It's nearly impossible to satisfactorily sum up the career of a man who has devoted 50 years of his life to the sport he loves. 

Most certainly it can't be done in the space of an article here.  Perhaps John Packett, the Richmond Times Dispatch reporter who has chronicled tennis events in Richmond  for nearly 40 years, will try and succeed.   Included in that historical compilation will be facts about Lou's work with the professional level tournaments held in the 60's through the early 80's.  How the money that was brought in from those well-supported events provided funds to develop nationally ranked junior players who eventually went to college on scholarships.

And how Richmond, a rather small city in comparison to larger venues like Chicago or Atlanta, became a stop for players like McEnroe, Borg, Nastase, Gerulaitis, Ashe, Smith and Newcombe on the tour. And then, over the years, how one man influenced the direction of tennis in this City in a way that will, in all probability, not be matched again in the future.  

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Lou Einwick, "Tournament Director Emeritus"
"The man behind it all was Lou Einwick, who spent 
his vacations running the tournaments"
--John Packett, Times-Dispatch reporter 

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It started back in 1958 when Lou took a position as a trainee in the credit department of State Planters Bank of Commerce and Trust. 

"When I came here in the late 50s, Sam [Woods] had established himself at Byrd Park," explained Lou.  "The bank encouraged you to be involved in the community.  I thought helping Sam with his program would be a much better idea than what the bank would assign me to do."

Norfolk born and raised, Lou had traveled to Richmond as a high school player to participate in tournaments Woods held on the courts at Byrd Park.  Becoming a tennis player was something he decided to do on his own.  His mother was a professional dancer,  hoping her children would follow in her footsteps.  Lou's dad was on the road covering the dealer network with automobile financing. Under mom's influence, Lou became a formidable tap dancer.  His sister earned a scholarship to the School of American Ballet and became a member of the Rocketts.  Lou was good enough to tap his way onto television sets as a dancer on the Amateur Hour.  But what he really wanted to be was an athlete.

"I had one or two tennis lessons when I was growing up," said Lou.  "I learned most everything I know about tennis from reading it out of a book."

Lou's dogged pursuit of his dream led to him playing #1 or #2 singles on his high school team. He lettered in his last three years on the University of Virginia Men's Tennis Team, playing primarily at the number five position.

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Developing Junior Players

All weather tennis was an idea whose time had come.  But when Westwood Club opened its indoor courts in the mid-60s, not everyone greeted the venture with great enthusiasm.  "There were lots of people who thought 'Who needs an indoor club when you can just sweep the snow off the courts?" laughed Einwick.  "But a luxury once sampled becomes a necessity," and soon enough more clubs were offering courts for year round play.  

However, not for the junior players.  In the 60s-80s, country clubs discouraged juniors from taking up court time by not allowing them on courts without an adult.  It was Hugh Waters who changed the environment when he purchased Raintree Sports & Fitness in Richmond's west end.   Waters went after the juniors and even offered junior memberships.  

"When Charles was coming up in the late 70s to early 90s, Raintree was the only club that wanted juniors," said Einwick.  "All the other clubs catered to the adults, and especially the women, who dominated the courts from 9am-5pm."  Raintree became "The" club for juniors in Richmond.

Later on, country clubs saw the advantage of having junior players.  "At some point in time, facilities realized their base was aging, and fewer new members were coming in.  Now juniors are just as important as the adult members at most clubs."

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Pro Tournaments brought in Money to run the Junior Programs

In order to find pros to train and provide court time for juniors, Einwick and his group, the Richmond Tennis Patrons Association (RTPA) needed funds.  Money was found in a big way when a group of savvy businessmen hit on the idea of bringing top name players to play in tournaments here.

Early on, from the mid 50s through the mid 60s, the RTPA had sponsored small tournaments at the Armory. Organizers would set up the temporary playing surface and nets and players were hosted in local homes. Those events brought in some money, but Einwick and his pals Massie Valentine and Frank Maloney were thinking much bigger.  

"I was at a party and I saw Massie giving me the 'come here' sign," recalled Dick Guilford, who was with Fidelity, the eventual long-running sponsor, at the time.  "Massie said, 'I want you to sponsor a tennis tournament.  It's going to be the biggest thing Richmond has ever seen.

