October-November 2007 -- More than 40 years ago, an enterprising young coach introduced a small Midwest town to the sport that would serve as a lasting bond - and a career - for some of his star players.
The high school tennis program that Arnold Bradshaw started in the farming community of Geneva, Ohio, produced a loyal, growing family of tennis-teaching professionals over the years. And he’s mighty proud of his former protégés.
"Those are my babies," said the 66-year-old Bradshaw, who coached the Geneva High School boys’ varsity tennis team - and helped his players develop their lifetime game plans - from 1966 to 1993.
Bradshaw moved to Geneva, where he also taught junior-high math, in 1963. Three years later, the Northeastern Conference asked him to start a league team. There was plenty of local football and basketball, but very little tennis in this town that had a population of about 5,000. In fact, there "in the snow belt," Geneva would seem to be "the worst place to learn tennis," he said with a laugh.
"We had to do what we did with nothing," Bradshaw said, referring to the fact that there were no local clubs where he could recruit and funding was just as problematic. The teams used the two blacktop courts in the middle of town during the warmer months and the school gym in the winter. "They built four more courts after eight years," he said. "We had a booming total of six courts in the whole town."
Just the same, "We had a great time," said Bradshaw, who practiced no-cut tennis long before it had a name. His tightknit teams also had the right stuff, capturing 26 conference championships in 28 years, as well as some national media attention, namely in
Sports Illustrated (1975) and on ESPN (1993).
The Geneva Eagles, including the junior varsity girls that he led for a while, won more than 500 matches during his 28-year coaching career. His varsity boys earned 482 wins to 44 losses overall and their conference record was 346-4.
Bradshaw can name eight current members of the USPTA, as well as 16 other tennis-teaching professionals, who played on his high school teams.
He knows where they all work and what they do, and has kept detailed records of their high school play and their careers since then. For example, a girl who played on his boys’ team, Lee Ann Massucci, became head women’s tennis coach at Ohio State University.
Another former student, Phil Dubsky, went on to win two national indoor gold balls and has followed in his mentor’s footsteps as varsity tennis coach at Geneva High School.
The young people he took under his wing have not forgotten him after all these years. "Just about every week," Bradshaw said, "I get a call from somebody saying, 'Coach, how are you doing?’ They’re from all over the country."
Bradshaw and his wife, Kathy, now live in Sun City Hilton Head, a retirement community in Okatie, S.C. He teaches part time at the tennis courts in the gated community of Belfair Plantation.
He’s also still honing his craft. "I’m learning all the time; you have to keep trying to get better as a teacher," Bradshaw said. "I have a lot of the USPTA DVDS I study. I don’t want to sit on old laurels."
Techniques may have changed, but his basic coaching philosophy hasn’t. "I’m still trying to help somebody," he said. "I’ve got two real nice kids that play high school. It will be interesting to see where we can take these boys."
The coach’s own son, Ben Bradshaw, USPTA Pro 1 and tennis director at Easton Racquet Club in Easton, Conn., said his dad always had a helping heart. He helped players - even from opposing teams - get into off-season programs to improve their games and then find a college where they could play on the team. Ben and his brother, Abraham, both played for their father in high school.
The elder Bradshaw, a USPTA member since 1969, retired from Geneva High School after his sons graduated from high school.
A half dozen or so of his former students, who graduated between the late 1970s and late ’80s, renewed their ties at this year’s USPTA World Conference on Tennis in Florida. They spent some time visiting and watching each other play.
"Coach Bradshaw is the thing that we all have in common," said Jeff Hawes, USPTA Master Professional and president of the Southern Division. "When we come to conventions we do see one another, usually hit balls or go out to dinner together."
If he weren’t new on the job as tennis director at the New Orleans Country Club, Hawes would have been among the Geneva High School "tennis fraternity" attending Ben Bradshaw’s wedding the week after the World Conference. Hawes graduated with Ben.
