By Tom Rohrer
An opportunity to play in a national athletic tournament, against the best competition in the country, can be an exciting, once in a lifetime experience.
Performing at a high level, and showing one belongs can make that experience just that.
At the United States Tennis Association 3.0 Senior National Championships in Rancho Mirage, Calif., the Valley Athletic Club’s senior men’s team performed at such a level, finishing in third place at the event, which was held from Friday, Oct. 5, through Sunday, Oct. 7.
The Olympia area team, which won the Pacific Northwest Sectional Playoffs in Sun River, Ore., last June, defeated the Northern California Section men’s team from the Bay Area by a score of 2-1 to earn the third place trophy. The VAC team lost in the semi-finals of the tournament to Louisiana, who eventually went on to win the championship.
While the team, compromised of Mark Brown, Brett Hardcastle, Mike Roy, Greg Stormans, Kevin Robinson, Frank Dreyer, Wis Macomson, James Phillips, John Lindberg, and captain Rex Schade, came up short of winning the national championship, they were happy with their performance and the experience as a whole.
“It was the best competitive experience of my life,” said Phillips in a phone interview with ThurstonTalk.com. “Playing against the best players in the country was everything I thought it would be. The energy, the pressure of the event, that’s the type of environment you live to play in.”
Phillips, along with team-partner Schade, went undefeated as a duo at the tournament. Playing in such a high pressure environment was a difficult adjustment for the VAC team, and it was important to put caution to the wind and play naturally.
“In a setting like this, many teams or players play not to lose,” Schade noted. “The games are a little tighter, and players think that the team who makes the least amount of mistakes will win. Players wait for the opposition to make those mistakes. That’s really no way to play in order to be successful, so the teams that play their games and are still aggressive and relaxed are the ones that usually come out on top.”
Due to skill level rankings changes, the 2011/12 VAC team that advanced to the national championship may not be entirely intact for a repeat performance. However, the group was able to bond while traveling, competing and winning together.
“With USTA and the play rankings, it’s just not going to be physically the same team,” Schade said. “Guys get bumped down, up and what not. But this team, they really put in the work, and it was truly a team. Everyone practiced hard, pushed each other and cheered for the team. There wasn’t a selfish characteristic on the roster.”
“When you spend as much time together as we did, whether it be practicing or going to matches, you will form that bond, that relationship,” Phillips said. “That’s what is so great about this style of tennis. People think it’s just an individual sport, but that’s far from the truth. Everyone wanted the other guys on the team to succeed and vice versa, and that was special to be a part of.”
Overall victory was not obtained, but the third place finish offered justification to the team’s skill level.
“I think we showed the other teams from across the country that Western Washington has some great tennis players,” Phillips said. “We easily could’ve been the ones holding the big trophy at the end with a couple points here or there. “
“It was such a evenly matched tournament,” Schade said. “The teams that didn’t place had the ability to win the whole thing. And the teams that won trophies, they easily could have been knocked out earlier. When you play in a tournament with skill like that, it’s really fun.”
While the team is satisfied with their performance, the drive to win will always be present.
“We’re competitors, and competing in that type of environment is addicting,” Phillips said. “I know I want to get back, and I think everyone else does too.”
