A new recreational tennis league for adults soon will be up and running.
The Tri-County Men’s and Women’s Tennis League will encompass Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
Walt Bockmiller, the league’s organizer, plans to form a dividing line in which north Hillsborough and Pasco would be one league, west Hillsborough would be a separate league and Pinellas County would have a league, too.
Teams will be formed from each of those leagues, which will be made up of both singles and doubles matches. Matches will be played at various “home and away” locations throughout the three counties, and points will be awarded for each set won.
“It’s not you as an individual that would be named champion, but it’s your team,” Bockmiller explained about the points system. “So, your team would amass points in doubles and singles play.”
(Kevin Weiss/Staff Photo)
Bockmiller, who worked in parks and recreation management for 47 years across three states — Florida, Maryland and Louisiana — wants to mold the Tri-County Tennis League after the Greater Volusia Tennis League, on the east coast of Florida. The league includes residents from Volusia and Flagler counties.
“We started with only a couple hundred (players) and now there’s over 13,500,” Bockmiller said, referring to the Greater Volusia Tennis League. “They play seven days a week. Every day of the week, there’s something going on (there). That’s what we need here,” he said.
This area lacks sufficient structure to generate increased play, he said.
From his experiences as a former parks and recreation director, Bockmiller, 73, believes the lack of tennis structure among the three counties is due to the amount of effort needed from a number of people to form a sizable league.
In drawing on his decades of experience in creating and operating various sports leagues and programs, Bockmiller believes that an organized tennis league would help area residents in terms of socializing with others, and advancing one’s skillset.
The structure encourages competition among different players, which helps players develop their skills, he said.
“All of a sudden, you’re meeting new players with different styles and start saying, ‘My gosh, what did (that player) do to me?’ and you pick up that knowledge, and then you start to try to pick that shot up.
“All of a sudden, your game goes up one, two or three times your ability level than what you’re playing at now, just in picking up one shot or two or three,” he said.
The league organizer also noted that when tennis players, especially novices, compete against several different people, there’s a greater the likelihood they will elevate their understanding of the game, too.
Over time, he said, players then learn how to exploit another opponent’s weakness—like backhand shots, for example.
“For a serve, you’re looking to set up a negative impact on a player…most players can hit with the forehand, but many cannot hit backhand, so where do you think I’m going to serve?
“A lot of people have no strategy for the game,” added Bockmiller, who plays tennis three days a week. “They might say, ‘I hit the ball into a box.’ No, you don’t; there are four or five spots in the box that you’re (supposed to be) aiming at. …I’m going to look for the weakest spot and put it there, and hopefully set up for an easy point.”
As people gain more experience, Bockmiller said players also start to use various weather conditions and court surfaces to their advantage.
“Wind is a big factor in the game,” he said. “If it’s really windy, I can make you run from one side of the court to the other side of the court very easily. …Once you play on a different court, it changes the game. You can hit a spin (shot) on a clay surface, and it’s like throwing a loaf of bread on the other side of the net; it doesn’t bounce, and it lies there like a wet towel.
“You’ll learn all this stuff and…if you’re astute, you’ll pick it up readily.”
Bockmiller, who also organizes softball and golf outings for senior citizens, has already made a number of connections in Pasco County, and is trying to work his way through Hillsborough and Pinellas counties to rate tennis players for the league.
“We’re doing really well in Pasco,” Bockmiller said about tennis players interested in the league. “I’ve (covered) Trinity and Odessa, and I need to go down to the Dale Mabry part of the area, as well as Tarpon Springs, St. Petersburg, Plant City, Sun City, Clearwater, and all down in there.
“I just have to take time to go down and do it,” he said.
The process for joining the league is a simple one. Bockmiller meets with prospective players to test out their serves, volleys, and forehand and backhand shots. From there, Bockmiller gives out a rating, ranging from a low of 1.0 to a high of 4.0, to reflect a player’s skill level.
The rating will help match players with similar abilities to compete against each other.
Ultimately, Bockmiller hopes the league will grow to the point where there are organized tennis matches in both the fall and winter. He noted there will be a small league fee, ranging anywhere from $10 to $25, for the purpose of keeping stats and presenting awards at the end of each season.
The location of the matches will be determined later.
New recreational tennis league
What: A tri-county men’s and women’s tennis league for adults of all ages; singles and doubles play
Where: Various tennis courts across Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties
For more information, call Walt Bockmiller at (813)-527-8211.
Published January 27, 2016
