Flashback Friday can bring to mind many memories. For my first FBF entry on this blog I've chosen one of myself on the tennis court in my home town, :back in the day". Tennis was a very popular sport in Orangeburg, SC in the black community. This was largely due to the presence of two predominately black college, South Carolina State College and Claflin College now both at University status. These historically black colleges and universities are referred to as HBCUs. Each campus had its own sports facilities including tennis courts. South Carolina State being the large had the most courts. The court pictured above is the last of seven on the campus.
My father/coach was a very good player always ready to provide instruction to anyone interested in learning the sport or improving their skills. Not only did he teach local players along with my brother and me, he also welcomed players from out of town who many times stayed in our home. Along with those fond memories I was impressed when my dad, his best friend the late Nelson C. Brownlee and a few others planned a tennis clinic, the first one I ever saw and participated in in Orangeburg. The clinic was on the campus of SC State and drew a large crowd. My brother and I along with Clint Brownlee grew up on the tennis courts in
Orangeburg, played on the high school tennis team and later for SCSU. In addition to that we were members of then USLTA (United States Lawn Tennis Association) now USTA (United States Tennis Assotciation_ and the ATA, (American Tennis Association). We played tennis tournaments throughout South Carolina as well as a few in North Carolina, and Georgia. We wentt to North Carolina for the ATA Southeastern in the Raleigh, Durham area and to Georgia for the ATA National. We played doubles with our dad in the Equitable Family Tennis Challenge now the Family Tennis Classic then played at Harbison in Columbia. My dad and brother won the father/son division in South Carolina and advanced to the regionals at Amelia Island where they lost in the second
We played the the junior tennis circuit in South Carolina to include SC State tournament and the SC Palmetto Classic (I think I'm recall the names correctly),and were the only blacks in these tournaments for many years. One time we registered to play a tournament at a tennis club in Mt. Pleasant. We rode together with Mr. Brownlee in his VW Beetle, it was tight but we were alright! When we arrived and parked, we sat in the car for a few minutes taking in the beauty of the club and our surroundings before going to check in. As we sat there we received stares from people, it was obvious we were the only black people present. Eventually this little boy came near the car, stared at us, pointed and exclaimed "Look at those black people, look at those black people". It was evident to us that he had never seen 'black people' at his tennis club.
Though we didn't always get announcements of our presence upon our arrival, we usually surprised people when we played a tournament for the first time. After playing the same tournament circuit for a couple of years, we eventually became 'regulars', but not always made to feel welcome. Tennis was then and is still thought of and referred to as a 'gentleman's or gentlewomen's game', but I was called very bad names and visibly cheated at some of the the most beautiful tennis clubs by the some of the most privileged young people. These experiences taught me lessons about life growing up in the 60's and 70's and groomed me for later years. I appreciated the history making done by my family (Glover), the Brownlee family and other blacks breaking ground in tennis by playing tournaments in our towns and cities around the south. The largest and most important tournament for South Carolina was played in the small town of Belton. There were only four courts in the town center but there were so many private courts in backyards that matches were played. The first year we played that tournament my dad registered us for in town housing. My brother and I were assigned a family to stay with during our time at the tournament. When we arrived and checked in you should have seen the faces of the officials when they realized Belinda Glover and Reggie Glover were black players. Suddenly, one host family was out of town and the other was filled and we just had not been notified. Oh well, it was a test my dad wanted to see just how 'just' the tournament was in that area. i'm so glad many things about tennis have changed since that time.
I could share more and maybe I will in another Flashback Friday post. Today I just want to share one family's experience with the tennis life. I loved the game then and now. So glad my parents exposed me to the facts of life regarding new ventures, facing difficulties with grace, and overcoming racial prejudices. They were with us every step of the way, they were our travel supervisors, managers, trainers, and chaperones. Tennis has afforded us many experiences and we are the better for them. I shared the sport with my children and hope one day to introduce my grandchildren to tennis. The Tennis Advantage!
