Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 6, 1990 TAG: 9007060128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Just 2 1/2 weeks ago, 40 players had signed up for tennis. That's when Fiel and his helpers extended the sign-up deadline and started recruiting players of all ages. This week, Fiel turned away two players who wanted to enter the men's open draw.
The State Games tennis competition begins today with 130 players.
"I'll bet my phone bill will be over $100, maybe $150," said Fiel, the tennis director for the State Games. "We had a Phone Night. . . . In tennis, you just have to have that personal touch to get players to play."
Fiel said part of the reason for the slow sign-ups was a late mailing of the United States Tennis Association's yearbook, which included a $500 advertisement for the Games inside the front cover. Many players didn't receive their yearbook until about a week ago.
The sign-up problems are just another example of the difficulties tennis has faced recently in the Roanoke area. Last year, interest was low; most local tournaments had limited competition and some were canceled. During the winter, the Roanoke Valley Tennis Association was formed with the goal of boosting turnout and competition in the Roanoke area.
RVTA tennis coordinator Dave Flanagan said the 105 matches in the Charley Turner Open in June were 40 more than that tournament had last year; and, he said, the 92 matches in the Roanoke Star City Championships in June were up 30 percent from last year.
RVTA membership isn't booming, but the group has made $154 off its first two tournaments.
"It's not enough to pay the bills," said RVTA president Nene Roe, "but it's the first time we've ever made money."
Part of that can be attributed to the State Games.
"The State Games has been a big factor in the resurgence of tennis here," Flanagan said. "A lot of people have been talking about this for a long time."
Alan Cannaday, a former Virginia Tech player who won the 1983 Metro Conference singles title, said another factor helping tennis in the Roanoke area is the growth of USTA Volvo tennis leagues. About three years ago, Fiel said, there were 24 players in Volvo tennis in the Roanoke area. Now, the number is 500. For many local players, the lure of the State Games is great. Cannaday ended his self-imposed, seven-year absence from local singles tournaments this summer.
"The reason I started to play again was to prepare myself for the State Games," said Cannaday, 30. "Everyone's talking: `Are you playing in it?' "
Greg Woodford, a 19-year-old who will be a sophomore at the University of Richmond in the fall, was fourth in Group AAA singles as a senior at Patrick Henry High School, and two years ago he won the boys' 18-and-under state doubles title with Jim Hancock. For Woodford, the attraction of the State Games is something you can't get at a local tournament, no matter how well-run or how vigorously promoted: variety. About half the players listed on the competition roster are from outside the Roanoke-Salem corridor.
"It makes it more interesting, playing people you've never played before," Woodford said. "[In local tournaments] you tend to fall into playing the same people over and over again."
The RVTA will try to capitalize on the State Games. Roe said about 20 RVTA members will be volunteer workers at the tennis venues during the Games, and said RVTA membership forms will be available at the River's Edge complex.
The RVTA has focused much of its attention on junior players, and so did Fiel when he worked the phones to increase sign-ups for the State Games.
"We put the most emphasis on the 14[-and-under group]," he said. "We want players to come back year after year."
Fiel said he is pleased with the overall turnout and gushed over the 21-player field in the boys' 14-and-under division, which he called a "tremendous turnout."
But there is an ulterior motive for the players. The State Games competition is sanctioned by the USTA and is one of three sanctioned events in the Roanoke area, along with the Roanoke City Junior Open and a junior tournament next month in Blacksburg. Junior players (16-and-under) need to play in four USTA-sanctioned events to qualify for points rankings; thus, Roanoke-area juniors only have to travel outside the area once to qualify for a ranking, and they can satisfy that requirement with a trip to Lynchburg.
Fifty junior players signed up for the Wightman Cup program, which runs June 25 to Aug. 2 and is co-sponsored by the City of Roanoke and the RVTA. The swirl of interest by Roanoke-area youngsters reminds Fiel of 1978, when he said tennis was at its peak in the area.
"We're not getting the '78 people," he said. "We're getting the babies of all those '78 people."
by CNB