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Anthology

On By ethomasparhamIn Z. MiscellaneousLeave a comment
Image of all of Tom Parham's books

For anyone who is interested in my writing, here are links to free versions of all of my books. Just tap the book title to access a free PDF file on Google Drive.

Little Green Book of Tennis (3rd edition)
A new 2023 digital-only version of the Little Green Book edited to only tennis related writing, including some new chapters from the past few years. You can also download the 2nd edition, which was a printed book, and Play is Where Life is which was the 1st version of the book and includes some personal stories.


Em Ole Coaches
Lessons learned from my family, friends, and colleagues over my career. This book is a personal collection of insights from some of my favorite people.


A Level of Thinking
A collection of essays on a wide variety of subjects including sports, politics, and American culture.


Helping
A collection of essays on tennis and coaching, many of which are posted here on the blog. The second half of the book chronicles the impact of international players on college tennis.


Thanksgiving
A collection of personal thoughts, stories, and pictures. Many of the essays were also posted here on my blog.


Nearly Fifty
For almost fifty years, my closest friends gathered once a year for a men’s weekend. This book collects some of my favorite stories and pictures from this tradition. If you would like a copy of this book, please email me.

Ah–THE FRENCH OPEN and AI

On By ethomasparhamIn Z. MiscellaneousLeave a comment

(RESEARCH A LA “BARD”)

How many men and women players in the 2023 French Open tennis tournament played American college tennis at some time?

There were a total of 11 men and women players in the 2023 French Open tennis tournament who played American college tennis at some time.

Men:

  • Sebastian Korda (University of Southern California)
  • Jack Sock (University of Nebraska)
  • Taylor Fritz (Texas A&M University)
  • Tommy Paul (University of Georgia)
  • Brandon Nakashima (University of California, Berkeley)
  • Marcos Giron (University of Southern California)
  • Denis Kudla (University of Virginia)
  • Steve Johnson (University of Southern California)
  • Frances Tiafoe (University of Maryland)
  • Michael Mmoh (University of Southern California)

Women:

  • Sloane Stephens (University of Florida)
  • Madison Keys (University of Illinois)
  • Coco Gauff (University of Georgia)
  • Danielle Collins (University of Florida)
  • Alison Riske (University of Florida)
  • Christina McHale (Princeton University)

It is worth noting that some of these players may have only played American college tennis for a short period of time, or may have transferred from another school. Additionally, some of these players may have also played professional tennis before or after their time in college.


HOW MUCH MONEY WAS SPENT ON AMERICAN VARSITY TENNIS TEAMS BY COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 2022/2023?

According to the NCAA, colleges and universities in the United States spent an estimated $135 million on varsity tennis teams during the 2022-2023 academic year. This figure includes expenses for coaching salaries, travel, equipment, and other team-related costs.

The average cost of a varsity tennis team at a Division I school was $1.5 million, while the average cost at a Division II school was $500,000. The cost of a varsity tennis team at a Division III school was significantly lower, at an average of $250,000.

The cost of varsity tennis teams has been increasing in recent years. This is due to a number of factors, including the rising cost of coaching salaries, travel, and equipment. Additionally, the popularity of college tennis has been increasing, which has led to more schools investing in their teams.

Despite the rising cost of varsity tennis teams, the sport remains a popular option for college athletes. Tennis is a relatively low-cost sport to participate in, and it can be a great way for students to stay in shape and compete at a high level. Additionally, college tennis can provide students with valuable opportunities to learn about leadership, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

Here is a breakdown of the estimated costs of varsity tennis teams at different levels of competition:

  • Division I: $1.5 million
  • Division II: $500,000
  • Division III: $250,000

These costs are estimates and may vary depending on the specific school and team.thumb_upthumb_downuploadGoogle itmore_vert

DOES THIS INCLUDE SCHOLARSHIPS?

No, the $135 million figure does not include scholarships. Scholarships are awarded to student-athletes based on their academic and athletic achievements. The amount of scholarship money that a student-athlete receives can vary depending on the school, the sport, and the student’s academic and athletic achievements.