"I said, sounds good, but who's going to run the thing?" said Guilford.  "We need a good tournament director.  Massie said he had just the man, Lou Einwick.  I told Massie that money was no problem, but the tournament director was."

Guilford told Massie he needed to meet Einwick to check him out before he committed to the project.  "I met Lou for lunch and I liked the guy.  I thought he had a great sense of humor and a very nice smile.  So, I said OK, let's do it."

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Lou's efforts helped bring the Davis Cup to Richmond in 1968

"1968 marked the beginning of men's professional tennis, when a handful of tournaments around the world adopted the "open" format, allowing both amateurs and professionals to participate for prize money. This select group of tournaments included both Wimbledon and the French Open. Previously, only amateurs were able to compete in tournaments, and were compensated with just enough in appearance fees to cover their travel and playing expenses. That same year, the United States Davis Cup team defeated the dominant Australian team 4-1, to win tennis' most prestigious competition" --History of Legg Mason tournament, by Carter Bohn, online

The City of Richmond hosted first round Davis Cup play that year. 

 
Richmond News Leader 1968

The American Davis Cup Team Captains pose with the captains of the West Indies Team when the Davis Cup American Zonal match was played in Richmond 40 years ago

Members of the American Team included Stan Smith, Dan Lutz, Arthur Ashe and Captain Donald Dell "Meanwhile, the American public was far from being enamored of tennis; only 62,000 paid out of a possible 168,000 to watch 12 days of play at the 1968 Open" -Bruce Goldman, Cigar Afficianado 1997

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Putting Tournament Receipts to Good Use Locally

Flush with cash, the RTPA rented facilities for junior training and provided coaches for junior players with proven potential.  Early on, the association rented courts at Westwood Club and then at Richmond Tennis Academy, when it opened off Staples Mill Road.  But Hugh Waters, the owner of Richmond Tennis Academy, eventually couldn't provide enough court time in the evening to meet players' needs.  Fortunately, St. Christopher's had a new facility that was being underutilized and a deal was struck between the school and the RTPA.

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With more clubs vying for the junior players, the RTPA - now the RTA, also shifted its focus.  "The RTA went from essentially being a junior training organization to focusing its efforts on all tennis players in the community," Einwick explained.  "Tom Vozenilek came in as President of the RTA in 1994 and created the Anthem Challenge, which was geared to adult club players."

Vozenilek used funds from the Anthem Challenge to infuse the Inner City junior summer programs at Byrd Park.  

"Vozenilek had great ideas and ran really hard, and essentially burned himself out," said Matt Schon, who served as President of the RTA 1999-2000.

In the past ten years, the RTA has been able to give the Inner City program nearly $60,000 in cash.  With the recent renovation of the Byrd Park courts, Richmond's prettiest city park now has "the absolute best tennis courts around.  They are top of the line tennis courts," according to Einwick.

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50 Years of a Labor of Love

Lou Einwick with Lamar Hunt, owner of World Championship Tennis Hunt contracted with top-name players who came to play in  Richmond as part of the  'Grand Prix' tournaments

For 19 years, Lou reigned as "the Head of Tennis" in Richmond, directing efforts to bring the annual men's pro tennis tournaments here, starting at the Arena and then - by the mid 70s - at the Richmond Coliseum.  During that period, pro players began to demand more money than this local market could pay. Fidelity Bankers Life Insurance Co., the tournament's original sponsor, had turned over sponsorship of the annual tourney to United Virginia Bank - where Lou worked his regular "day" job.  

What had originally began as a $12,500 purse in the late 1960s had grown to nearly a half-million dollar total investment by 1985.  In addition to political wrangling by owners and tour promoters within the tennis world, the public was starting to lose interest in the sport as well by the mid 80s.  It was within that environment, coupled with the demands of his work and family, that Lou announced his resignation from the position as Tournament Director of the UVB Classic, the pro tennis tournament that had been part of Richmond for nearly two decades.

Without Lou, there was nobody to spearhead efforts, to do all the necessary player negotiations and organizational requirements involved in high level tournaments.  When Lou left, the tournament did too.

That is the basic theme that you'll hear when talking to people who have known Lou over the years.  "With Lou retiring for good, it will be interesting to see who tries to step in and fill his shoes," said Jim DeNoon.  

"I don't think there will ever be another person as interested in tennis and in doing so much for tennis in Richmond –ever," agreed Matt Schon, who served as President of the RTA in 1999.

