Tallahassee Tennis Association 25th Anniversary: Humble Beginnings

HEAD GAMES by Patty McCalpine Happy New Year Tennis Fans! Welcome back to the courts after a busy holiday season. Spring is right around the corner and lots of great tennis is in store for players of all levels. Make sure you check out our website to join the many leagues and tournaments that are available in our beautiful city. I have been asked to address how to keep anxiety away when on the court and before matches. I know this subject inside and out. As a mental health professional in private practice for over 20 years, I have worked with many people who deal with anxiety from severe to mild and the good news is that it is treatable. As an avid tennis fan and player, I have had to deal with my own anxiety on the court and before tough matches. I can tell you honestly, I am a much better therapist to others than with myself! Having said that, here are some tips. . . Here and Now: Anxiety is always anticipatory in nature. For example, you may say to yourself, "don't double fault" or "I hope I don't hit the ball out" or "what if I miss my volley",etc. You can fill in your own language, but the point is, you are fearing something which hasn't happened yet. Here and now techniques are designed to teach you to stay in the present moment by orienting you to time and place. For instance, change your internal dialogue to say, "I love my serve" (yes, even if you don't), or "I'm holding my racquet out in front" (for your volleys), or "I know how to keep the ball in play". I promise you that no one will talk to you more in the course of a day than you talk to yourself! So make sure that what you are saying is helping and not hurting. Orienting yourself to place requires you to take inventory of your surroundings. For instance, you may say to yourself, "it's a beautiful sunny day and I'm here with my friends and I'm watching the ball. . .” You keep yourself rooted in the moment. In the time continuum of past, present and future, the present is the most powerful. Practice staying in it and watch your quality of life improve. If you find yourself in the slippery slope of a parade of horrible, get yourself back to present moment and learn to enjoy right where you are. Have fun, relax and enjoy the moment. Here's wishing you a happy, healthy new year and may 2011 be your best year yet!

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Tallahassee Tennis Association 25th Anniversary: Humble Beginnings

2011 TTA Snowball Smash Tournament Parent-Child Round Robin On a brisk Saturday afternoon at Winthrop Park Tennis Center, ten parent-child teams played in the Tallahassee Tennis Association’s (TTA) annual Snowball Smash Tournament. The purpose of the tourney was to promote family playing the tennis together. The first TTA tourney of 2011 met the primary mission of TTA - to organize, promote and grow the sport of tennis at all ability levels. The Snowball Smash traditionally is held during the winter break when families and their children are absent from the regular school and sports activities. The backdrop of the little league baseball park, playground equipment, live oak trees and 57 degree weather added to the excitement and camaraderie of the event.

Moms, Dads, and kids ranging from 11 to 16 years old played in five round events in a simplified format. On each court, the match consisted of a mini-set where each player served once and played a total of four games before moving to the next round. The winner of the event won the most games for all five rounds. The winners of 2011 TTA Snowball Smash were Alan & Brennan Abramowitz.

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Tallahassee Tennis Association 25th Anniversary: Humble Beginnings

The other families who participated were: Mark & Brian Wilson, Sharon & Ronnie Nicholson, Kirsten & Jimmy Baggett, Robbyn & Cierra Whitlock, Jennifer & Sarah Britt, Cam & Alexis Whitlock, Marten & Marielle Scheffers, Brenda Hubbard and Amber Sample, and Kelly & Allie Hetherington TTA Player Profile by Patty Mc Calpine Meet Jim McCloy Jim,73, was born in Dover, NJ and has been married to Angela for 35 years. He has one son, 43, and a 6 year old granddaughter named Hannah. Jim is retired from the Department of Financial Services and worked for the State of Florida conducting training sessions for 15 years. Since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Jim has been active in recovery work as Chairman of Partners in Recovery where he coordinates insurance claims for disaster relief as a paid consultant. He loves the flexibility of the work as well as the gratification of helping people recover benefits when disaster strikes in their lives. Jim began playing tennis about 30 years ago. At first he played racquetball while Angela took tennis lessons. "I would get out and hit with her and decided then that I wanted to play a sport outdoors." At that time, Angela worked in the Racquet Shop and Jim started playing tennis in the Michelob Light league. Shortly after that, he saw the need for organization and the Tallahassee Tennis Association (TTA) was formed. As a 3.0 player, Jim's team went to Nationals. "we barely placed", he quipped, but good memories will never be forgotten.

