Tennis and community

Known as the sport for a lifetime, tennis directly impacts a person’s health and quality of life. That’s a cheeseball cliché taken from some geeky tennis website, but one that is true for thousands of dedicated Wilmingtonians.

When I took up the sport again in 2006 after a five-year layoff, it was Wilmington’s tight tennis community that immediately impressed me. I joined a team of 12 guys who practiced twice a week at Hugh MacRae Park and played matches at clubs and parks all over town from February through May.

The camaraderie was almost primal. We met on Tuesdays and Thursdays with just a few things in mind: a little competition and a little exercise. We played matches that were fun and a bit silly sometimes. Friendships sprouted.

After two years of playing together the team recently splintered but not before I discovered tennis at Empie Park. Like surfing, one of the great virtues of tennis is that it can be played for free. (See related comments/discussion in “Why (I guess) people play golf”) Wilmington is fortunate to have several nice parks with a generous number of courts, but Empie is THE place to play.

Go there almost any morning and you’ll see courts filled with doubles teams swatting balls for two to three hours at a time. The majority of players (at least most mornings) are retirees but participants also include school teachers, bartenders, UNCW professors, retail sales professionals, and people like me with odd working schedules. Weekends and early evening are usually crowded but almost all players get court time.

Empie Park has eight hard (concrete) courts, and Wilmington passed a bond agreement a few years ago to expand it by 16 more (eight of them grounded with clay). That figure recently shrunk by 7. When I asked Bill, a septuagenarian and lifelong Wilmingtonian I sometimes play with, when he thought the new courts would be built, he replied: “Not in my lifetime.”

Bill plays tennis all year at least three times a week. I once asked him if he has a cut-off point when winter temperatures get too cold. He shook his head and mentioned that the day before he had played in 22 degrees with winds that made it feel like 15. That’s rare for Wilmington but it doesn’t stop tennis junkies at Empie (I thought I was brave, but I won’t play when it dips below freezing).

Empie Park is comprised of an off-leash dog park, a playground with horseshoe pits, a couple of well-used basketball courts, and two softball fields. The tennis courts, though, are one of the few places in Wilmington where one can experience true diversity. I’ve played with and against naturalized Americans from Ireland, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Trinidad.

And tennis can produce diverse reactions too. Most players vent when they make a poor shot, and this can range from loud screams to profanity to self-flagellation to shrill wailing. Ollie, with his thick Irish brogue (all Irishmen are described thus), likes to say “Ahhh, Mother McCree!” Ollie is retired and one of 11 children. When we play his Popeye-like comments always crack me up, but we didn’t really connect beyond tennis until I told him that I’m the 11th of 12.

And then there’s Carlos, who was a teammate for two years. I didn’t learn this until our last match together, but he’s one of 13 kids and his Filipino parents are in their 90s and live in Australia. Carlos is retired US Navy and is in the best shape of any 70-year-old I’ve ever met. Even better than my father, who at 84 still plays racquetball twice a week.

Any discussion of Empie Park tennis must include Frank, a large African-American former lawyer who can be found there so regularly you’d think he sleeps in the rest room. He’s what you’d call a presence. He talks loud and often, and when he plays he peppers his game with playful commentary like “Here comes one Cathy. Watch out.”

Tennis is a game in which players typically prefer to play opponents of like ability, which is why there is a rating system (2.0 is a beginner, 7.0 is a professional; many, like me, are right in the middle). Frank, who walks with a limp, subscribes to no such boundaries and plays with everyone – man, woman, child, handicapped. It’s all the same to him, and I admire him for that. Some people find Frank a little too eccentric but he can be a good guy to have on your side. When league play begins free courts are at a premium, but Frank will tell you which courts are about to become available because his knowledge of Empie Park tennis is encyclopedic.

Folks at Empie look after each other in other ways too. Last year a gentleman collapsed on the court and had what appeared to be a heart attack. Fortunately, a hospital employee named Joe was playing on the next court, and he and Bill administered CPR while a nearby fire station was alerted to deliver a defibrillator. A year later the stricken gentleman, who had to give up tennis, showed up at Empie to thank Joe and Bill for saving his life. He knew they’d be there.

Another Empie regular was hit last year by a car on his motor scooter and suffered injuries enough to take him from being a very competitive player to one that moves around the court slowly and with an exaggerated limp. No matter. He still visits and former opponents patiently indulge his tennis jones.

Some people who play tennis at Empie become close friends, no doubt. But I suspect most share a friendship with tennis as the mutual fulcrum. They see each other a few times a week, talk about family, a doctor’s appointment, a recent vacation. It’s not superficial but since many conversations take place between games, they can be fleeting.

My favorite part about Empie Park is when I get a chance to play someone I’ve never seen before. Conversation is barely necessary. Just get on the court and hit – two strangers linked by a racket and a ball. When I hear Frank bellowing on a distant court, I know I’m home.

How to get involved: Wilmington is a tennis mad town with something for every level of play and every age group. There are leagues for kids, and for men and women, age 19 and older. There are men’s leagues, women’s leagues, mixed doubles leagues (men and women), and combo leagues (players of unequal levels). There’s also the tennis ladder, a citywide tennis competition with over 300 players participating in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Play runs from the fall through the winter and culminates in a playoff between the top players at each level.

For more information visit the website of the Greater Wilmington Tennis Association at www.wilmingtontennis.com.