Lou is optimistic.  He says that his interest is not in leaving a legacy, but in leaving the RTA in capable hands. And he believes he is doing that.

"Back in the early years of the RTPA (now the RTA), there wasn't a lot of money in the budget, but there was a huge volunteer base.

"Now it's the opposite.  The RTA has a sizeable amount of money available but the volunteer base is smaller.  I'm encouraged by the size of the new board of directors coming in next year.

"I'm hoping that things have been run fairly well and hopeful all will continue to run well in the future.  The incoming board is outstanding and I'm confident they will do a great job," Einwick said.

"And you know, I'm not going very far. I'll still be around."

"By 1979, because of having funds from the tourney Lou ran, we had close to 22 kids who were nationally ranked. When our kids went to a tournament in Chicago, and they said they were from Richmond, heads turned. People from all over the country knew we had a good program. Lou got the kids college scholarships. By the early 80s there were at least 15 kids who had completed four year educations due to Lou’s efforts.  He was in the business of Changing Lives." - Gayle Marlow Staff photo Richmond Times Dispatch 1960s

Letting Others tell the Story

"Lou brought a pro tournament to Richmond, the smallest city on the circuit. By 1977 it was the third or fourth best field of any tournament in world, nobody could believe it.  Man, we had Rod Laver, Stan Smith, Ilie Nastase, Arthur Ashe, Bob Lutz.

I got to be a ballboy and call lines in the tournaments at the Arena.  I can’t tell you the impact of what he and those other men did.  It’s an incredible success story.

A lot of people never knew Lou.  The people on the street.  But it was Lou, of all of those people….he was the Head of Tennis.  He did it all while he had a career at the bank that took a lot of his time.  But he always gave of his time.     And he was always very modest about it and never took credit for it.  He just did it." –Bill Correll

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"Many times there were tough decisions to make and people to disappoint.  He listened well to various opinions.  His judgments were fair and evenhanded. He made the majority of effort but didn’t hog the decision making process, or insist that things be done his way.    His goal was to come up with decisions that were right.

I have an awful lot of admiration for the effort that he has made to keep tennis alive and exciting and accessible to as many people as possible, without regard to socio-economics or whatever." -Tom Chewning

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"The Philadelphia indoor, held a week before our tournament, had more money than we did, but the number of people who attended was not that much greater.  Atlanta didn’t have as many people at its tournaments as Richmond.   Getting all the people here – Lou did all that.

Players can be fickle.   For example, if McEnroe isn’t playing great and doesn’t want to play Bjorg, he might decide not to show up.  Lou was always having to think about that. 
Waller would get the big money corporate sponsors for the player purse.  But Lou was always watching the gate.  That’s where the RTPA got the money to help the juniors."
--Gayle Marlow, RTPA President 1972 - 1973

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"Lou Einwick has always been a source of great inspiration to me. As a kid growing up, I was a ball-boy during the days of the Fidelity Bankers tournament when it was held at the old Richmond Arena and I would be around the tournament, watching players such as Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Charlie Pasarell to name a few, all interacting with Lou and I would see how he handled himself with extreme confidence and poise. Later, as I was able to play in the tournament, Lou would often tell me how proud he was of my accomplishments" --Junie Chatman

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"Lou really cared about those tournaments.    It was a big deal.  People liked having the pro players stay in their homes through the 70’s…..John Newcomb, Stan Smith, Rod Laver, they all played in Richmond at the Coliseum when it opened.  Sue Cain was a referee and chair umpire then, she housed some players.  Barbara and Jack Clark housed Ilie Nastase. 

Lou is the reason Richmond Tennis was on the map in the 60’s and 70s.  He was the mover and shaker and I helped him as the #2 guy.  Lou was the brain behind bringing Professional level tennis to town, and he did all the detail work. 

Arthur Ashe, Sr. was the facilities guy.  He’d drive up to Baltimore and pick up the canvas court and nets and such, and bring them back to Richmond to set up for the next stop for the pros on the tour.   I was the guy who did all the other dirty work.  Lou had the penchant and talent for detail and he always came through.  He was the one who had the ability to deal with the big guys and make it all work.    Lou is the one who got the money that was needed to instruct the junior gifted players.  He is the one who made it his goal to spread the word that tennis is the sport for a lifetime."   --Waller Horsley

For photos of Lou's retirement celebration, click here