancy Baty; Referee of the Year, Arline Stepovich; and Service to Umpiring, Cornelia Twitchell.

High School coaches alert: NorCal's perennially popular High School Tennis Coaches Workshop will be held February 22 at ClubSport Pleasanton. This is the time to get an earful of expert wisdom that can be taken back to school and put right to use. Registration is 9 a.m. The first guest speaker starts at 10 a.m. The classroom sessions go to noon with a lunch break, followed by 1-4 p.m. on-court sessions. For information call, (530) 893-8782.

The 2003 Adult Schedule and the Junior Handbook can be purchased from our office for $5.00 ($4.00 walk-in).

Tennis ranks seventh in intercollegiate programs, ahead of golf. According to College Sports Connect@, an online database featuring data for more than 2,000 U.S. and Canadian colleges, the list of sports programs offered by U.S. two- and four-year colleges is headed by basketball with 1,897. The rest of top ten: 2. Volleyball, 1,654, 3. Baseball, 1,539, 4. Softball, 1,492, 5. Soccer, 1,454, 6. Cross country, 1,267, 7. Tennis, 1,248, 8. Golf, 1,200, 9. Track & field, 930, 10. Football, 814.

Broke and can't go? Travel Assistance Grants of up to $500 per person per year are available for those who would be unable to participate in an event outside the Northern California section without financial assistance. Contact Aliza Avalos for application procedure at (510) 748-7373, ext. 2985.

Elaine Mason up and did it again, aging as she does, like wine. Just last fall the retired tennis teacher and coach at Fresno State was honored by the USTA for achieving in 2001 her second straight 75s double Grand Slam. (She won the singles and doubles of all the national tournaments.) The USTA gave her seats in the Presidents Box for two days at the 2002 US Open. Shortly afterward, playing in her last event of the year, Mason added a third straight double whammy. It's vintage Mason for the record books.

Joe Navejas Jr., a fine little athlete who thought sports had passed him by because of his size, took up tennis at 13 and is now attending Fresno State, aided by a $6,000 tennis scholarship (over four years) from the national USTA. Navejas started group lessons in Lance Turner's Future Stars program in Tracy as a 13-year old. He went on to star on his high school tennis team, helping bring the school its first conference championship. He returned to Future Stars at 16 as a teacher himself, his first job. "Tennis has taught me to be a risk taker," says the first-year engineering student.

Tennis Warehouse is one of the country's largest and best-known online retailers of tennis apparel and equipment. At our website click on the T.W. logo. A portion of your purchase will benefit USTA NorCal.

Miramonte High School girls' tennis more than matched what its boy's team accomplished earlier in 2002. The girls from Orinda ended the four-year grip that Menlo School (27-5) had on the CIF-USTA Regional Girls' High School championships when the Matadors (30-0) stopped the school from Atherton 4-3 in the finals at Fremont Tennis Center. The Matadors were down 1-3 in matches but came back to win the next three for their first Regional title. Miramonte defeated Archbishop Mitty High School of San Jose 4-3 in the semi-finals. Earlier this year, Miramonte was runner-up in the CIF-USTA Boys' Regional after upsetting three-time defending champion, the Menlo School, in the semis.

NUAF is one of our latest affiliate relationships, meaning if you spend any money on NUAF products, a portion of the proceeds to that organization come back to the USTA NorCal. NUAF is the National Union of American Families, an organization dedicated to low-cost shopping. CLICK HERE for more information.

Good Sport! Please send us examples you have seen on court in tournament or league play so we can share them in future NorCal Call issues. Carter@norcal.usta.com