Is the cold weather messing up your workout routine?  Is it too cold to run in Central Park?  Are you feeling lazy or getting stressed out by classes and internships? It’s been a brutal winter in New York City, but help is on the way: Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC)’s Tennis Club is holding indoor tennis sessions. This means you can get a great work out without having to risk getting pneumonia. Whether you’re an amateur or a veteran, you can learn a great sport while getting in shape.

Tennis club president John Angles, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC )’11, spoke to the Observer about his plans for the club.

Observer: How did you join the tennis club?

John Angles: I played tennis for my high school team and I loved playing with all of my friends back home in Philadelphia. Since I moved to New York I lost all of my regular tennis partners, so the club was just a way to meet some new people who were as interested in tennis as I was.

Observer: When was the tennis club founded?

JA: Paul Jochico, FCLC ’09, founded the club the year before I became a freshman. It was small but everyone was really close. Paul’s a grad student at Columbia but still comes and plays every once in a while. The dorms have two tennis courts attached to them along Amsterdam Avenue, but no one was really making use of them. Tennis is such an expensive sport in the city because it’s so hard to reserve courts, which are never free, so we were just trying to take advantage of the opportunity.

Observer: What does the tennis club mean to you?

JA:  The tennis club is absolutely my favorite two hours of the week.  School’s tough; a lot of hours go into homework, class, jobs, internships.  It’s difficult to stay active, so the tennis club lets me run around for a little, which is relaxing. In terms of how it’s balanced with my social life, I’ve met a ton of people through tennis, people who I would’ve never met otherwise. We hang out all the time, on and off the court.

observer: What do you want the tennis club to do for Fordham students?

 JA: I hope the tennis club allows everyone in the Fordham community to share their enthusiasm about the sport and to play it together. It can also be an introduction to the sport, playing for free with people your age. We want everyone to be able to realize how fun it can be. We’ve reached most of our goals already—weekly sessions and indoor court reservations during the cold months. Eventually, we would like to expand to include other racquet sports like ping pong and squash. We’re working out plans for weekly ping pong right now, actually. All the officers of the tennis club are very proficient ping pong players.

observer: What type of relationships have you developed as a result of being such an integral part of the tennis club?

JA: Some of my best friends, particularly the vice president, Steven Rey, FCLC ’11, are people I first met playing tennis with every week. So many people play basketball and football, but when you find someone who plays tennis—because it’s such a smaller sport in terms of awareness—the bond is immediately pretty strong.

observer: How can Fordham students get involved?

JA: Students can sign up to our e-mail list during the club days that Fordham provides, or they can e-mail Steven and me directly at [email protected] and [email protected]. We send out a weekly letter informing people of our upcoming events. Or, they can just show up on the tennis courts (weather permitting) every Thursday from 12 p.m.-3 p.m.