Okay so I’ve been getting tons of DMs lately about joining local tennis leagues, especially that North Shore one everyone talks about. Decided to actually try signing up myself and document the whole messy process – spoiler, it wasn’t as complicated as I thought. Here’s exactly what went down:
Step 1: Digging Up the Damn Contact Info
First thing Monday morning, I brewed some coffee and googled “north shore tennis league join” like a regular person. Took three different searches before their actual contact page popped up under some old forum posts. Wrote down the email address on a Post-It note because my printer’s out of ink again. Classic.
Step 2: Shooting My Shot Over Email
Drafted a quick message right then: “Hey can someone tell me how to join?” Hit send before second-guessing whether I sounded like a total noob. Got an auto-reply instantly saying “allow 48 hours for response” which made me roll my eyes so hard. But surprise – real human replied after lunch! Sent me this PDF with all the deets.
Step 3: Playing Paperwork Bingo
Opened that PDF and wowza. Three forms needed filling: personal info form, skill level self-rating sheet, and some liability waiver. Spent twenty minutes arguing with myself about whether I’m “intermediate” or “advanced” player (truth? probably intermediate). Left the emergency contact field blank cause I couldn’t remember my sister’s new phone number. Whatever.
Step 4: The Payment Panic
Almost choked seeing the membership fee – $120 for the season! Scrambled to find my wallet. Credit card? Nope, expired last month. PayPal? Forgot password. Ended up doing direct bank transfer while muttering curses. Screenshotted the confirmation screen like it was gold. Sent everything back to the league guy with “pls confirm you got this??” in the subject line.
Step 5: When My Phone Finally Blinked
Checked emails obsessively for two days like a crazy person. Nothing. Then Wednesday afternoon – ding! Simple message: “You’re in. First match July 14th at Oak Park courts.” No welcome basket or fancy guidebook like I imagined. Just showed up to the courts that Saturday with my racket looking like an idiot, but sure enough other people showed up too. We played. It was sweaty. Mission accomplished.
Biggest takeaway? The whole joining thing is mostly waiting around and hoping adults reply to emails. Now excuse me while I ice my shoulder – forgot how hard old dudes smash those balls.