DORCHESTER -- The first time Alveta Haynes's 13-year-old sonJelani saw the Sportsmen's Tennis Club, he was only days old.
On the way home from Brigham and Women's Hospital after Haynes hadgiven birth, her husband, Conway, insisted that they stop at the BlueHill Avenue tennis center.
'He had to stop by this place to show his new son around, to givehim his first tour,' said Haynes, who sat in the car and waited thatday.Haynes, whose husband is president of the club's board, laughs nowwhen she tells that story. Sitting in an office at the club, shesays it is just one example of the love and dedication this placeevokes.Haynes's son and many other children come here to learn lifelessons as well as how to play a good game of tennis. Children andadults are drawn to this facility where nurturing and supportingurban youth of diverse backgrounds has been a daily mission for 25years.Next month, the club will celebrate that bond and ask those whouse the facility for a renewed commitment to help rejuvenate theplace, which in recent years has declined. A fund-raising campaignis in the works to raise $100,000 to retire a debt, help pay forsummer and fall programs, and make repairs to the facility at 950Blue Hill Ave., near the Boys and Girls Club.On May 9, the tennis club, as well as other recreationalfacilities throughout Boston, will offer free tennis lessons tochildren (at 10 a.m.) and adults (at noon) in a citywide event.From May 26 to May 29, about 1,200 Boston public school childrenwill be bused to the center for lessons that club members havevolunteered to teach.On May 30, a dinner, silent auction, and dedication ceremony willtake place to honor Jim and Gloria Smith who helped create the cluband poured their lives into it until their deaths last year. Thededication, which Haynes is helping organize, will change thebuilding's name from the Franklin Field Tennis Center to the Jim andGloria Smith Tennis Center.On May 31, fom 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., there will be a children's tennistournament featuring corporate sponsors and child and adultcompetitors.The Sportsmen's Tennis Club, a private nonprofit club, was foundedin 1961 by a group of Boston tennis buffs who wanted to teach thegame to children.Initially, lessons were give at a playground in the South End andin a Roxbury gymnasium. In 1973, the club completed the facilitywhere it is now. The Sportsmen's Tennis Club, with both indoor andoutdoor courts, was the first such facility in the country to bededicated to helping disadvantaged youths.The club has helped 400 young people attain local, regional andnational tennis association rankings. Also, more than 500 youthshave attended college on full or partial tennis scholarships.But the tennis center is looking a little tired of late. Theentry into the parking lot is rocky with broken pavement. Carpetingin the foyer is way beyond worn. Blue paint is peeking through inspots on a white wall.Still, the former glory of the place lingers in a photo display ofold black-and-whites of celebrities who have visited here: ArthurAshe; the Kennedys, Ethel, Ted, Robert Jr.; Billie Jean King.'The news is that the Sportsmen's Club is still here,' Haynessaid. 'There was a time this time last year when we had graveconcerns. But we're still here and we are bigger and better thanwe've been in years.'Half of a $100,000 debt has been paid off. A roof that leaked sobadly on rainy days that the indoor courts became wet has beenrepaired. Computers have been purchased to replace the typewriters.Many more improvements are planned.Several programs have been created to bring more people into theclub. An early bird play period runs from 7 to 10 a.m.; on Fridaynight, there is mixed adult doubles from 8 p.m. to midnight; a Sundayleague from 3 to 5 p.m. has taken off this year since the courts wereresurfaced.The tennis club also has a new executive director, Laury Hammel,who came on board in October and is given much of the credit forturning the club around.Part of the problem has been that the club hasn't been able tocompete with some of the other recreational facilities in Bostonbecause equipment hasn't been updated over the years, Haynes said.Also, as corporate funding has dried up, it has been harder to getmoney to fund a sport that some see as an elitist luxury.'Adding to that,' said Hammel, 'is the fact that tennis clubs as abusiness from 1980 on were going out of business across thecountry.'In the early days of tennis, when Ashe, Bjorn Borg, and JimmyConnors were the big names, the game easily drew customers. But, asrecreational opportunities broadened, there was more competition forpeople's time.'So you needed to be proactive to promote tennis, and thatpromotional side wasn't increasing here as time went on,' saidHammel, who owns three recreational facilities in Natick and Waylandand was good friends with Jim Smith.'The interesting thing,' said Haynes, 'is that that piece of ourmission to provide affordable tennis to children remained intact. Itwas not at the level we wanted it to be, but it was there. Mainlybecause parents helped out.'Les Smith, the son of Jim and Gloria Smith, still plays at theclub, sometimes with Haynes's son. He's glad to see the changes andlooks forward to the dedication ceremony. 'I always used to teasemy parents about the tennis club being their first child and I wastheir second,' said Smith, who was born in 1965 after the club wasfounded. 'It's good that this can be done in my parents' memoriesbecause they've contributed so much of their lives to trying to makethe city a better place through tennis.' For information on clubactivities, call 617-288-9092.
