At Longwood University, there are 18 club sports teams, according to the university website. There are a wide variety of club teams on campus, and these teams include color guard, equestrian and even fishing. Now, club tennis is about to join in the fun. Sophomore and Tennis Club President Trevor Perdue could not believe when he got to Longwood that the university did not have a club tennis team. So, Perdue and his friends did something about it and began to put a club team together. Sophomores Mason Ramsey and Blaine Mills, as well as freshman Ben Thorson helped him sit down and, as Perdue put it, "start to crank it out." The Sports Club Council has approved the club tennis team, according to Perdue, but is waiting on approval from the Student Government Association (SGA). According to Perdue, the club sent in the constitution last week and is waiting to hear back from the SGA before they can start official practices.
If the SGA approves the club, they will still need to be approved by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) before they can start competing. Once the club is affiliated with the USTA, the USTA will assist in sending certified officials to run the tournaments Longwood might host in the future. Perdue said that they have an estimated 20 people who have shown interest in being a part of the club tennis team. When starting any new club, speed bumps in the road are normal. Perdue said, "I'm still wondering how many people are going to hold true to that and how many people we are going to have?"
One of the reasons for people to turn away from a club sports team is the financial cost, but the cost would not be high according to Perdue. Tennis is one of the few sports in which a lot of equipment is not needed to get the team started. Since it will be the club's first year, they will need to fundraise on their own. After the first year, the Sports Club Council can then allocate money to the club team. The team has not yet set dues, but Perdue does not see them being much higher than $50 to pay for jerseys and officials. Perdue said team members would have to, "just go to Wal-Mart and get a cheap racket … it's just that easy."
The club does not have a coach, but Perdue said they are working closely with the men and women's head coach, Jakob Gustasson. Perdue claims they have kept in contact daily on what he can do to help. "Whenever he isn't coaching the guys and girls he can come to a practice or two … I know he is busy with the team itself," Perdue said.
The club team hopes to have their first official match sometime next semester. If anyone is interested in club tennis get in contact with Perdue via e-mail or like the club tennis Facebook page that has all of the contact information listed on it. Perdue said, "We'd love to have as many as we can get."
