Excerpts

Excerpts from Tennis in the Northland . . .

Introduction

"An honest tale speeds best being plainly told." - Richard III

Of the many memorable stories I recounted in this book, readers will discover (1) what it was like to play in the 1932 tournament from the words of nonagenarian Marv Hanenberger; (2) how flip cards helped 1939 singles champion Christie Geanakoplos learn to play tennis; (3) how a small school like St. James managed to upset mighty Rochester in the 1954 tournament; (4) which players are considered the best in state history and why; (5) how the sleepy farm community of Blue Earth developed into a tennis power; (6) information about the role of professional coaches such as Frank Voigt on the high school tennis scene; (7) why Edina has been able to maintain its dominance of boys' tennis; (8) who were and are the preeminent coaches; and (9) some of the compelling stories resulting from our unpredictable spring weather.

Chapter 1 - Foul Weather in the Northland

"Lord, what fools these mortals be." - A Midsummer Night's Dream

I can't think of a better expression than Shakespeare's to describe those who play or coach tennis in Minnesota in the early spring. We must all be fools to endure the indignities heaped on us by our cruel spring weather. Californians and Floridians, you have no clue. I vividly recall one such indignity my friend Wayne Kivell (the former Northfield girls' tennis coach) and I endured in early May of 2002. We had driven to Red Wing to watch the Northfield boys' team play the Wingers on a day most people would not have let their dogs out of the house. Coach Mark Ensrud of Northfield had persuaded the Red Wing coach to play the match because there weren't many makeup days left before the conference and region tournaments. It was one of those alternately miserable but at times marginally playable spring days that give those of us who live in Minnesota false hope. At best the temperature was barely above freezing, so we were dressed appropriately in layers of clothes (t-shirts, woolen shirts, sweatshirts, down jackets, jeans), but when we arrived at the courts it started to mist and the wind was blowing. So we traipsed back to the car for our rain jackets. As soon as the match started the sun came out, but only to tease, for within seconds it started to sleet. This was followed by a few light snowflakes, more sporadic wind gusts, the sun peaking through gray clouds again, more light sprinkles, and even a brief burst of hail. And still the boys played on - it was Minnesota after all. Numbed by the cold, buffeted by the wind, and chilled by the rain, we finally retreated to the comfort of our heated car and drove back to Northfield before the match was completed.

Chapter 5 - One-time Singles Champions

"We must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures." - Julius Caesar

But before it came crashing to an end in the Black Monday stock market demise of 1929, the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) launched a modest experiment in June, a state tennis tournament sanctioned by the League. The USLTA Northwestern Section had sponsored an Interscholastic Tournament for high school players since 1903, but it was not sanctioned by the MSHSL and was thus not considered an official high school competition. Held in conjunction with the second annual State Golf Tournament June 25-26, this first official high school tennis competition (and subsequent tournaments until 1949) permitted contestants to play both singles and doubles. An individual tournament in which member schools were allowed to enter two singles players and one doubles team, it was held on the thirty courts at the U of M tennis grounds on Washington Avenue.

Eight of the singles entrants also played doubles - one player from the Rochester pair that won the doubles title (Charles Britzius) finishing second in the singles, for instance. All matches leading up to the finals were two out of three sets, but both the singles and doubles finals were three out of five sets.

Chapter 9 - Dynasty Teams

"Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown." - Henry IV

EDINA

At the head of the class, our tennis valedictorian, is Edina, a school that has so thoroughly dominated Minnesota tennis in the past forty-four years (in both boys and girls play) that its accomplishments rival those of the best national high school powers. And as if winning a team title almost every other year since 1973 (twenty-one) wasn't enough, Edina has also produced thirteen singles champions who won seventeen titles and fifteen doubles teams which won sixteen titles (Jim Mitchell and Dave Mathews won two together). In perhaps the same way one associates Vienna with music and Florence with art, one associates Edina with tennis. When families move to the Twin Cities area and have sons or daughters who play tennis well, often they will purchase homes in Edina in order to give their children the best opportunities to compete and improve their tennis games. In recent years players have also transferred to Edina to be a part of the Edina tradition and mystique. And when players from visiting teams arrive at the courts for a match and glance up at that daunting list of state team and individual titles posted on a board, they're often beaten before the match begins.