The HPTA Board of Directors would like to introduce the new Head Paddle Professional at Hinsdale Paddle Club (HPC), Matt Lemery. 

Lemery was born and raised in Menominee, MI (border of Wisconsin). He graduated from Ferris State University in 2003 with a B.S. in Marketing and became a USTA-certified teaching professional through the Professional Tennis Management Program. After two years of teaching tennis as the Junior Director at the South Barrington Club, Lemery was offered the Head Pro position at Westmoreland Country Club.  This is where his love of paddle started.  Four years later, he became the Head Paddle Pro at Sunset Ridge Country Club (winter season) and the Director of Tennis at Ivanhoe Country Club (summer season).  In 2013 he took over as Director of Racquet Sports at Butterfield Country Club and helped create their first paddle program.  After five years at Butterfield, Lemery did a complete 360 and took a job as a recruiter at Hunt Club.  Unfortunately, he was furloughed during COVID.  A Ferris friend contacted him about joining him at his company Essential Tennis.  Here he focused on video coaching.

Lemery competed in National tournaments for 11 years, winning the 2008 St. Louis Open, finishing runner-up at the 2010 Husband Wife Nationals, and was Nationally ranked as high as #42. He still competes in league play and plays on the HPC Series 2 team.

He is married to Suzanne Lemery (Director of Racquet Sports at Hinsdale Golf Club), and together they have two boys. Jamison (Jamo) age 9 and Jaxson (Jax) age 6.

Lemery is extremely excited about becoming the new Head Paddle Pro at HPC. He looks forward to working with all levels and is available for spring and summer lessons.  

You can reach him at matthpc23@gmail.com.

Please join the board in welcoming Matt Lemery, HPC’s new Head Paddle Professional.

Hinsdale Paddle will be offering an opportunity for the men to continue playing into Spring. Play will be divided up on a weekly basis giving you a chance to meet more guys and continue to fine tune your skills. And then a chance to socialize afterwards in the Billy O Hut!

Details:

1. Hinsdale Paddle Spring 2023 Paddle: April 4 to June 8 (10 weeks).
2. Sign up either on the, CourtReserve app or on the member portal at Hinsdalepaddle.com by 11:00 p.m., March 27. There is a limit of registrations, and spots will go fast!
3. Players will be assigned a night to play, Tuesday, Wednesday (only 2 courts) or Thursday.
4. Everyone should be open to playing on any night based on skill level (rather than request a preferred night). There will be considerable overlap in skill levels for all three evenings. 
5. Play at KLM, with matches played 6:30 – 10:30 p.m. There will be weekly signups ending 24 hrs before assigned evening
6. Cost per Hinsdale Paddle member player is $50. Registration ia open to Hinsdale Paddle members only. You will be asked to pay upon registration. 
7. Bring your own food, drinks – balls will be provided. The grill will be available for cooking meats, etc. 
8. Thursday Night Coordinators: Eric Clamp/Jimmy Towns
9. Wednesday Night Coordinators: Court Airhart
10. Tuesday Night Coordinators: Billy O’Brien

Monday night is Women’s night at Hinsdale Paddle Club and registration for the popular 2023 Women’s Spring League registration is now opened! If you are interested in playing, please register as soon as possible as our previous leagues have seen high demand.

Play will take place on Monday nights at KLM and Burns.  You will be able to sign up for two time slots: 6-7:30pm or 7:30-9pm.  We will continue to have an option to play at 4:30 depending on how many signups we get each week.

Cost is $50/member. Bring you own drinks. Hinsdale Paddle will provide game balls. You must be a member to play in the league. If your membership has expired, you will need to renew it before registration. If your membership has been inactive for an extended amount of time (greater than 6 months) and shows an unexpectedly large amount due to restart membership, please contact Mark Schaub at mark.schaub@comcast.net to correct the issue. 

Sign up either on the CourtReserve app or on the member portal at Hinsdalepaddle.com by March 26 or sooner. If the event is shown as full, we encourage you to put yourself on the waitlist, as we will make an attempt to accommodate as many players as we can.

To register:

On the CourtReserve app, go to Events -> All Events-> Women’s Spring 2023 Monday Night League Registration.

On the member portal at hinsdalepaddle.com, go to Events -> List -> Women’s Spring 2023 Monday Night League Registration

The Monday Night Coordinators are Marti Tommasone (murrph@comcast.net) and Caitlin Klein (caitlinrothklein@gmail.com).

Attention all Hinsdale Paddle Members! Come celebrate the legacy and accomplishments of our APTA Hall of Famer and six-time national champion paddle pro, Mary Doten, before her retirement this March. The event will take place at the Bill O’Brien Paddle Hut on Friday, March 3rd, at 5:30 p.m.

Mary has been the head pro at Hinsdale Paddle for 20+ years and has introduced and taught scores of our members to the game we all love, and has built our strong, rapidly growing women’s program from the ground up.  Following a presentation to Mary, heavy appetizers and drinks will be served.

Come join us in showing your appreciation to Mary as we bid her a fond farewell into retirement.

There is no charge for this event.

If you have any questions, please contact Jane Veldman at jane.veldman@gmail.com.

Congratulations to Bill O’Brien who has been elected into the American Platform Tennis Association (APTA) 2023 Hall of Fame.  This honor is bestowed on those individuals who have made a major impact on the growth and development of the sport.

For 32 years O’Brien has dedicated his time and expertise to the Chicago area paddle community. He continues to offer free paddle lessons every week from September to March to interested players in the Hinsdale community.  

To read more about his accomplishments, click here.

Congrats to the C Draw winners Michael Golichowski and Wally Fikri for outlasting the field to capture the elusive 2022 Hinsdale Open C Draw Championship which took place March 19-20. Playing at times in the rain, they were able to beat five different opponents, taking the finals 6-1, 6-1 again Scott Silberberg and Brett Padgett.

Thanks to all the participates and a very special thanks to our sponsors, Concklin Insurance and Bulkmatic for their support. Without them we’d be dining on pixie sticks and coke.

Ribbon cutting ceremony held Dec. 3

The official dedication of the Bill O’Brien Platform Tennis Center and the grand reopening of the newly design paddle hut took place on December 3, 2021 at KLM. The Board, along with many HPTA members and friends turned out to publicly dedicate the facility to our great friend and paddle ambassador to our area for the past 30+ years, Bill O’Brien.  

The dedication was followed by an open house with food and beverages.

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Congrats to Rob and Rachel Young for out tangoing everyone at the Hinsdale Southwest Suburban Mixed Doubles Tournament, A Draw. The tournament, held May 1, featured two draws with mix doubles teams from the various SW suburban clubs.

Taking top spot in B Draw were Rich and Allie Neme.

The Men’s 2021 Hinsdale Open Paddle Tournament took place March 20-21 and include four main draws. Congrats to all who participated and provided some exciting competitive matches.

Winners include:

Men’s A Draw: Rob Foster/Paul Rose
Men’s B Draw: Matt Allison/Rob Young
Men’s C Draw: Eric Price/Scott Wisniewski
Men’s D Draw: Neil Dalal/Nathan Hurst

Courts to remain open during construction

You should have received a recent email annoucing the long awaited expansion and renovation of the Billy O Platform Tennis Hut. The project is set to begin Monday, May 3 with an estimated completion date sometime in September of this year (in time for the 2021-22 paddle season).

During the construction, the paddle hut will not be available for use so please plan accordingly. The courts will remain open during the entirety of the process. Should this change, members will be notified immediately.

For more detailed information, click here. To view the renovation, click here.