"We get together and tell crazy stories about Coach Bradshaw and what it was like playing tennis with him," Hawes said. "He has had such a major influence on so many of our USPTA Pros.
"He’s a fighter when it comes to playing tennis. He would always work hard and emphasize loving the battle. I would never forget that."
Hawes described Bradshaw as "a gentle man" who taught his students about decency, sportsmanship, and having fun, and as a "master motivator," pumping up his players with prizes as plain as pens and calendars that he solicited from local businesses.
It was Bradshaw who suggested Hawes look into the PTM program at Methodist College in Fayette, S.C. He and his teammates "didn’t know you could teach tennis for a living" - and make good money - until the coach brought a former student, Jim Morton, to speak to the team.
Like Hawes, Morton said Bradshaw "was the first person to expose me to the idea that there was a career for a tennis professional." In the summer of his senior year, Morton assisted Bradshaw at a private country club in Erie, Pa. The teenager did everything from sweeping courts to selling merchandise, stringing racquets and helping with clinics. "It was a great experience," he recalled.
Tim Brueggeman, USPTA Pro 1, rekindled some memories while attending both the World Conference and Ben Bradshaw’s wedding.
"I’m so proud being a part of this group of guys growing up in this same little town, knowing that we all chose the same vocation all because of this very nice, caring coach," said Brueggeman, who is director of tennis at John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Fla.
"In my entire life, I have never seen a person emulate the principles of living a Christian life better than Coach Bradshaw," Brueggeman said.
Arnold and Kathy Bradshaw were guiding lights for his young players. "For 28 years we would take the kids 500 miles to Lake Mohonk, a tennis resort in upstate New York, for two-week periods to work," Bradshaw said. The students even lived with the Bradshaws during those summer work trips.
"We’ve done the Lord’s work," as the coach sees it. "We got a few of them on the right track anyway."
"Some of the kids didn’t have dads and I kind of raised them," Bradshaw said. "I understood that tennis was the greatest of all sports and did what we could to get them involved. Their whole lives were changed; they’re making a living now using a tool called a tennis racquet."
Persistent player walks by faith on and off court
Arnold Bradshaw is as passionate about playing tennis as he is about his teaching.
The 66-year-old Bradshaw, who played in the nationals three years for Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, won the South Carolina state hard court title in 65s this year. Also, he and his son, Ben Bradshaw, a fellow USPTA Professional, were ranked No. 16 in the nation in father and son doubles in 2001.
Bradshaw’s tennis - in fact, his life - is built on faith in God. But this spirited athlete is having to exercise his ability to trust what he can’t see like never before.
In 1992, while still coaching at Geneva High School in Geneva, Ohio, Bradshaw suffered a detached retina and lost his vision in one eye. He underwent two operations to reattach the retina, but neither was successful in restoring his sight.
Then he suffered the same kind of problem in the "good" eye. This time laser surgery was able to help him retain partial vision in that eye.
However, partial vision in one eye is not much of a consolation on the tennis court.
How does he still play? "I don’t know," Bradshaw conceded. "It’s a tough game with two eyes . With half an eye it’s really tough. It’s more of a challenge now than it was before, for sure."
His wife, Kathy, said he has always been a top-notch tennis player - strong and quick. "His game was amazing, especially his down-the-line shots. I do not in any way know how he plays tennis now . He is happy just being out there, running around and having fun with the game."
In the 15 years since he began losing his eyesight, "I have never, ever heard him complain," she said.
"The frustrating thing is it causes double vision and all kinds of weird things. I can always tell when he hits the 'wrong’ tennis ball on the court!"
But he also still manages to hit the "right" ball in a pinch. "I think he has the radar of a bat, he just knows where the ball is," Kathy Bradshaw marveled. "He has to play back and he has perfected the drop shot and the lob. He outlasts most guys; he is willing to be out there all day long if necessary.
"He talks about stopping," she said, "then the next thing I know he’s signed up for another tournament."
