Iowa tennis

[Dunlopkid]

One of my best friends just moved to Iowa. He was also my regular hitting partner. It was sad and disappointing, but we've been e-mailing. Anyway, he moved to Cedar Rapids. So far he says that he's the best player he's seen, and he's becoming frustrated by the lack of competition. We're both from Indiana...not the greatest tennis state, but I can imagine it's worlds ahead of Iowa. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong.) So...does anyone know anything about the situation there specifally Cedar Rapids. He's probably a strong 4.0 weak 4.5.

[Muses]

im more of a reader but i had to respond to this one. im from iowa and one of the best tennis team/schools is Iowa City West. i dont hear much from cedar rapids.. What school does your friend go to and whats his name? And iowa really isnt a big tennis place its more about college football. But if your friend is in high school Iowa City west puts up a real good fight for varsity

[xtremerunnerars]

I don't think it matters WHAT state you're in, some parts are going to be terrible and others are going to be freakishly strong. It's definitely that way in Pennsylvania, and it seems to be the case for Iowa as well. Just make sure that he knows there are good kids in that state (somewhere!) and that if he wins like his skill should indicate he will, that he'll face them somewhere along the playoff road.

[Chauvalito]

Tell your friend to play the Midlands tournament in Iowa City, I think in August...if he wins you can probably say that he is at the level of the best juniors in Iowa...

There are also a lot of tournaments in Cedar Rapids...

[cujays]

a friend of mine lives in iowa and he says iowa city west and fort dodge senior high are the best tennis schools

[xie_419]

a friend of mine lives in iowa and he says iowa city west and fort dodge senior high are the best tennis schools

no offense but fort dodge is terrible ;)

[cujays]

not two years ago they finished 2nd in team state

[Chauvalito]

no offense but fort dodge is terrible ;)

I would have to agree, I have never heard fort dodge mentioned as the best...

Columbus (waterloo) is quite good, as well as fairfield, firfild has won a little less than 20 team championshps

[Chauvalito]

Furthermore, many of the really good Iowa juniors avoid playing Iowa tournaments because of the lax competition, they often go to larger tournaments in the Missouri Valley

[cujays]

I would have to agree, I have never heard fort dodge mentioned as the best...

Columbus (waterloo) is quite good, as well as fairfield, firfild has won a little less than 20 team championshps


ya but waterloo columbus is in class 1A (the lowest class)
fort dodge is in 2A (the highest class)

[Dunlopkid]

Thanks for the info. I'll pass it along.

[cujays]

Furthermore, many of the really good Iowa juniors avoid playing Iowa tournaments because of the lax competition, they often go to larger tournaments in the Missouri Valley


this is true
there is not huge compitition in iowa

[xie_419]

while we're on the topic of tennis in Iowa, anyone know of any good, reliable stringers near Johnston (close to Des Moines)?

[cujays]

while we're on the topic of tennis in Iowa, anyone know of any good, reliable stringers near Johnston (close to Des Moines)?


could you just go to des moines?????????????????

[xie_419]

could you just go to des moines?????????????????

yeah - you know a good stringer there?

[cujays]

you could go to scheels
or go to the aspen athletic club

[Voltron]

Yeah, I personally live in a pretty strong section (we have, you know, one of the best B16 players in the country [I think he's still ranked really high], among others), so stop your complaining, I would love an easy draw once and a while.

[xie_419]

you could go to scheels
or go to the aspen athletic club

Scheels is where I currently go to for restringing, but I've heard from some that big retailers tend to do a sub-par job so I was wondering if you knew of any pro-shops.

[cujays]

go to aspen athletic club

[xie_419]

go to aspen athletic club

how much do they charge? I heard it's a lot (like $20)

[Muses]

scheels around my area charges $15 i guess not too bad :|

[cujays]

i really dont really know
how far do you live from ames

[gb93433]

I go the Black Hawk Tennis Club in Waterloo. They charge $12 and do an excellent job.

[xie_419]

I go the Black Hawk Tennis Club in Waterloo. They charge $12 and do an excellent job.

whats the address?

[Muses]

I go the Black Hawk Tennis Club in Waterloo. They charge $12 and do an excellent job.

hey do you have to be a member get it strung there?

[Dunlopkid]

Ok, my friend has played a couple tourneys now. Here is his USTA sheet.

http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/Rankings/PlayerRecords.aspx?id=352533&p=395

Has anybody played him or know him?

[yourmom08]

scheels strings alright, it's 12 bucks plus the cost for strings, but i've heard aspen is way better, and there's some guy that strings in des moines (can't remember his name) i'll post it when i remember, that is supposed to be the sh!t.
Iowa isn't a big tennis state though, my school has sent kids to state every year for the past 20 odd years and they still don't care. Every other sport gets like good luck posters put on the athletes locker the day of a game and has schedules posted all over town about games but tennis is neglected.....somebody break out the violin, it's rough bein a cornfed baseliner :-(

[cujays]

scheels strings alright, it's 12 bucks plus the cost for strings, but i've heard aspen is way better, and there's some guy that strings in des moines (can't remember his name) i'll post it when i remember, that is supposed to be the sh!t.
Iowa isn't a big tennis state though, my school has sent kids to state every year for the past 20 odd years and they still don't care. Every other sport gets like good luck posters put on the athletes locker the day of a game and has schedules posted all over town about games but tennis is neglected.....somebody break out the violin, it's rough bein a cornfed baseliner :-(


what high school????

[Jonny S&V]

I live in upper Missouri and our school is one of the better 1a schools (the best non-catholic school for sure), and I we have played 2 teams from Iowa, Ottumwa and Centerville. I must say if you want to base your opinon on just these schools, tennis in Iowa is not very good. There are a lot of really good girls in Iowa, sadly the guys tennis all around isn't very good.