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Tallahassee Tennis Association 25th Anniversary: Humble Beginnings Currently, Jim is the "commissioner" of the 'early bird club'. Forty two players play on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8 am at Forest Meadows "for fun". During the cold months, they play at 11:30am. Once again, he is in charge of organizing the roster of players and coordinating courts. Organization is something he is quite good at. For ten years Jim has been a chair umpire and has participated at the Amelia Island Professional Womens Tennis Tournament and was the Men's Professional Tournament Director. He also ran the very first Challenger Tournament in Tallahassee. One year ago, Jim started playing competitive billiards in a league on Monday nights. Players are rated through the American Pool Players Association and are moved up as skill level improves. He has really enjoyed this hobby and also cooks "a lot" for fun. The key to staying young and healthy is to have an active lifestyle. Get up every day and do something you love, socialize, work, play and contribute. Jim is a great example of how to stay young no matter how hold you are. Tallahassee Tennis Association – A Brief History -- By Jim McCloy In the spring of 2011 the Tallahassee Tennis Association (TTA) will be celebrating its 25th year as the organization coordinating tennis activities in Leon County on behalf it’s tennis playing members. A small group of active tennis players playing in the precursor to USTA Adult Men’s and Women’s Leagues - Volvo Tennis and before that Michelob Light Tennis- decided that there needed to be an organization to promote, advertise and coordinate tennis activities in Tallahassee. The initial meeting to discuss was held in April, 1986, at 7 pm at the Tallahassee Parks and Recreation conference room. There were a dozen interested players in attendance. Jim McCloy volunteered to serve as the first President and organizer. The first free newsletter was published July 18, 1986 announcing the forming of the organization. The first organizational meeting of the Board of Directors was in September. A temporary board was appointed at the meeting, with plans to hold a first annual meeting in April of 1987. Participants those first years included (in alphabetical order): Richard Baker Tom Graham Jim and Angela McCloy Milt Bauguess Reinard and Cheri Nancy McDowell George and Sandy Boyer Harkema Isabel Rush Jack Connell Cliff Holler Emily Waugh Bill Dean Steve King Tom Weidenhoeft John Derr Ron Laugen Le Whitney Peggy Fox Liz Lawson 4

In the beginning, socials were conducted several times a year. There were Memorial Day and Fourth of July cookouts and a Christmas Party. Each tennis event included a cookout or breakfast during the event. The 1988 Christmas Party was an evening dinner, dance held at Osceola Hall, on FSU campus. Tennis events were many and affordable. In 1988 there was an event every month of that year. The entry fee for City of Tallahassee Championships in 1987 was 5.00 for singles and 4.00 for doubles, for TTA members. For several events the entry fee for was simply a can of balls. Tournament and league application sheets were mailed to members in advance and could be dropped off at the Racquet Shop, Shaw’s or Forestmeadows. The Tallahassee Dominos Pizza Team Tennis league in 1987 was the fourth largest in the country. When Dominos decided to get out of the tennis business TTA filled the void and started the fall Super Lube league. Players were picked for teams via a draft system prior to league play. There were also Polar Bear league and the Men’s Over 50 league initiated in 1988. The TTA was also very involved in prompting tennis for junior players. Numerous junior programs and tournaments were also sponsored by the TTA in the early years. Scholarships and recognition for junior players have helped grow tennis for young players. Prior to 1987 before the reservation system and court monitors started there was an unwritten system - first come, first serve and no court fees! The TTA had a working agreement with the Parks and Recreation Department that the TTA would be allowed to post signs for leagues and tournaments that had been pre-approved. The TTA placed printed signs on the courts indicating times and days of events and non-league players would for the most part honor them. Early in the formation of the association the group had the unique opportunity to participate in a men’s professional tennis exhibition at the Tallahassee Don Tucker Civic Auditorium. Headed by Simon Watts, a charity tennis event was held at the auditorium on December 7, 1988 with TTA furnishing all the umpires. Jim McCloy served as the Chair Umpire for a match between Johan Kriek and Andre Agassi. The TTA brought back professional tennis by sponsoring a USTA men’s professional satellite clay court tournaments for ten years, until they graduated to the USTA Challenger level with the launching of the Dr. Coop Challenger in 2001. This hard court challenger level tournament was initially conducted at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center at FSU. It was the first of what is now an annual USTA Challenger conducted at Forestmeadows. Since the Dr Coop Challenger, Tallahassee USTA Challenger tournaments has grown to the $75,000 level, has Tallahassee Memorial

Hospital as a sponsor and been successfully run by Karen Vogter and Maria (Cuff) Yealdhall. In 1991 the TTA board created a Comprehensive Tennis Plan for the City of Tallahassee and Leon County and presented it to the City Commission through the Parks and Recreation Department. They were instrumental in helping get upgraded lighting at Tom Brown, Forestmeadows and Winthrop. The TTA became a USTA Community Tennis Association (CTA) and applied for a nonprofit tax exempt 501 (c) (3) status with the Internal Revenue in 1994. Annual TTA meetings were well attended and initially sit down dinners with speakers, awards and dinner. The TTA subsidized the annual meeting and fall league winners were invited free. Members paid 5.00 per person. Annual meetings were held at the Parks and Recreation conference room, the Elks Club and the National Guard Armory. The guest speaker at one of the annual meetings was Tom Gullickson. There were more than 400 tennis enthusiasts in attendance at that dinner. Membership in May of 1987 had grown to 198 and to 379 in November of that year. From those humble beginnings the TTA has grown to more than 700 paid members and many junior members. The leadership over the years has improved and enlarged programs and opportunities for tennis participation. This list of active participants and organizers for programs through the years could fill pages. Tennis players in Tallahassee have a unique organization in the Tallahassee Tennis Association. It represents all areas of participation unlike many communities that have multiple organizations with often conflicting objectives, or worse, no organization at all. Keep the tradition of this amazing organization going and volunteers to help grow tennis in Tallahassee.