Advertising to experienced and novice players alike, a men’s club tennis team is forming on campus. Their charter was recently approved and the club plans to hold their first meeting in the next few weeks.
“There’s lots of interest on campus, [junior] J.P. [Gurnee] has a list of around 10 guys, and I have been talking to people as well,” junior Joe Craig said. “The biggest problem will be court space [and] not getting people there.”
As a club team, they said they plan to become competitive in time, but for the time being, they just want to get consistent play and see how many guys are interested and prepared for traveling and competition.
“We don’t plan to really start to compete with other schools for the first year,” Craig said. “It’s more to have meetings, attract players, and once we have it set up then we can start competing.”
Gurnee initiated the effort, and has the most experience in tennis of the men currently involved. He is an assistant coach to the Hillsdale women’s tennis team
“We really want to start it up this semester, but there are only three or four more weeks of play left this season,” Gurnee said. “So we want to get active and get as many guys as possible involved.”
Hillsdale is part of a conference which includes a men’s club team league; there just hasn’t been a team from the school in the past. Through the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association, the team is already able to compete once it is finalized.
“Once we have a team, six guys travel to compete with other teams,” he said. “But also the goal is to get as many people involved as possible — no need to be like a pro, just come play and try it out.”
Though they have not yet held their first meeting, the team expects to formulate bylaws and plan its first meeting in the next few weeks.
Hayden Park Manager Bill Lundberg will serve as the club’s academic adviser.
