TAHHI Grants

'Cinderella and the Seven Dwarfs' -- See our new feature below

TENNIS E-News

Dec. 27, 2007 Vol. VI, No. 138
South Carolina Tennis 2006 Media Award Winner
Hilton Head Island SC

ABC's of Tennis Gets a $$$ Boost

TAHHI Year-end Grants Bolster Tennis Programs from Kindergarten to Super 75s

HILTON HEAD ISLAND SC (TENNIS E-News) -- Grants totaling almost $3,000 have been awarded by the Tennis Association of Hilton Head Island to support a variety of area tennis causes.

The initial grant was $1,000 for the startup Super Senior 75s League directed by Local League Coordinator Don Grider. That was followed by grants to Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island projects. Here is the rundown:

9/07 -- $1,000 grant to Super Senior 75s

10/07 -- $850 to Beaufort Tennis Inc. for benches at the tennis courts

12/07 -- $500 to Public Tennis Inc. for Chaplin Park court building fund

12/07 -- $350 to Jacque Houck of HHI for kindergarten tennis program

12/07 -- $500 to the Boys & Girls Club for rackets and balls

12/07 -- $500 to Bobcat Public Tennis Center Bluffton High School for court fund

"ABC's of Kindergarten Tennis" is the program conducted by outgoing PTI President Houck. With about 70 pre-schoolers involved, she started at St. Francis Catholic and Mt. Calvary Baptist kindergartens last spring. This fall St. Gregory Catholic and Christ Lutheran were added.

"ABC's of Kindergarten Tennis has been successful in developing a knowledge and love of tennis with children who usually know what basketball and soccer is but have not heard of tennis," Houck said. "We start with throwing and catching scarves, beanie babies and balloons, then graduate to sponge balls with soft hand paddles, then wood paddles, etc., until we get to rackets. We use tape to produce a target to hit over, then a small net. Children that age can only concentrate for about 20-30 minutes, so they're short fun sessions with games and music."

Next month Houck hopes to teach other instructors the method so it can expand to Bluffton, Beaufort and more Hilton Head Island schools. She can be contacted at swimjac@aol.com or 681-3225.

NEW in '08:

Men's, Women's Prize-Money Open Set for Late February at VdMeer Tennis

HILTON HEAD ISLAND SC (TENNIS E-News) -- Van der Meer Tennis Center will host a three-tournament Men’s and Women’s Open Series in 2008, starting with the first event on Feb. 29-March 2. The tournament is non-sanctioned and will include Men’s and Women’s singles and doubles.

NTRP levels 4.5-5.5, teaching professionals, college players and competitive juniors are being sought to play, Tournament Director Justyn Schelver said. Draws will be limited to 32 entries in singles and 16 teams in doubles. He said that draws are expected to fill and entries will be taken in the order received.

Matches will be on the hard courts of VdM Tennis Center with play beginning on the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 29. A first-match consolation will be played in doubles, but not singles. Prizes will be awarded to the champion, runnerup and consolation doubles champions. Cash prize of $500 to the singles and doubles champion will be dependant on full draw.

Entry fee is $30 per event. For additional information or to enter, contact Schelver at 785-8388 ext 119 or justynschelver@hotmail.com. Entries cannot be made online. If emailing, include your name, age, contact info and any appropriate seeding information.

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"Something you didn't know about" … is a new TENNIS E-News feature, based on the assumption that many of our area players actually had a real life with pretty exciting moments before retiring or otherwise finding their ways to the Lowcountry. Success of the feature leans mostly on you readers to submit these interesting tidbits of our players' pasts. Just email the information to banana@hargray.com. Oh, and don't worry about the wording. We'll take care of that part. Thanks in advance. Here is the opening salvo of:

Something you didn't know about : DON GRIDER
Lebanon Valley's 'Cinderella and the Seven Dwarfs' and He Was One of the Dwarfs

HILTON HEAD ISLAND SC (TENNIS E-News) -- Lebanon Valley College's stunning moment on the national athletic scene came when the Pennsylvania school's 1952-53 men's basketball team made it to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. To date, LVC is the smallest college (400 students) ever to advance to that level.

The LVC Dutchmen were undersized and underdogs when they shocked national powerhouse Fordham University before falling to future NBA Hall-of-Famer Bob Pettit and Louisiana State University. The Cinderella season now is documented in a book "Cinderella and the Seven Dwarfs" by Dr. Arthur Ford '59, a professor emeritus of English at LVC.

The team held a reunion and autograph session last month at an LVC game. Signing was a "Dwarf" from Hilton Head Island -- Don Grider, now USTA League local senior men's coordinator and a founding father of Super Seniors -- tennis, not basketball. George "Rinso" Marquette was first-year coach for the remarkable Cinderella season and joined the reunion.

The book includes a DVD of game footage copied from 8mm film to videotape and then to disk. For locals familiar with Grider's dropshots who would like to see if he had a hook shot, go to http://www.lvc.edu and select "Alumni and Friends" for reunion pix and information of obtaining the book.

State Throws Weight Around on Court, Too

3 South Carolina Players Win International, National Championships

HILTON HEAD ISLAND SC (TENNIS E-News) -- In a recent issue, TENNIS E-News cited USTA South Carolina's tennis politics power base with two state officials in line for national and sectional presidencies. While they were off court achieving, three Palmetto State players were winning bigtime on court.

Brenda Carter of Charleston defeated two former world champions en route to the ITF Women's 60s championship. She defeated Carol Campling of Australia in the semifinal, then upset Elly Krocke of The Netherlands in the final 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-2.

Meanwhile in Key Biscayne FL, Mallory Cecil of Spartanburg and partner Melanie Oudin of Marietta GA won the Dunlop Orange Bowl Girls' 18s doubles, defeating Coco Vandeweghe of Rancho Santa Fe CA and Allie Will of Boca Raton FL 6-2, 6-4.

Also, Spartanburg's Spencer Brown, age 8, captured the Little Mo International Open title in Austin TX. Brown, the tournament's #1 seed, knocked off Jackson Wood of Woodstock GA 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Brown, #1 in SC Boys' 10s, was the only player from South Carolina invited to compete in the tournament. He won the U.S. Little Mo, among other titles, this year.

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TENNIS E-News FootNote

ooooO

( ) Revisionist Geography 105 -- South Carolina-style:

( ) A public address announcer introducing players at a televised sports event broadcast Monday:

(___) "Welcome to Charleston … where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers join to form the Atlantic Ocean."

-- Dennis Malick