The NCAA does not allow schools to use scholarship money to cover the cost of travel, equipment, or other team-related costs. This means that the $135 million figure only includes expenses that are directly related to the operation of the varsity tennis teams.

However, it is important to note that scholarships can help to offset the cost of attending college. This is because scholarships can be used to cover tuition, fees, room and board, and other expenses. As a result, scholarships can make it possible for student-athletes to attend college without having to take out loans or work full-time.

If you are interested in playing tennis in college, it is important to research the different schools that offer tennis scholarships. You should also contact the coaches of the schools that you are interested in to learn more about their scholarship program.

DESCRIBE THE TRAINING TOGETHER BACKGROUND OF AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYERS TOMMY PAUL , FRANCIS TIAFOE, AND SEBASTIAN KORDA

Tommy Paul, Francis Tiafoe, and Sebastian Korda are three American professional tennis players who have all trained together at the USTA National Training Center in Boca Raton, Florida. They have known each other since they were young kids and have been competing against each other for years.

Paul is the oldest of the three players, born in 1997. He turned professional in 2014 and has reached a career-high ranking of 30 in the world. Tiafoe is the next oldest, born in 1998. He turned professional in 2015 and has reached a career-high ranking of 29 in the world. Korda is the youngest of the three players, born in 2000. He turned professional in 2018 and has reached a career-high ranking of 35 in the world.

All three players have had success on the ATP Tour. Paul has won two ATP Tour titles, Tiafoe has won one ATP Tour title, and Korda has reached the finals of two ATP Tour events. They have also all represented the United States in the Davis Cup.

In 2022, Paul, Tiafoe, and Korda all reached the round of 16 at the US Open. It was the first time that three American men had reached the round of 16 at the US Open since 1999.

The training together background of Tommy Paul, Francis Tiafoe, and Sebastian Korda has helped them to become successful professional tennis players. They have pushed each other to be better and have learned from each other’s experiences. They are all still young and have a lot of potential to achieve great things in the sport of tennis.

Here are some additional details about the training together background of these three players:

  • They all started training at the USTA National Training Center when they were young children.
  • They have all been coached by the same coach, Patrick McEnroe.
  • They have all competed in the same tournaments and have faced off against each other many times.
  • They are all good friends and support each other on and off the court.

The training together background of these three players has been a major factor in their success. They have learned from each other and pushed each other to be better. They are all still young and have a lot of potential to achieve great things in the sport of tennis.

NORTH STATE, NORTH COUNTRY

On By ethomasparhamIn Z. MiscellaneousLeave a comment

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again

****************

Let me make sure I’ve got this right:

I’m watching Jack Sock playing Pickleball, with a full audience in my homestate of North Carolina , on the Tennis Channel ? Am I dreaming or weren’t McEnroe, Aggassi, Roddick, Michael Chang and Steffi Graff on the same channel playing the same game earlier this month ?

Misprint ? My old home town (Wilson, NC) is building a 4 million $ facility with 12 pickleball courts, plus a tournament capable viewing stadium.

Nearby Raleigh NC , the same with about 30 pickleball, 30 tennis. And PADL ball?

Good news—both facilities include a sizable number of new tennis courts too!

FLASHBACK TEN YEARS : “USTA–Buy Pickleball !”

Good News 2—The pressure from Pickleball enthusiam will build more tennis courts the next 10 years than tennis only facilities!

HINT,HINT–The two games are not mutually exclusive.

Bad news for USTA tennis leagues. The audience on TV ,reflected almost totally “Senior” fandom. A considerable % of your base.

Good news 3 –Pickleball , handled properly, can add a new base to the USTA. For years minority kids have been a target for growth. Pickleball is so easy to learn and inexpensive, the opportunity is a DUH? Tennis courts lined for dual use (about 100$ ) At public schools, municipal recreation courts, empty condo developments and other unused courts.

Once kids have fun and realize a tennis court”ain’t a bad place” –wouldn’t tennis garner some recruits?

And let’s face it, if new people never play tennis , won’t new pickleballers be better off. Than Video addicts, other pitfalls? ADULTS TOO?

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled

JIM WHO?

On By ethomasparhamIn C. COLLEGE TENNIS and INSTRUCTIONLeave a comment

From 1973 until 2000 the Governor of North Carolina’s first name was Jim ( HOLSHOUSER, HUNT, MARTIN, HUNT).

One of our football coaches laughingly told me of his eccentric Uncle. Uncle fashioned himself a powerful local politico. He dressed the part (pocket watch, cigar, authentic “harmuph” when speaking (loud, often and detached. ).

Coach said that his Uncle’s opening declaration was “… I was talking with Jim yesterday…”

If lucky,

some unsuspecting local would ask “Jim who”?

Jim Martin the Governor, you dumb son of a bitch! Harumph—the standard reply.

Three “JIMS ” were so helpful to my tennis experiences:

JIM LEIGHTON

JIM VERDIECK

JIM TONEY

Thanks, Jims

YOUR SPORT, YOUR SCHOOLS, YOUR KIDS

On By ethomasparhamIn HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS / SHOT DOCTORSLeave a comment

America loves teams. And teamwork. My Father played team tennis for Wake Forest college in 1928. I played on any team that would give me a uniform. Both sons played high school and college team tennis. My grandson played #1 for Boulder High School as a freshman.

I am passionate about teams, and North Carolina. Later I will examine where this comes from. And how organizations, and “worker bees” and “tennis angels” can make things better.

There are great organizations alrready functioning. The North Carolina High School Athletics Association (NCHSAA ) sponsors the North Carolina High School Tennis Coaches (NCHSTCA). Later we will provide access to national groups.

A part of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), NCTA houses any number of tennis programs. From youngsters to seniors, to referees, to wheelchair competition. All worthy of support. One relatively new group has been the growth of league play. One could conclude the leagues growth was a savior, nationally and in our state as well. Coupled with Title IX and some altered attitudes , Women provided leadership , volunteering with impressive results.

While high scool tennis is only one of our causes, it is the one I feel most inclined to help. In 2015 we provided 700 boys and girls THE LITTLE GREEN BOOK OF TENNIS . Then we made it freely available to over 4,000 varsity boys and girls.

Due to turnover of all those players, plus more than half of the coaches, we offered the book again , with updated instruction in 2022. Here is your free link to edition three: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IstkubA3qBwoJITAtqa2j1l5TW8hc2Myx_6_ZIwGqOs/edit#heading=h.s32ld9zdi0v0

One way to help!

VISION, PLANNING,AND GOALS for growing NC high school tennis teams, coaches, and players.

  1. To put together a non-profit group of our talented tennis people who embrace high school tennis in our state. Perhaps, like the league play leaders, they will function in perpetituity any number of ways to help the cause. The game changes. There is rapid turnover. The league players and coaches have the experience now to help coach, assist, advise referee, etc.
  2. As mentioned , there are already organizations in place and eager to help. We can make all this aid more accessible. Video selection, books, clinics. Some of the coaches are simply appointed, with NO tennis background. My experience is many are good people who do care about the kids. They need help ( see earlier articles) :

WAYS TO HELP—

HOW?

Much is already being done. The NCTA , The USTA, The NCHSAA, The North Carolina High School’s Coaches Association are going hard to help. Where help is needed comes from several sources:

**** Pay for these jobs is meager compared to what is asked and expected.
****The pay will not attract top notch tennis coaches in most instances. Most of the very good ones are volunteers, or close.
*** The typical “assigned” staffer is often a football coach, one who knows nothing about tennis. Or some similar scenario.
****More and more are “adjunct”, or part time coaches, who don’t have even the academic background that teacher/coaches have.

WHAT CAN HELP?
One way to start is a “THINK TANK” or committee to examine what is possible. We have a tremendous group of fine players throughout the state. We have in place an organization of teaching professionals in NC. Many times the best source is a “tennis angel” who silently plays with youngsters. No one gives more than parents. The club pro benefits from high school families.

There is another largely untapped source in our state. The NC TENNIS HALL OF FAME members. There seems to me to be a group of old pros and young turks in our select group who could also help the coaches in their area. Many of the hall of famers and pros are the same people. Many already give or have given to tennis in many ways. There are so many ways these people could enhance the knowledge, confidence, and performance of particularly the beginning coaches. I can’t list them all. Believe me, you can help.

I would also suggest to these coaches to look for the local angels. My experience is these are great people who only need to be asked. It may be one afternoon a week, It may be a helpful phone call. Showing a drill, filling in for an emergency, play an exhibition, take them to a college match, gift of equipment—old or new, simply attend matches, etc.

I think a good place to start “thinking” would be the coaches, the Pros, the angels ,and the organizations to brain storm the how. The why is obvious. And I think there is ample evidence that this help is available. And I am convinced the link between high school and juniors and parents and these volunteers can thrive.
The first place to start is knowledge plus need. Our hall of famers and our professional tennis teachers are where to start.

Some years back I watched a clinic foe NC high school coaches and concluded “…there is a lot more CARE in that group than knowledge. Granted several of the coaches demonstrated good skill on the court. I have said all along that a high school coach who cares and drives the van properly is all parents can hope for. Now I think it time to help them. They , by virtue of their attendance and willingness to coach our children, have earned our assistance.

COLLEGE, KIDS. QUESTIONS


Consider these:
1. Teaching Pros can be helpful to these high school coaches, players and teams. Very often the pros are much more knowledgeable and specialized in tennis.
High schoolers and younger are a great source for the pro’s business. A nurturing of this relationship is mutually beneficial.
2. High school sports are more and more selective. Basketball and football are sports not all are fitted for.  Youngsters  will look more and more for alternatives. More and more teams means more coaches are needed. In North Carolina more than half of the players are girls . Hasn’t the LEAGUE EXPERIENCE created a large group that now have the ability to help in any number of these programs?
Some stellar athletes might consider tennis because there is now a good coach.
3. Many won’t.
4. Why? Since the early 70’s more and more tennis scholarships have gone to internationals. We are in the third generation of this reality. The skyrocketing of college costs has paralleled the number of internationals.   And the number of grants for Americans have declined in a similar staggering proportion. Families invest tremendous amounts of money into their children’s tennis. It can be rewarded only two ways: 1.The extremely rare route of becoming a professional player and 2. College scholarships. And the scholarships grow more and more important annually.
5. One significant reason people are opting for sports other than tennis is that this third generation of parents and players have seen the scholarships  shipped  overseas.
6. This also manifests itself in the dearth of top pro players in America today. The obvious graph-like decline in quality of players in America coupled with the elimination of Americans selected for college scholarships should be grounds for new ideas.
7. Here is one. Is it not time to seriously study how to restore these opportunities and scholarships to our own?
8. Wouldn’t this benefit the hopeful high school or junior player in terms of motivation.

9.  Much has been written about internationals in American college. 

10. One last suggestion to high school coaches and tennis pros:  Coach–talented players are protective of their games and practices.  Work with the players and pros to allow meaningful practices, and still maintain team sacrifices.  Meet and set up a plan; the kid misses high school practice for pro lessons or a match with a high level opponent and yet gives back to  the team by helping less talented teammates.   Both interact in the long run.    PROS- encourage  why team play may teach more than individual success.  I wondered if  a “prima donna “wouldn’t play for his/her  high school , would they sacrifice as needed to be a good college teammate?

From Elie Wiesel:

“First I am a teacher.”

“If I am a witness (and your teacher ), you are a witness too.”

“Memory is the one thing that can save humanity.”

Student’s question : How do I help? Dr. Wiesel–“Start now! What do you see? What do you know?”

FINAL EDITION

The link at the bottom is to third edition of THE LITTLE GREEN BOOK of TENNIS. It is available to all, freely.

Several have asked why?

Upon retirement I asked my wife what’ s next ? ” I want to move to the beach!” Emerald Isle, NC for 17 years so far.

DIE BROKE by Stephen Pollan has four recommendations for retirees. Number 2 says DON’T RETIRE!: Meaning you should

have other meaningful plans.

In the off season at the beach you need that plan. Over time my plan evolved into “hobby writing”.

Motivation for this tennis book came several sources:

(Son, Dan Parham ) ” Dad–you know a lot about coaching tennis. You can put that stuff in the cloud, for everybody.

(Dr. Mildred Hartsock, late English Department Chair at alma mata , Atlantic Christian College .) ” You have some writing ability. You should major in English.”

( Jim Verdieck, late, great Redlands Tennis Coach). On my asking what happens to his tremendous knowledge? “When I die, it dies”. I told him I would try to prevent that.

(Jim Leighton, late, great Wake Forest Univesity Tennis Coach. ). Coach Leighton was the source of most of my knowledge of tennis. I took notes after our many sessions. He read a first draft of those attempts. “Tom, you have captured much of what we have covered. You can make a good book out of this, and if you do it will do more for tennis than all those National Championsships you have won.”

(Harvey Penick—THE LITTLE RED BOOK of GOLF author). “If you read this book you are my pupil. If you play golf you are my friend. “

( Jim Toney, late Economics Professor at Elon University and tennis angel )… A fine player and promoter of tennis, Mr. Toney and I zeroed in on High School tennis court construction. Later in his life he developed Parkinson’s. During our last conversation I told how much I appreciated the work he had done for tennis. He leaned forward, peering at me with those steely eyes, and said ” Don’t you quit.”)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IstkubA3qBwoJITAtqa2j1l5TW8hc2Myx_6_ZIwGqOs/edit?usp=sharing

(click link for the book )

Thinking ablout the last blog (FINAL EDITION ).

“FINAL EDITION ” REFLECTIONS

A Carolina (UNC CHAPEL HILL) football coach, commenting on my book THE LITTLE GREEN BOOK of TENNIS, suggested “…this is not just a tennis coaching aid, but for all coaches. ” High praise. I then realized I had mostly taken the methods of others, and the praise was theirs. What I also feel is these people showed us something even bigger than specialized coaching ; the whole process of teaching anything.

My Son, Dan, introduced the CLOUD’S possibilites.

Technology made my efforts possible. I hadn’t typed in fifty plus years. Never had cut a computer on. Wasn’t aware of self-publishing.

Looking back I am grateful there were so many good people and places to learn from. Looking forward I see many who could do similar sharing. So many have unique talent, backgrounds, and experience that could help others.

Information shared, data, truth.

PASSION

Recently I was described as “ passionate” about tennis.   A real compliment.   Immediately I thought of John Ormsby who wrote a  quite thorough history of Six Man Football in North Carolina.  I asked John where the drive to do this project came from?  He replied,  “…I wanted to know more about one subject  than anyone alive!”

Life without passion and drive is unappealing  to me.   Certainly our children deserve no less.   

One of my Sons made me aware of technology’s “cloud”.   “Dad, anyone can easily make special knowledge available to  all  now.”

Being a coach often makes you almost surrogate  fathers.  Certainly you care about your players.   My passion is care for American junior tennis players and their access to a fair share of our college and university tennis scholarships.   I believe there is a direct link between awarding  so many of our scholarships to internationals that we have run our own kids out of tennis, and other American sports as well.

Is this patriotic or xenophobic?   Is it illegal to reserve state tax money for our state’s youngsters.   Where is the fair “fine line” we can expect?

Passion number two:   The model for successful American juniors has been the  FAMILY not the ACADEMY model.  No ones cares like the parents.   Proper parental guidance,  local teaching pros,  community tennis “angels’,  junior tournaments, high school team play, and on to college tennis.  Examine our golden era of  pros  (Evert, Connors, McEnroes, Sampras, etc).

INTERNATIONAL ATHLETES IN AMERICAN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.

