County tennis co-op program serves aces
By Tim Sutherland
Sun sports nut
The Leelanau County high school tennis co-op program is one of the coolest stories to hit the Glen Arbor sports scene since the glory days (both of them) of the WAG softball team.
There are many reasons why we’re blessed to live in Leelanau County. One of the penultimate reasons is the quality of its people and the way they can mobilize their strengths and contribute their time to the area’s youth. The stars often align here, but something particularly special happened in the first year of this unique high school tennis co-operative.
At its height in popularity and success, high school tennis in this county, from the 1970s through the ‘90s, was a force, even at the state level. Northport, Leland, The Leelanau School and Glen Lake all won regional championships and fielded state-qualifying teams, with numerous Top 10 finishes at the state level. Yes, Leelanau County schools competed with the likes of downstate powerhouses Detroit Country Day and Grosse Point University Liggett.
I played on the first Glen Lake High School tennis team, and my father hired (basketball household name) Don Miller as Glen Lake’s first coach — as Don tells it, on a volunteer basis. All four of my little brothers, Paul, Bob, Matt and Mike, went on to win regional titles and compete on the state level. High school tennis in the county is in my heart and soul. I was not going to let it die.
Recently, Northport and Leland both dropped their tennis programs, and Glen Lake was in danger of doing so — as a result of the switch in seasons from spring to fall for high school tennis, falling student enrollment and budget cuts. I was coaching at The Leelanau School last year when David Grahams, Glen Lake’s coach at the time, and I started talking co-op. I had followed the demise at Leland, and knew some parents there, Karen Rennie being one of the strongest voices, that were trying to revive tennis there. Suddenly the ball was bouncing. Now we just had to get it over the net.
Last spring I held meetings with interested players at all three schools, and the numbers were there. Now, athletic directors and school boards had to jump into action in a hurry because we need Michigan High School Athletic Association approval, fast. With Grahams handling the paperwork and me beating the bushes for parental support and restoring energy and enthusiasm with kids, we started practice on Aug. 15 with what would eventually turn into nearly 30 kids from all three schools.
Hurdles? You bet! Scheduling practice time; where to practice; where to play matches; transportation, were just a few of the challenges. That first day of practice I watched the kids hit balls for a few minutes and then called them over for our first team meeting. Here I was looking at 25 different kids from three difference schools that didn’t even know each other’s names, and I confidently told them, “I don’t see any reason why we cannot go to states with all this talent out here. What do you guys think?” ‘Yeah, sure coach. What was your name?’ was there response.”
Glen Arbor Township committed its courts for our practices and matches. Ryan Knudsen from Leland, Mark Mattson from Glen Lake, Joe Blondia from The Leelanau School, our athletic directors, put their heads together, and figured out physicals, eligibility, scheduling and transportation. We raised money for uniforms and balls by holding a tennis tourney fundraiser at The Homestead resort, in which the resort donated its clay courts and held a wonderful luncheon … and we were on our way.
The early season was tough, and as the kids said, we got our butts kicked. Coach Grahams and I used coach-speak and told the kids that it was good for them, it would build toughness, we hoped anyway.
Our varsity lineup evolved into four kids from each school in a 12-player lineup. Perfect symmetry. We then whipped off a four-match winning streak and the championship at the Boyne Mountain Invitational. Local Glen Lake area students including Casey and Leif Vanderwerff, Caleb Abbott, Wyatt Smith, Adam Scarbrough, and Simon Kohler started (kicking everyone else’s butts).
Lo and behold we went up to Harbor Springs for our regional and finished a strong second place and qualified for the state tournament in Kalamazoo as a first-year program. A Division Four regional coach of the year award followed for me.
All in all, it took a great effort from people, from county government, to schools, to parents like Sandy Scarbrough, who arranged meals and chaperoned overnight trips, to Amy Hubbell from the Leelanau Enterprise who covered our story from beginning to end, to local tennis pro Jim Fowler and friends who practiced with us to get us ready for regionals and states, to Cherry Republic who hosted our team awards dinner. This was a feel-good story, but then, there are a lot of these kinds of stories in this wonderful area where we live.
A Tigers’ season to remember
What an emotional Tigers season that was — especially the draining, but incredible, one-game playoff loss to the Minnesota Twins to settle the American League Central Division title. A few friends asked me about my disappointment in the playoff loss. (“Did not bother me a bit,” I found myself uttering with my usual blind eternal optimism about my Tigers.)
With no hitting, devastating injuries and subpar years by many of our All Stars, we nevertheless managed to get within a heartbeat of the post-season. And what an epic that extra-inning playoff game was. I watched the affair with about 50 friends and fans on a cold, rainy day at Wingers Sports Bar at the Holiday Inn in Traverse City. It was as much fun as any sporting event I have ever seen. Fifty crazed people jumping up and down, screaming and high-fiving everyone they could reach during the high points, followed by total emotional devastation after the low points. And that was after only three innings!
The bar looked like a jazzercise class with all the ups and downs, and was just as physically demanding as it was emotionally draining. What fun. My good buddy Jack Lane got up and left the bar at least three times to channel Harry Caray and had to be talked down off the ledge at least until he paid his part of the bar tab!
I walked out of that bar thinking this is what makes our Tigers so special to us. “For three hours we live and die with them, and the next day (or in this case, next spring) we get to do it all over again. Is that passion or what?