Tennis associations and equipment
manufacturers are trying to
serve up a new generation of
players by offering free or
inexpensive instructionGot game; players love
By Patricia Gee
Special to the Star-BulletinIT was 1972 and the McKinley High School gym was barely half full of the tennis faithful who came to watch the likes of topnotch players Billie Jean King and Rosie Casals.
A year later, we stood in a line that snaked around the parking lot, waiting a bit resentfully to get into the same gym, which this time was crammed with the curious. They came to see King, who had become a legend after beating tennis huckster Bobby Riggs in the much ballyhooed "Battle of the Sexes" match.
That media event was watched by millions and still holds the record attendance for a singles tennis match.
In one short year so many people jumped onto the tennis bandwagon that waiting over an hour for a court became a national pastime. Courts became so crowded the genteel country club sport took on a different tone. Traditional tennis etiquette went out the window when it failed to settle disputes over rules and territorial rights. Coordinated outfits were replaced with sweat-stained T-shirts and baggy jams.
Looking to inspire the next tennis craze
More than two decades later, as the tennis boom has petered out, the United States Tennis Association, the equipment industry and other tennis organizations are trying to rally another one.Last year marked the start of a five-year plan to jump start interest in the sport by putting on a "USA Tennis Free for All," which offers anyone a free hour-long introductory lesson. The Hawaii sessions will take place April 24 and May 2 at more than 25 sites around the state.
Madeline Dreith, a United States Tennis Association community coordinator in Honolulu, said about 2,000 participated in the free lesson program last May and she expects a few hundred more this year.
The USTA also offers a follow-up program of low-cost lessons called USA Tennis 1-2-3, "meaning tennis is easy as one, two, three," said Dreith.
Though anyone who's tried to master the game might view that idea with some skepticism, the association wants people to give the game a chance.
Dreith said the USTA is trying to displace the myth that "you have to be very good to enjoy the game. I see lots of novices getting hooked on it. They're having fun and that's what it's all about."The other myth is tennis is an individual, not a team sport. A new USTA program offers team tennis that doesn't involve seasonal rankings, "just having fun." Some team activities aren't based on the usual scoring system, but involve games and contests with up to six people on each side of the net, rotating in and out to have their chance at hitting the ball, she said.
Demand steady for well-priced lessons
Max Neves, director of the Ala Moana Beach Park tennis courts, said you wouldn't be able to tell interest in the sport was on the decline by the way his Tennis 1-2-3 classes fill up. Demand for the $3 lessons has been consistent for most of his 30 years as a teaching pro at Ala Moana, he said.The classes are a bargain, he says. Most group lessons cost at least $10 a lesson, and private lessons can cost as much as $60 for an hour. He limits his classes to 10 people so he can give every student the attention necessary.
The dwindling of tennis' popularity may be attributed to the general high cost of taking lessons, Neves speculated, so he is all for promoting the game with inexpensive lessons.
Dreith said beyond the beginning level, the USTA offers team tennis for youths and adults which emphasize "fun, fitness and friends," and league tennis for men and women over 19 that is more competitive.
In 1997 every major U.S. based tennis body banded together to work to increase participation in the sport. Under the "USA Tennis Plan for Growth," the goal is to develop 800,000 new players and to increase the number of frequent players by 1 million, according to Dreith.
Good deals on group tennis lessons
USA TENNIS FREE FOR ALL
The United States Tennis Association's Tennis Hotline, which will be activated shortly before free lessons are offered April 24 and May 2, will have information on where and when lessons are available.
Call 955-6696TENNIS 1-2-3
This follow-up program offers six one-hour group lessons for $18. Class sizes will vary from eight to 12 people and classes will take place at public parks.
Call 955-6696CITY PARKS AND RECREATION
The Honolulu City and County Department of Parks and Recreation regularly offers 10 lessons for $10. Classes are cancelled if fewer than 10 students show up.
Call 592-7031
Got game; players love
Long-time players attribute the decline
By Patricia Gee
in interest in tennis to its difficulty as well as
to competition from sports like
golf and soccer
Special to the Star-BulletinWaiting for an open court used to be the hard part; now it's waiting for someone to show up to get a doubles game going. That's the predicament of tennis players everywhere. There just aren't enough people playing the game.
Don Andrews, tennis director at Diamond Head Tennis Center since 1974, and a few others who've been playing there for some 40 years, shared their thoughts on the game's waning attraction.
"It isn't an easy sport to master. Most kids are playing soccer, which has taken a real bite into tennis. Diamond Head used to be a hang-out for juniors, but not anymore," said Andrews.
Ed Krysa of Massachusetts, who's been coming to Diamond Head for 42 years, and coaches tennis, agreed. Soccer is a team sport and a lot of kids can play it, no matter what their skill level.
"And they have uniforms," a strong selling point to kids, he added. Tennis is known as an individual sport, not a team sport. The schools are even having trouble getting kids to join the tennis teams, Krysa said.
Andrews said the cost factor is another reason. Soccer, baseball, basketball and football cost a lot less than tennis, which requires more expensive equipment and often private lessons, which can cost $40 to $50 per session.
Karl Knappmann, a visitor from Germany who has been playing at Diamond Head for 39 years, said tennis has been on the decline across Europe. A frequent traveler who has played throughout the world, Knappman said "it's gone way down everywhere."
In Germany, tennis reached the height of popularity when countrymen Steffi Graf and Boris Becker dominated the sport. "Everyone ran out and bought a racquet and took lessons, but they found it was harder than they thought it was, so a lot of them gave up," he said.
Two drawbacks, Knappman said, are finding a court, then someone to play with. "That's what's nice about Diamond Head: you can always find someone to play with at your level. In Europe, they're stuck up. If you're not a good player, you won't get a game."
"Papa Joe" Gladstone of Winnipeg, who at 82 passes out a business card boasting of his "certified tennis bum" status, said he has seen tennis fall off at the center the last five years--"it was easier to get a court." But in the 22 years he's been coming to Diamond Head, he has still found "you can always get a game."
The Canadian, who calls Hawaii home 6 months of the year, attributes the declining number of tennis players here to the fact that "there aren't as many snowbirds" -- visitors who come to escape cold winters -- and low tourist numbers in general.
When there were more tourists, "there were more players, and people even played in the heat of the day ... the waits (for courts) were doubly long," Gladstone said. Now play dwindles from 12 to 3 as people break for lunch.
In Canada, "all the (teens) want to be a Tiger Woods--they've given up tennis to go into golfing. But lately they're coming back because they're finding golf is frustrating; it's self-destruction. The 3- to 5-year-olds are starting to play tennis and loving it--I think it's coming back," Gladstone said.
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