May 2, 2009 “Tennis heaven,” that’s the way Glen Howe, Tallahassee’s Superintendent of Tennis described it last Saturday at Forestmeadows.
“It doesn’t get any better than this.” He spoke my thoughts as we walked between the courts, every one packed with tennis activity. On some courts were league matches, some friendly matches, several had Quick Start instruction or tennis clinics and on the stadium court people were scurrying around in preparation for the finals of the 10th Tallahassee Challenger. Both players in the finals expressed their appreciation for the crowd. “It’s no fun to play in front of nobody,” finalist Donald Young told the fans. “It’s fun to play in front of a crowd. It’s a beautiful day in Tallahassee,” Challenger Champion John Isner remarked. “We had the best attendance ever, standing room only almost every single night,” said Tournament Director Karen Vogter. “You do not see crowds at other Challengers like we have. Even on the work-days we had 100-150 people watching. USTA has video-streaming at events. You can see that the stands are empty. We had amazing crowds this year.” Vogter is considering how to expand the limited space available for spectators such as adding raised seating to the north of the stadium court. “We have to figure out what to do.” “We are different,” says Vogter. “Most Challengers are not run exclusively for charity. Everything we do is geared toward making money toward the two endowments we support or to improve the community.” Vogter is referring to the D. Mark Vogter Memorial Endowment for Neuro-intensive Care and the Sharon Ewing Walker Breast Health Center. Last year the tournament raised $42,237 dollars for the Vogter Endowment and $26,925 for the Walker Endowment. Final figures are not yet available for this year. “I get a lot of phone calls about running as tournament for charity as opposed to running it for profit.” Vogter adds that the tournament also has worked to improve the tennis in the community with better courts and lighting. “We have improved the lights, built a court, and next year plan to improve the other hard courts.”
Both Vogter and her co-Chair Maria Yealdhall volunteer their time and work with other volunteers to put on the tournament. The Tallahassee Tennis Association staffed the refreshment stands and local school children and adult Ball Dudes and Babes contributed over 1000 hours of service collecting balls on court for the players. Every day the tournament schedule included community events such as a Jamboree for the Boys and Girls Clubs and Girls Town, Quick Start Clinics for two private schools (Maclay and Holy Comforter) and two public elementary schools (W. T Moore and Desoto Trail), a Special Olympics Carnival, a First Serve Mentoring and Tennis Clinic and a Wheelchair tennis exhibition. “We gave away all of the equipment purchased for the events to the groups that participated in Quick Start and Special Olympics to the schools that have tennis.”