IN THE NEWS
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Like, George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart’s character) Joe Curto of Cold Spring is a humble and low-key man; one who is very involved in his community and committed to his family – and to helping others.

He holds many titles. His personal
website (www.jcurto.com) is a colorful and entertaining story (complete with his grade school picture). One of five siblings, he learned hard work at an early age in his family appliance and furniture
business.

He is now President of Yonkers Tennis Center and Trustee of the Haldane Board of Education, Liaison to the Westchester/Putnam School Boards Association and
READ Group. He is also Treasurer of Yonkers Partners in Education and serves on the Facilities Committee of Butterfield Library in Cold Spring.

He coaches kids’sports (soft ball and baseball) and is active in the Sound Shore Medical Center Toy/Coat/Food Drive, which he started with his wife. He is a devoted father to his four children. And he stretches every moment to do something good for others. His philosophy is very simple: “At the end of each day, if you solved one problem that makes someone else’s life better or less troublesome, then you had a good day…that person can pass it along
to another…at the end of week, you start making some headway…and a lot more people feel good about themselves and others.”

This holiday season, Curto will be
putting that philosophy into practice.
Along with the Sound Shore Drive, he is hosting a day of tennis at the Yonkers Tennis Center when 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Yonkers Partners in Education.

“We need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out,” Curto asserts, borrowing a quote from Paul Newman.

Yonkers Tennis Center is the only club in Westchester currently offering sanctioned USTA Eastern QuickStart tournaments for both 8 and 10 & under divisions. They started running them in January 2009 and have created a clear pathway for their players to progress to organized match play as soon as possible.

The tournaments are run by the professionals at YTC and have drawn players from all over Westchester County this year. The tournaments are run according to the USTA guidelines and encourage participation rather than winning.

So far this year over 200 players have experienced a QuickStart tournament and the feedback from parents has been nothing but positive. Most parents are thrilled that their kids are playing "real tennis" and learning the fundamentals of sportsmanship and fair play.

QuickStart tournaments are held once per month for both 8 and 10 & under. The club's website (www.yonkerstennis.com) has a complete schedule and an overview of what QuickStart tennis is all about.

February 1, 2009
SIMON GALE PRESENTS AT ‘COURTING SUCCESS’: USTA EASTERN’S TENNIS LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE & ANNUAL MEETING WHITE PLAINS, NY

Simon was recently asked by the USTA Eastern section to speak at the Leadership conference in White Plains, NY. The USTA is using Yonkers Tennis Center as the role model club for the Quickstart format.

White Plains, New York. February 1st, 2009 – The leadership conference was an opportunity to showcase what YTC has been doing with the Quickstart tennis format. The club is considered the leader in this format with a pathway for junior players to go from lessons to tournaments. YTC is the only club in Westchester with a program like this.

The title for Simon’s presentation was “Quickstart 10 and under tennis: Small Courts….Big Business”. The session focused on programming, staff training, promotion, competitive format and parent education.

Quickstart tennis is growing rapidly with over 1500 sites registered and over 10,000 trained teaching professionals.

Our first Introduction to QS night on October 4th was a big success. Over 45 kids and 60 parents filled the building and created a great atmosphere. We had 6 courts of players in action, 3x QS 36” and 2x 60” as well as one Pre QS court where the kids worked on motor skills and ball/racquet control. 

Players were put into two teams, Nadal’s and Federer’s. Singles matches were played where the result counted towards your team score. Players had a great time and were taught the rules, sportsmanship and fairplay needed to be a tennis player. The fact that is was a team event makes it very non-threatening for the kids and that is why the format will be popular with the younger player. 

Every player who attended received a small prize from the club and the USTA. There are two more FREE nights scheduled for November 1st and December 6th, 2008. If you are interested in attending please call the club and register. 

Tennis week, one of the leading tennis magazines in the country, recently visited YTC to tape Quickstart tennis in action. They worked with Assistant Director, Nigel Brown and the YTC staff to make the following video during our opening week.

Check out the new video of Yonkers Tennis Center's QuickStart Program in action as shown on tennis.com!