Hawai'i Makes Impact at Tennis Nationals

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wai'i makes impact at tennis nationals - The Honolulu Advertiser -... http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Oct/08/sp/sp10

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The Wailea 4.5 Women

team, from left: Diane

Driscoll-Miller, Mino

McClean, Sally Gretz,

Cathleen Nicoloff, KatrinaHolmberg, Marie

Holmberg and Kathy

Shipman. The team will

be competing in the

national tournament Oct.

15 to 17 at Tucson, Ariz.

Christie Wilson The

Honolulu Advertiser

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Posted on: Friday, October 8, 2004

RECREATION

Hawai'i makes impact at tennis

nationals

Teams bound for nationals

Tennis league set for Central O'ahu

By Peter EriksonAdvertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i has relatively few United States TennisAssociation players, but many high-octane teams.

Nowhere is this better illustrated

than at the national tournaments,

where the state has "held its own

over the years," said Lynn

Lozano, USTA Hawai'i League

coordinator.

In 2000, for example, three

Hawai'i teams won USTA

championships. A year later, a 4.0women's team from Honolulu also

took the title.

Last year, Kaua'i's Hattie

Somerville teamed with Betsy

Purpura to win a second

Mother-Daughter National

Grasscourt Championship at Newport Casino Lawn

Tennis Club in Newport, R.I.

Watch for TopJobs coming to

this space soon.


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National Tennis RatingProgram

1.5: Works primarily ongetting the ball in play.

2.0: Lacks courtexperience, and strokesneed developing. Isfamiliar with basicpositions for singles anddoubles play.

2.5: Has limited courtcoverage but can sustain

dictionaryE-mail news alertsRSS news feedsWireless newsNewspaper inEducationBlood Bank ofHawaii

This year there are several teams headed to nationals

(see chart below).

The Hawai'i Pacific Section, which includes American

Samoa and Guam, listed 7,301 players as of August,

one of the smallest totals among the USTA's 17

sections.

By comparison, the Southern Section comprises nine

states and nearly 170,000 players.

At the nationals, "people told us they had to win lots

more matches than we did to get there," said Gary

Nekoba, whose 5.0 men's team barely lost to champion

Texas at the USTA championships in 2000 in Palm

Springs, Calif.

Hawai'i players take full advantage of the matches they

do get to play in, however.

"In Hawai'i we have to get the best of the best," said

Cathleen E. Nicoloff, who coaches and plays for the

Wailea 4.5 women's team from Maui, which will

compete in the National Championships this month in

Tucson, Ariz.

"At the 4.5 level we get players at the top level, not the

middle level," she said.

Sometimes getting the best players takes some

ingenuity.

At the sectionals in Maui in August, for instance, "two

of our best players were from O'ahu and one was from

Los Angeles," Nicoloff said. Out-of-state players can

qualify for a championship here by competing in at

least two matches at the local level. Most Hawai'i teams,

though, are made up of players from their own

districts, Lozano said.

Spreading aloha

Hawai'i teams, Nicoloff said,

are intent on making animpression at the nationals.

"We always bring a bunch of

protea for the tournament desk

and we bring pineapples for

each of the team captains we

compete against," said

Nicoloff, who helped her

Hawai'i 5.0 team place fifth at


3/5


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a short rally at a slowpace.

3.0: Fairly consistentwhen hittingmedium-paced shots, butnot comfortable with allstrokes and lacksexecution when trying fordirectional control,depth, or power.

3.5: Has improved strokesand can control directionof moderate shots, butneeds to develop depthand variety. Is moreaggressive at net, hasimproved court coverageand is developingteamwork in doubles.

4.0: Has dependablestrokes and shows moreexpertise with forehandand backhand shots. Uses

lobs, overheads, approachshots and volleys withsome success butoccasionally forces errorswhen serving. Rallies maybe lost due toimpatience. Doublesteamwork evident.

4.5: Has developed use ofpower and spin and canhandle pace. Has soundfootwork, can controldepth of shots, andattempts to vary game

plan according to paceset by opponent. Can hitfirst serves with powerand accuracy and placesecond serve but tends tooverhit difficult shots.Aggressive net play iscommon in doubles.

5.0: Has goodanticipation and can hitoutstanding shots.Regularly hits winnersand puts away volleys butstill forces errors. Canexecute lobs, drop shots,

half volleys, overheadsmashes, and has gooddepth and spin on mostsecond serves.

5.5: Has mastered powerand/or consistency as amajor weapon. Can varystrategies and styles ofplay and hit dependableshots in stressfulsituations.

the 1996 nationals at New

Orleans. "And we bring

cookies to give to each of our

competitors."

Playing in the nationals "gives

us a chance to spread the aloha

and tell them (opponents) who

we are," Nicoloff said. "Wewear fun clothes and want

everyone to know we're

there."

It's not hard to find tennis

enthusiasts in Hawai'i, where

the percentage of people who

play the sport is among the

highest in the nation, Lozano

said.

Among those who help drum

up interest in tennis here is

USTA teaching pro Rusty

Dyer.

It was at Dyer's urging that

Kiyomi Smothermon, captain

of the 3.0 Lady Rocketeers,

joined the USTA. Her team is

set to play in the nationals in

Arizona.

"I didn't even know there was

team tennis for adults I

thought is was only for

children," Smothermon said.

It's no surprise that the USTA

membership has grown

steadily, Lozano said.

"What other sport offers the

recreational adult the

opportunity to play at the local

level all the way up to the

national championships?" she

asked. "There are 10 national

championships, including

those for seniors and adult

leagues, totaling 3,000 players

across the country."

Founded in 1881, the USTA


4/5


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6.0 to 7.0: Has hadintensive training fornational tournamentcompetition at the juniorand collegiate levels andobtained a sectionaland/or national ranking.

7.0: World-class player.

owns the U.S. Open, selects

members for the U.S. Davis

Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and

Paralympic teams, and

sponsors programs for players

of all ages and abilities.

Also, USA League Tennis is

the largest recreational tennis league in the world, withmore than 530,000 participants, according to the

organization's Web site.

The site allows players to check their scores and

records, as well as those of their opponents.

Coordination not easy

The number of opponents dwindles, however, as a

player reaches the higher levels.

Nekoba's team, for instance, was decimated after the2000 nationals, when USTA "verifiers" bumped up

five players to the 5.5 level even though Hawai'i

doesn't have such a league.

When their ratings expired in 2004, four of the five

returned to 5.0 play.

But there's still not much competition for 5.0 players in

Hawai'i, Nekoba said.

"At least on the Neighbor Islands we can scrape

enough players together to make a league," Nekobasaid. "... I would think O'ahu would have enough 5.0

players because of the population difference I don't

know why they don't field more teams.

"On the east side, basically Hilo, as far as 5.0 players

go, there's seven who can play at that level and that's it.

I usually have to get all of them together at the same

time to make a team and that's difficult because of

commitments."

Lozano said it's not surprising that there aren't more

5.0 players.

"The largest level for participation is 3.5; as you go

higher in level you will note that those levels/divisions

become smaller," she said. "This is natural in most

recreational sports."

Nekoba also plays 4.5 tennis, and said there's a paucity

of players on that level, too.

"In general, on the east side (of Maui), people get

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