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Importance of Advocacy

The “Our Serve” about advocacy in the July issue was spot-on. I’ve been an owner/operator of a tennis and swim club for nine years and currently am the tennis director at a country club for nine years and have accomplished getting several hundred new players started in the game. I couldn’t agree more with you that growing the game comes down to being local.

Friendships have emerged from playing the game together, with many of my members and their extended families now playing, too. I often tell people that pro tennis in America may have waned, but at the club level it is and can be very strong! It’s up to us and to efforts on the local level. It’s quite simple, actually.

Thanks for your article, and I totally agree!

Neal Stapp, Cherokee Country Club,
Knoxville, Tenn.

Pfans of Pfaender

Since January 1986, the tennis and racquet sports community of Central Florida has had the pleasure of Bob Pfaender’s professional and exemplary representation of Wilson. Throughout his career, Bob has dedicated himself to growing sales and distribution for Wilson, increasing participation in tennis as well as giving back to the Florida tennis community as a 30-year volunteer. His impact on Wilson tennis and tennis in Florida is legendary and won’t be forgotten.

Bob recently retired from Wilson after 27-1/2 years of dedicated service. He is looking forward to the next chapter in his life — spending countless hours with his wife Dawn, his daughters Jamie, Lindsay and Christine; but his most cherished time forthcoming will be with his grandchildren, Katie and Carter.

All of us at Wilson will miss him dearly; his class, professionalism, commitment to the brand, and passionate enthusiasm for tennis, but most of all we will miss his humor, especially when expressed through “Pfarnac the Magnificent!”

Congratulations, Bob, on your retirement. Your passionate, infectious enthusiasm for this sport will be missed.

Jeffery Adams, Wilson

The Case for Lighter Courts

Originally, tennis courts came in only one color: green — the color of the grass. But even with the invention of asphalt and acrylic paint, tennis still remains bound to tradition and today most courts are still dark green. This is bad for two reasons:

1) On-Court Temperature: I’ve taken measurements of dark green courts in full sun with air temperatures around 90 degrees. The on-court temperatures are about 30 degrees hotter than the air! A light colored court was unavailable so measurements were taken of concrete nearby (light tan color), it averaged 10 degrees cooler than either a green or red court. Blue courts were not measured, but as you can imagine, darker blues would still be much hotter than a light tan.

2) Indoor Lighting: Some indoor courts have decent lighting, but that seems to be the exception. Most indoor court lighting ranges from barely adequate to poor. These courts are typically dark green with dark green borders and backdrops. Court temperature is not the issue here, but it seems lighter color courts would increase brightness overall, not add to the electric bill, and improve ball visibility.

Clubs, schools, and public courts should break with the silly tradition of dark-colored courts and choose colors that make the game more enjoyable. I’m sure even well-conditioned pros would benefit from cooler on-court temperatures and better ball visibility. Lord knows it would help weekend warriors like me. Isn’t it about time tennis courts joined the 21st century?

Don Chernoff
USTA Member

From the August 2014 issue
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