OJAI TENNIS TOURNAMENT: OJAI PREPS TO HIT 100 MILESTONE FOR HIGH SCHOOL EVENT.Byline: Nevin Barich Nevin Barich (born August 6, 1979) is a former American sports journalist now working as the Senior Editor of The National Notary, a trade magazine based in Los Angeles with a circulation of more than 300,000 nationwide. Staff Writer OJAI - High school tennis will reach a milestone this year at the 102nd Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament. The tournament, today through Sunday, will feature high school tennis players - most from Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, - for the 100th year. It shouldn't be surprising, then, that many big names in the sport passed through Ojai in their youth, players such as Pete Sampras Peter “Pete” Sampras (born 12 August 1971), is a former World No. 1 tennis player from the United States. During his 15-year career he won a record 14 Grand Slam men's singles titles in 52 appearances. Sampras finished as No. , Michael Chang Michael Te-Pei Chang (張德培; Pinyin: Zhāng Dépéi; born February 22 1972, in Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.) is an American former professional tennis player. , Jimmy Connors James Scott "Jimmy" Connors (born September 2, 1952 in East St. Louis, Illinois) is a former World Number 1 American tennis champion who was the top player for 160 consecutive weeks from July of 1974 to August of 1977. , Arthur Ashe Noun 1. Arthur Ashe - United States tennis player who was the first Black to win United States and English singles championships (1943-1993) Arthur Robert Ashe, Ashe , Billy Jean King and Lindsay Davenport. To celebrate the anniversary, 15 former Ojai players who went on to win at least one Grand Slam event in their career will be at the tournament this year. Among them: Davenport, Gene Mako (Wimbledon doubles champion 1937-38), Dodo Bundy Cheney (Australian Open winner 1938), Ted Schroeder (U.S. Open winner 1942, Wimbledon champion 1949) and Jack Kramer (Wimbledon champion 1947, U.S. Open champion 1946-47). The returning players will be honored at a banquet Saturday at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. ``What's amazing about the tournament is that it's actually stronger than ever,'' tournament publicity director Gerry Roe said. ``It just gets stronger every year.'' One of the reasons for that, Roe said, is the atmosphere of the tournament. ``The tournament isn't exactly old-fashioned, but it definitely has an older feel,'' Roe said. ``We serve freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning and tea and cookies in the mid-afternoon. Everything is served out of silver urns and china cups. That's the way it used to be done way back when. So the atmosphere is definitely a factor.'' Another reason is that college scouts are abundant each year in search of new blood for their respective universities. Granada Hills coach Ron Wood knows about that firsthand. In the early 1990s, his son Casey went to Ojai as a high school senior ranked 70th in Southern California. Casey proceeded to defeat players ranked 16th and 36th and ended up earning a partial scholarship to Cal State San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (săn l  `ĭs ōbĭs`pō), city (1990 pop. 41,958), seat of San Luis Obispo co., S Calif., near San Luis Obispo Bay; inc. 1856. as a result. ``Ojai is just an awesome venue for all the players involved,'' Ron Wood said. ``It can really make a player.'' --How it started: High school players first competed in Ojai in 1899, when 12 schools from San Diego to Santa Barbara each sent their best singles player and doubles team. About 400 people (equal to Ojai's population at the time) attended the final, in which Trowbridge Hendricks of Los Angeles High won both the singles and, along with partner R.H.F. Variel Jr., doubles titles. --Wall of Fame: The pros returning to the tournament this year are among 80 former players whose names are inscribed in·scribe tr.v. in·scribed, in·scrib·ing, in·scribes 1. a. To write, print, carve, or engrave (words or letters) on or in a surface. b. To mark or engrave (a surface) with words or letters. on a newly constructed Wall of Fame in downtown Ojai's Libbey Park, site of the tournament finals each year. --Leach's last Ojai The Pac-10 Conference championships are a regular feature at the tournament, and for USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. men's tennis coach Dick Leach, this will be the last one. Leach has announced he will retire at the end of the season. Leach, USC's coach since 1980, led the Trojans to NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association titles in 1991, 1993 and 1994. This season, 13th-ranked USC is in a three-way tie for second place in the Pac-10. --More Pac-10: The UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX men's tennis team is ranked second and won the Pac-10 regular-season title but is coming off a loss to 19th-ranked Cal 5-2. The UCLA women are ranked fifth and finished 6-2 in the conference. The USC women, ranked 10th, finished second in conference play with a 7-1 record. --Big West update: The Big West Conference championships are held at Ojai and feature one local team: The Cal State Northridge women. The Matadors, seeded third in the tournament, will face sixth-seeded Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at 2:30 p.m. Friday. --More colleges: The Division III West Regionals, and the Community and Independent College championships, also are played at Ojai. --Schedule: Each day of the tournament begins at 8 a.m. The high school tournament will play two rounds on both Thursday and Friday, with the finals Saturday. Colleges begin play Thursday and go through Sunday. --Opening-day event: A barbecue for all participants is scheduled for tonight at 6:30. Food, music and interactive on-court tennis games will be part of the festivities fes·tiv·i·ty n. pl. fes·tiv·i·ties 1. A joyous feast, holiday, or celebration; a festival. 2. The pleasure, joy, and gaiety of a festival or celebration. 3. . Scholarships and sportsmanship awards will be awarded to local junior high and high school students. AT A GLANCE What: The 102nd Annual Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament When: Today through Sunday Who: More than 1,600 players competing in 37 divisions. The tournament features high school and college players. The CIF (1) (Common Intermediate Format) A standard video format used in videoconferencing. CIF formats are defined by their resolution, and standards both above and below the original resolution have been established. The original CIF is also known as Full CIF (FCIF). holds a single-elimination individual tournament for singles and doubles, and the Pac-10 and Big West conferences have their respective championships. Tickets: Prices are $8 Thursday and Friday, $12 Saturday and Sunday. Discounts are offered for seniors and students. CAPTION(S): box Box: AT A GLANCE (see text) |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion