March Newsletter 2020

We Care About Your Health!

Flu & Virus Prevention

At the Westlake Athletic Club, we are passionately committed to serving our members and guests and our daily focus is on improving the quality of life for all who come to enjoy our wonderful facility and property.

This includes being mindful of seasonal threats to overall health and wellbeing such as the influenza virus, and having an awareness and prevention plan in place for other communicable viruses that are of concern in our country today.

Rest assured our Club has customized procedures in place for each department with specific regard to cleanliness and sanitation of surfaces and equipment, and these practices are regularly reviewed by our management team.

With regard to the flu and other recent viral concerns, we provide ample disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizing stations throughout the Club and are increasing the number of dispensers for use.

Additionally, we are educating and encouraging our entire staff, and also would like to encourage our members and guests as well, to follow precautionary measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control:

Take everyday preventive actions to stop the spread of germs.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them.
If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone for 24 hours without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.)
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. After using a tissue, throw it in the trash and wash your hands.
Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.
Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like flu.
Preventative care is the best care.

Antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies and probiotic-rich fermented foods can strengthen your body's immune system. Ensure you are getting enough Vitamin D, whether in foods or supplements, to also increase your natural body armor. A balanced diet, plenty of water, physical activity daily, and a strong sleep schedule are your best defenses.

Your fellow members and the staff at the Club appreciate you following virus defense best practices during the flu season.

Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#ILIActivityMap
https://www.healthline.com/health/flu/how-to-prevent-flu-naturally#takeaway
https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html

GM Letter

Dear Members,

After resurfacing the courts in 2019, we regret to say that we are experiencing bubbling on courts 7, 9 and 11. In February we patched the courts for safety purposes with the intent of completing major repairs once the rainy season was over. The courts are currently scheduled to be repaired the second week of April. Repairs will take 7 to 10 days to be completed which means those 3 courts could be shut down for up to 10 days. We appreciate your patience during this period as court availability will be limited.

In order to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our members and staff we ask that you observe the following safety precautions. We appreciate your cooperation and thank you for your understanding.

Stay at home if you do not feel well. Even with mild symptoms such as headache and slight runny nose, stay at home until you recover.
Wash your hands frequently. Regularly and thoroughly wash your hands with soap and warm water.
Practice respiratory hygiene. Cover your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you sneeze or cough.
Utilize the hand sanitizers that we have placed throughout the club.
Wipe off all equipment immediately.

As many of you may already know, Diane and I have decided to move to North Carolina and next week will be my last week at the club. I want to take a moment and thank you for all of your support over the past 9 years. I have truly enjoyed my time at the club and am grateful to have met so many great people. I feel lucky to have met and made friends with so many of our members. Thank you all for helping make WAC such a terrific place. I will miss you all. Goodbye, good luck!

I am thrilled to announce that Ann Reeder will be the new GM. Ann has been the assistant manager for the past 4 years and is well suited to fill the role of GM. She is excited about this new chapter in her life and looks forward to taking the club to the next level. Please join me in congratulating Ann on her new position as GM.

Be Well, Be Happy
John Sutcliffe
General Manager

Car Break in Warning

Cars continue to be broken into in the Westlake area. They are smash and grab crimes of opportunity that only happen when the thieves see something they think is valuable. We do not recommend you leave anything visible, even if it is not valuable, in your car while you are in the club. We also suggest that you bring anything of value into the club with you and secure in a locker in the locker room.

Upcoming Events:

• In-house tennis league registration – Mar. 6-12. Play begins March 23rd
• March Madness Pickleball Mixed Double Round Robin – March 22nd
• Global Outreach Charity Event- Tennis/Pickleball/Games. March 29th

Welcome Aboard Vedant Raval

We are excited to welcome Vedant Raval to our tennis staff. Vedant has been actively involved in tennis for over 25 years with experience in playing as well as coaching. He is USPTA, USPTR & LTA certified. These certifications help equip him with an in-depth understanding of the biomechanics of successful stroke production. He has a significant playing and coaching history, as well as a background in managing and directing academies and tennis clubs/facilities. He played both junior and Division 1 in college tennis and then went on to play on tour.

His coaching experience ranges from beginners to ITF Juniors to WTA & ATP players, with a specialty in identifying talent. His success as a coach is attributed to his ability to push players to higher levels than they thought possible with emphasis on helping students improve key aspects of their technical game.
Combining his understanding of the game with his own extensive experience help him consistently produces a high number of successful players.

Vedant looks forward to seeing you on the courts! Please join me in welcoming Vedant to Westlake Athletic Club

Hints for Living a Healthier Lifestyle

Ditch the resolutions. Resolutions often do not work because they are more like a temporary pledge than a long term solution.
Identify the most important issues to strengthen for long-term health. Four keys are stop smoking, maintain a healthy weight, eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day and exercise 30 minutes per day 5 days a week.
Know what works for you. Find strategies that work for your personality.
Disrupt unhealthy habits. Start making small daily changes. Disrupt unhealthy habits and establish new healthier patterns.
Make small but powerful changes. Do not try large sweeping changes all at once. This is too overwhelming!
Eat a healthy diet. You are what you eat! Cut back on sugar and other processed foods and boost your intake of fruits, vegetables.
Get enough sleep. Sleep plays a vital role in our health and well-being. Medical professional recommend 8 hours per night!
Manage stress. Reduce and manage stress by taking control of the things you can control!
SLOW DOWN and reflect on the moment. Pause throughout the day and appreciate the world around you. Make the time to enjoy different parts of your day!

Did You Know?

• We are now offering Pilates on Sunday mornings from 10:15-11:15 WITH Rachelle Boyd.

Fitness Corner

Spring is nature's way of saying 'Let's party!'
- Robin Williams

Well, it's spring again and as the weather starts to hint at warmer days and the daylight hours push the sunset back deeper into the evening, it's a great time to start up or change up your fitness routine.

Fall and winter are pretty mild here in Southern California, but it's easy to give in to the tables loaded with holiday treats and the comfort of staying indoors. With the coming of spring, you can feel a change...the days are longer, the hills are green again and it feels like you are being called outdoors.

Here at WAC there are plenty of options for taking advantage of the beautiful surroundings. The pool looks super inviting, the tennis and pickle ball courts stay lighter later, and the unique outdoor gym and cardio areas allow you to start shedding winter and looking forward to the warm summer months ahead.

The word 'spring' itself implies potential and action. A watch has a spring which moves the hands forward. A car has springs which absorb the rough spots on the road. A mountain spring bubbles up from the ground.

So get outside. Spring into action. Nature's waiting..'Let's party!'

Tennis Corner

Pickleball

Want to fine tune your game – give our new pickleball ball machine a try!

Meet Patty (the ball machine)

We are excited to announce that we now have a pickleball ball machine for members to practice on. The ball

machine is located in the shed in the middle section of pickleball court 1. For now the ball machine can be reserved at any time other than when open play is scheduled (M/W/F 5-8pm, Sun9-12am). Reservations can be made on-line or by calling the front desk. The fee is $10 per hour. You'll need to give the front desk your cars keys in exchange for the shed key and when you return the key your car keys will be returned.
Ball Machine Operations:

The ball machine is battery operated. Unplug it when you start and plug it back in when you finish. Do not worry about the battery being overcharged.
Remove the ball machine from the shed and place it at the point of the base line.
Set the spin on flat to start
Set the interval at a lower number to start
Set the speed at 3 or lower to start
Set Oscillator on Off
Turn machine on and move to the other side of the court. There will be a slight delay before the balls start coming
It will take several baskets of balls before you find the settings that work for you. Be patient!!
We recommend the first time you use the machine that you do it with a fellow member. This will allow one to work the machine and make adjustments while the other player practices.

The bad news is you will never wear Patty out!! Have fun and Paddle Up!!