Tennis Crossroad

WHY "TENNIS CROSSROADS"

Last summer I landed in Charlotte, North Carolina to meet a friend. I wanted to discuss my plans to drive up the east coast and record people. I wanted to stop by every tennis court along the roadside and find people who were willing to tell a story. In exchange, I would offer them a free tennis lesson.

My friend, who is a film professor at UNC, questioned the success of my plan. I explained that the court is a great place for people to share experiences. I have coached most of my life and know this to be true. People don't play tennis just to hit the ball. In addition to exercise, they play to socialize, to confide and to share stories. Tennis is a sport where friendships can be developed for a lifetime.

Somehow, my explanation appeared to make sense. Over a lunch, we discussed all the possibilities of developing a film or writing a book from the experience. It was like the good old days when I was studying film and writing in NY, and the two of us brainstormed endless creative ideas.

But that was not my goal. I simply wanted to listen to people's stories. I thought of a woman I met years ago. It was during a tennis lesson when she said she had the best conversations on court. It was a place of sanctitude. Four thin lines that surround people for an hour are safer than any fort ever built. It is a place where you can find the truth...

By the end of the meal, I had managed to fully convince my friend that the idea would work. In truth, I was probably trying to convince myself and would continue trying to assure myself for thousands of miles along the road.

Later that day, I found some public courts a half an hour away. I walked up to a stranger who was practicing his serve and asked if he would be interested in getting a lesson in exchange for his story. He looked quite perplexed. After a spell, he came to and flashed an agreeable smile.

Several days passed and I found more people who were willing to share stories. State after state, eventually many people did not even care about the lessons. Things were going as planned. But as sailed down the highways, I began to wonder what I was doing.

It was only when I met a coach in New York that I understood. She told me her life story, everything from winning the nationals to losing loved ones. Then she told me the story about how her husband passed away from cancer. The month before my mother had passed away from the same disease. The connection with this woman on a random encounter made me realize I was on the right path.

Eventually, I made it all the way north to Vermont. A week later, I travelled down the west coast and continued collecting stories. I even found one of my old coaches I had not seen for over twenty-five years. He shared untold stories about Vietnam, his experiences of playing Laver, Ashe and life after tennis which included writing Children's books. There was the actress in Vermont, two guys in Oregon, the Title 9 lady, some national college champs, the Chief of River's Edge, and everyone in between.

Since that first day in North Carolina, I have been recording people's stories on and off the court across the U.S. wherever someone is willing to share a story and part of their life that I love to hear.