Virginia Tennis, headquartered in Roanoke (www.virginiatennis.com), supports 25 Community Tennis Associations, and promotes tennis in the Virginia district of the Mid-Atlantic Section.

Some of its achievements in 2006 include:

-Over $50,000 in National, Sectional and Virginia grants, scholarships and in-kind advertising was awarded to Virginia Tennis Organizations and volunteers this year.

- Virginia had 9 of the 17 teams at the Junior Section Championships in August, and Virginia Tennis was represented by a team at the National Championships in Tucson, AZ.

-The $75,000 Virginia Open Tournament Series (VOS) was piloted in 2006.  Five tournaments were held and the sixth tournament, the series final, will be held December 9th at CCV in Richmond.  The 2007 VOS tourney circuit is already in place and promises to build significantly on the 200 season.  

-Organizational memberships and individual memberships are on the rise, with USTA League Tennis participation up 11% from 2005-06.  

-Nine Virginia teams in various divisions participated in the National tournament; they were supported by Virginia Tennis with a $400 stipend per team.

-The first ever Virginia Tennis Collegiate Club Tennis Fall Invitational will be held November 18-19 in VA Beach at Owl Creek Tennis Center.

Friends, Fun and Tennis

Sue Worsham introduced the keynote speaker, Sandy Coffman, a former racquetball club owner who now travels extensively around the world promoting the idea of tennis as a source of activity and friendships.

"I change people's lives on a daily basis, and so can you," she exhorted the group of tennis leaders from across the state.

The key, says Sandy, is creating an environment of fun.  "In the past, our focus in tennis has been on the technical and physical. Now it needs to be on the psychological and emotional.

"In the past, we tried to motivate people to play, to get excited about tennis," she explained.  "You can't really motivate anybody, but as a leader, you CAN create an environment that makes people want to motivate themselves to do something."

Our culture is changing, said Sandy.  "First we had the yippies, then the yuppies and now we have the newest market:  the yeepies." (Yeepies stands for youthful energetic elderly people into everything.)

"The real world is this.  People don't leave clubs because they didn't have time to go there.  They leave because nobody made them feel welcome.  Nobody ever quits friendships."

Focus should move from "the numbers game of USTA ratings" to the social aspects of the game, Sandy believes.  "Friendships, giving people a sense of belonging --that's how you will grow the sport in the coming years."

Sandy doesn't shy away from telling it like it is.  "Lots of pros will say, well, I have to focus on the players who are here every day because they are so demanding....that's where my new business is coming from.

"Oh really?" asked Sandy.  "Let me tell you, lots of those players (representing the 20% of players who get 80% of a head pro's time) hope that a new player never walks in that door."

For many people, the tennis facility is the '3rd place' in their lives, behind their home and work.  "It should be a place where they consistently feel good about themselves.  Comfort, friends -- FUN is everything, today if you want to grow tennis.

"Putting people together with others similar in age, gender, skill, schedules and personality is where it's at.  It's not about private lessons."

Sandy encouraged everyone to "lighten up a little bit."  She told how she had sat in the lobby earlier in the morning while people just walked by her, not making eye contact at all.  "And I am the GUEST!", she laughed.  "You should always make sure a guest feels welcome.  

"If you can't honestly tell someone who comes to you, looking to play tennis, that you guarantee they will have have fun, enjoy themselves and meet other people, then you aren't ready to ask people to join your program.

"Do you know what neotne means?" she asked.  "It means joyful, playful and childlike.  Spontaneous.

"It's our business to make people happy," she said, as she reached into a bag and pulled out multi-colored ribbons.  "Do you remember how you felt when you got a blue ribbon as a child?  Why don't you think you'd feel any different getting one as an adult?

"Here, you get the participation ribbon," she laughed, as she placed a yellow ribbon on a nearby lapel.  

She was right.  I left wishing I had got a ribbon.