5/22 Letters to the editor

Sport schedule can’t please everyone

This is a rebuttal to the Clovis resident who is upset about having to choose between sports and church.

First of all, we are sorry the schedule has inconvenienced any family. The Clovis Girls Athletic Association has been operating for more than 30 years. We have had the Monday through Friday venue this whole time.

We have experimented with playing on Saturdays before and this was even a bigger nightmare because of umpire availability, tournaments out of town, many parents taking fun weekend trips, etc. And some families worship on Saturdays.

There were more forfeits and reschedules when we played on Saturdays than ever on Monday through Friday.

We registered more than 460 girls this year and it is entirely impossible to please everyone and honor all their requests, especially after the coaches draft and schedules have been printed.

This gets me to my next point: I was physically present at every sign-up day, and supervised the coaches draft. Not once did Marty Martinez or the coach of her girls team mention to a board member that they preferred not to play on Wednesdays.

Truth be told, every night people have special functions or plans, including church. We, again, apologize for any inconvenience. The Clovis Girls Athletic Association is run by Christian people who also attend church.

For more than 30 years, myself and my children have had to play many games on Wednesdays with many different sports.

Each day, I pray to God and ask for forgiveness for all my wrongdoings, and when I have to miss church, I also ask for forgiveness. Our God is an awesome God and very understanding, especially when it comes to our children.

Troy Hammond

Clovis

New management good for golf course

Years ago I used to frequent the Clovis Municipal Golf Course and participated in several annual tournaments. That all went by the wayside because of poor course conditions, management and the general negative attitudes of the employees.

Over the past four or five years, I have only played at Muny once or twice a year ... always being disappointed.

I recently heard there had been a change of management at Muny and I thought I’d give it another try. I played Muny on Wednesday afternoon and was more than quite surprised.

When you walk in you can actually sense a change because there are more individuals playing, practicing, etc. The area was clean and appeared organized. The carts were clean, new pull carts were lined up, the pro shop was full of new items neatly displayed.

When I walked into the pro shop I was actually greeted by someone who had a smile on his face and seemed appreciative I was there. The instructor, Josh Hurley, helped me with a swing problem I had recently developed and did so as though he really cared.

I went to the practice range and was actually impressed by the changes there. This area had been a real eyesore in the past.

My partner and I then walked nine holes and the course was in great shape. The greens were fast and fairways cut.

Overall, I was so impressed with the changes, especially the attitudes, that I went in and introduced myself to the new pro, Charlie Maciel. I expressed my congratulations on the welcomed improvements and told him I would be back.

I just thought I'd pass on my experience to those who have not recently played at Muny and suggest they give it a try.

Chet Spear

Clovis