On By ethomasparhamIn D. INTERNATIONALSLeave a comment

Below is a letter to me that states the position of NCAA President Mark A. Emmert on international athletes in American college athletics. And I agree with the content. However, I believe there is another tenable side to this issue. Therefore, in addition to President Emmert letter, I have shared what I believe is another salient side to the issue.

NCAA-Emmert-Letter.jpeg

Dr. Mark Emmert
President, NCAA
PO Box 6222
Indianapolis, Indiana  46206

Dear Dr. Emmert,

I am appreciative of your letter of March 15, 2017. Earlier this winter I had a long conversation with Timothy Russell , CEO of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).   I have also pled my case to Paul Lubbers of USTA player development, the Southern district of USTA, (STA) and the North Carolina Tennis Association (NCTA).

And have done so with countless others since 1970. Your response ensures that I have been heard at our highest levels and that is truly fair.

Approaching age 77 with fifty years of coaching, teaching and administering in two small (Barton College) to mid size Division 1 (Elon University), I have watched this issue closely, and while I fully agree with diversity and inclusion and equitable participation, there seems to be more to the issue.

My teams rosters included fifty plus internationals. From about a dozen different countries. Roland Thornqvist, women’s tennis coach at the University of Florida just won the women’s D1 National team tennis indoor title, owning a handful of national titles. I recruited Roland to the USA and he is probably best known of my recruits who are in the athletics arena and have stayed in the country. No less known in the world of orthopedic surgery in America is Dr. Pramote Malisitt, a native of Bangkok, who remains in our country. Dr. Peter Lindstrom, is one of twenty nine Swedes whom I recruited, and who is nationally known as a vital computer expert with our defense department. Neither our schools, nation, nor I would wish they weren’t here.

Never have I suggested we shouldn’t have delved into internationals then or now. But it seems to me to be a half full/half empty issue. Not once have I ever said an international should be prohibited from participation. Or equal admittance. The elephant in the room is scholarships. Never have I suggested internationals should be exempt from a reasonable amount of money. I do believe that the NCAA has a legal right to provide aid to our citizens first. One link to follow allows that about 200 million American dollars go into international men and women tennis players.

Many parents and taxpayers question all foreign rosters, all with grants and many from state schools. (See enclosed latest rankings from Division II) I wouldn’t object to an all international team in any sport if they paid the bill. But to scholarship an all African team, rather than an African American team is bothersome, to say the least. What we have now is foreign aid, not trade. Not once in the many times I asked any international , “Would your native country do what we do?” was the answer yes. And the money is coming from the coffers of the only reasonable financial return for all the expenses encountered: Scholarships. Scholarships can easily amount to a quarter million dollars per student ,over four years. Not to mention the subsequent benefits of quality education. I don’t even mention the rarity of professional player rewards, as we all know the status of American elite players. That is another issue, but giving American college tennis to internationals via disproportionate scholarship is directly related to this demise (again link to follow).

Basketball, golf, and other international sports are making forays into the American college arena. As a young coach I quickly realized if they have a nuclear weapon or two, I had better find some to help me keep my job. This is true today. Witness Duke University’s meteoric rise in Women’s golf. Surely young coaches watched an all international roster ascend to the top. Is this the intent of Title IX for our women? The American college system is the best system in the world to train elite athletes. The best example is surely Women’s Soccer.

Soccer, the most widely played sport in the world ,has never been won by American men. Yet, since the advent of Title IX our women have won three world cups in soccer. All twenty three women were participants in American College Soccer. And I’d bet they all had scholarships. Some one asked me where was the national training center for women on the world cup team? Chapel Hill, I replied. (Anson Dorance’s UNC teams had six of the twenty three players). And his teams influenced all the rest.

Upon accepting the job at Elon University, the then president admonished me, “… we don’t want an all foreign team!” After ten years that included a national team championship, I was concerned that a walk-on international was good enough to shift our team balance to more than 50% international for the first time. A decided shift in attitude was “ Coach we’ve decided that we don’t care where they are from if they are the quality of people you’ve been recruiting.”

And, while this validates your position, I believe a compromise is the answer.

My internationals returned home at about a 90% rate. That money may have brought in any number of our own citizens, equal in every way, except talent in tennis, as a true 18 year old freshman . (see DAY DREAM BELIEVER) on addendum to follow. Without scholarship aid for many American tennis youngsters, the “…pathway to opportunity” does not currently exist.

I have shared a few opinions, mine and others, on Addendum 1.

I intend to include a copy of your letter, and valid position to several interested parties. Knowing I have had my say, I remain sincerely grateful.

Tom Parham

ON INTERNATIONALS . https://littlegreenbookoftennis.com/category/d-internationals/page/4/

https://littlegreenbookoftennis.com/category/d-internationals/page/4/

https://wordpress.com/post/littlegreenbookoftennis.com/2830

The southeast is experiencing lots of colleges dropping of sports. Men and women’s tennis teams are among the first to go it seems. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association is trying to stop the bleeding. Here are a few personal observations:

Scholarships: International college tennis players, men and women. are usurping the scholarships. College tennis sold its soul to winning.

Diversity: Coaches hitched on to the popular gravy train of “diversity”. Diversity in college tennis became an American with a large scholarship.

Facilities: The big question is why do athletics directors cut non revenue sports with tiny budgets and paying customers. In our area the schools who have cut tennis often need new, competitive facilities. The price tag has gone up for these. The schools in our area who have dropped tennis all seem to need new facilities. (Appalachain, East Carolina, Winthrop, High Point for a few).

In my active career as a tennis coach I found a sympathetic ear from my athletic directors about saving grants for Americans.

“I’m gonna bring that up at the convention!”) Post convention apologies went like this—“Tom, I’m sorry. The football and basketball problems are so big we forgot about tennis.”

2020 and the squeeze is on and the A.D’s and President’s may be thinking differently: ‘Wait a minute! We are giving eight women’s and 41/2 men’s grants to almost all foreign kids. They eliminate Americans who often pay the freight? Plus we don’t have a reasonable facility and we’ve promised them one for years. More and more are building larger more expensive, arms race courts. And my coach say we can’t be competitive without an indoor facility. What’s that 12 and 1/ 2 times 50k a year in foreign aid. Six hundred thou, plus? Then indoor and outdoor courts, another 3 million?

Conclusion: The only revenue of sizable amount from non-revenue college sports is when an American parent writes that checkto the schools.

PASSION

Being a coach often makes you almost surrogate  fathers.  Certainly you care about your players.   My passion is care for American junior tennis players and their access to a fair share of our college and university tennis scholarships.   I believe there is a direct link between awarding  so many of our scholarships to internationals that we have run our own kids out of tennis, and other American sports as well.

Is this patriotic or xenophobic?   Is it illegal to reserve state tax money for our state’s youngsters.   Where is the fair “fine line” we can expect?

Passion number two:   The model for successful American juniors has been the  FAMILY not the ACADEMY model.  No ones cares like the parents.   Proper parental guidance,  local teaching pros,  community tennis “angels’,  junior tournaments, high school team play, and on to college tennis.  Examine our golden era of  pros  (Evert, Connors, McEnroes, Sampras, etc).

Academies are often filled by throw away kids,  limited rich kids, and a selected few who get all the attention.   More importantly it is questionable academically and personally. 

FURTHER OPINION ON THIS ISSUE CAN BE FOUND (1) ON http://www.tomparham.wordpress.com and (2 ) this link ( https://littlegreenbookoftennis.com/2023/01/07/american-college-tennis-players ) hosts nearly 100 pages of collected writings on this issue.

NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL 2023

On By ethomasparhamIn E. SPORTS COMMENTARYLeave a comment

“Senor, Senor–can you tell me where we’re heading, Lincoln County or Armaggdeon ?”

—- “People get all caught up in the coaching and all that stuff. Its Dudes ! You’ve got to have players, and these Dudes put in the work !” Kansas State Coach, Jerome Tang.

—Soon ? Concealed carry in the game?

—Coach Boeheim–on St. John’s hiring of Rick Pitino : “He has coached forty years. That is not a lot of trouble for that long.”