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tennis

    WARRIORS WATCH

    Girls Tennis Tops Falmouth 3-2

    Hayley Jackson wins deciding match in three sets

    By

    EASTHAM — Provincetown’s Hayley Jackson posted a clutch three-set victory over Falmouth’s Victoria Chbarbie to give the Nauset Warriors their second win of the season on Friday afternoon.

    “I am very happy with the win,” said Head Coach Kathleen Tringale. “Falmouth has always been tough competition, and it all came down to number 3 singles.” Both doubles teams came on strong to help secure the win.

    Nauset’s Hayley Jackson. (Photos by Ben Harold)

    It appeared that Nauset might run away with it early, as Jackson and the doubles teams (Faye Adams and Chloe Hand at first and Elexa Malouin and Callie Murphy at second) each won their first sets while losing a combined total of one game. But Falmouth’s first doubles team captured the first two games of the second set and their second doubles team also started to turn the tables. Meanwhile, Falmouth’s Maia Ledwell, with a booming serve and a ferocious forehand, was on her way to defeating a game but outgunned Anjali O’Brien at first singles.

    In the end, both Warriors doubles teams were able to regroup, with Adams and Hand capturing the last six games of the second set to close out their match 6-0, 6-2. Malouin and Murphy also ultimately prevailed, 6-1, 6-4.

    Number two singles provided the most consistently competitive match of the day as Nauset’s Sophia Votteler battled Falmouth’s Genevieve Maranchie over two tightly contested sets. Votteler seemed tireless as she scrambled to retrieve well-placed shots but eventually fell to Maranchie, 5-7, 3-6.

    Sophia Votteler at the service line.

    After capturing the first set at love, Jackson lost the momentum and dropped the second set to Chbarbie, 5-7. A few games into the deciding set, the Votteler-Maranchie match ended, making the team score 2-2.

    Several third-set consultations with Coach Tringale later, a cool and seemingly locked-in Jackson closed out her match, winning the last three games to take the deciding set, 6-2. “I definitely got too cocky after the first set,” said a beaming Jackson. “Stay positive and don’t get cocky — that’s my message.”

    Nauset improved to 2-1 on the season with matches this week against Wareham, Martha’s Vineyard, and Monomoy.

    Boys Tennis update: The Nauset boys team dropped two matches last week to fall to 2-2 for the season. The Warriors lost 3-2 to Cape Cod Academy on April 10. Junior Will Christopher and first-year player Ronin O’Brien, playing at second doubles for the first time, secured a victory, winning the tie-breaker 10-8 after splitting the first two sets. Lucas Patton also notched a win at number 3 singles. On April 11, the team dropped a 5-0 decision to Falmouth at home. The Warriors hit the courts twice this week: at Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday and at home against Monomoy on Friday.

    For a current Nauset High sports calendar, see nausetsports.org.

    TENNIS

    Nauset’s Rufus McCleery Is Number One on the Court

    The senior from Chatham wins by keeping opponents off-balance

    By

    EASTHAM — You can’t miss Nauset High senior Rufus McCleery on the tennis court. His shock of red hair is accentuated by his white polo with the embroidered Nauset “N.”

    “Oh, he stands out,” chuckles Nauset tennis coach Andy Lisle of Wellfleet behind his sunglasses. “Both his hair and his game. He can create points where you think, ‘How did he do that?’ or ‘How did he get to that ball?’ He’s been playing a long time, and he knows how to work a point. When it’s deuce, he’s tough to beat because he will not relinquish one bit. He doesn’t want you to win at all. He will fight, fight, and fight to keep it that way.”

    McCleery readies a backhand. At times on the court, he seems like a lion playing with his food.

    McCleery moves about the court with a confident swagger. He looks totally comfortable, having been introduced to the sport by his parents, Matthew and Elizabeth, when he was six or seven, he says. His opponent on April 6 — Barnstable’s Kyler Medeiros — can’t stop muttering to himself as the match slips away from him: “Hit the ball in! … No! … What are you doing?”

    There’s virtually no response from McCleery, who calmly goes about his business. He calls out the score: “Forty serving love.” Before the final word is out of his mouth, it feels as if the ball is already in the air.

    McCleery is a puppet master — or, at times, a lion playing with his food. He works Medeiros here and there. There are times when it looks as if he’s lost control of the point, but he’s still the one pulling the strings. He works the rally, putting the ball where he wants to set up his next shot, while his opponent works even harder to stay alive in the point. The two trade ground strokes before McCleery steps into a forehand, ripping one from the baseline to the opposite corner. Point.

    McCleery, the undefeated Nauset boys’ number-one player, wins the match 6-0, 6-1.

    Afterwards, McCleery goes over to collect his bag. and Medeiros meets him. The two talk, and it turns into an admiring interrogation by the Barnstable player. McCleery offers bits of advice. He didn’t lose a match as a junior, and he’s three-for-three to start his final season with the Warriors.

    “Tennis has always been my sport,” he says. “I was doing others, but there was a point where I was just playing so much tennis that I decided to devote my athletic career to it, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since.”

    Undefeated Nauset senior Rufus McCleery leans back for a serve during his match at Barnstable on April 6. (Photos by Allen Gunn)

    McCleery plays during the winter at the Mid-Cape Athletic Club in South Yarmouth and is headed in the fall to Fordham University, where he’ll pursue a degree in business. “It’s been such a good thing to have and to grow, and I love teaching others the game,” he says. “It’s a great feeling being able to get others into tennis.

    “I love to mix things up out there,” says McCleery, a Chatham resident. “A lot of players stick to one pattern, but I like hitting various kinds of serves, from hard serves and soft serves to kick serves, and just mixing it up by coming to the net hitting lobs, hitting drop shots, and attacking or sometimes even defending. I feel like when you can get your opponent off their feet that’s when you can win, because they don’t know what to expect.”

    The 19-year-old is a four-year varsity player under Lisle and he has become an extension of the coach. The two arrived at Nauset the same year and have built a great relationship.

    “Rufus was pretty quiet when he first started at Nauset,” says Lisle. “He was sort of thinking to himself, ‘Who the heck is this guy? I don’t know whether to listen to him or not.’ But now he’s cracking jokes and ribbing me all the time. His development has been great to see. We’ve been trying to get him to work points quicker, because going with these real big lobs he’d win 6-1, 6-0 and it would be an hour-and-a-half match. Now he’s quickening it up.”

    In tandem, Lisle and McCleery have built a strong tennis community at Nauset. They had record numbers turn out for the team this season, and Lisle made no cuts with the aim of throwing players into the mix and seeing how they do. They’ve responded accordingly. The team has six freshmen, which Lisle calls the future. McCleery is one of three seniors with Malcolm Stewart and Connor Pike.

    “It’s amazing to see how the program has grown,” says McCleery, who is at the forefront of making the newcomers feel part of the team. “Coach and I have really grown together. It’s great seeing everyone grow up and get better. I think our coach has done a great job integrating new players and giving everyone a chance.”

    Unlike many high school athletes who are focused on taking their sports as far as they can, McCleery is more laid-back, and that attitude translates to his game. He’s undecided about what level he wants to play at Fordham. But he knows that he will always have the sport and the relationships he’s developed through it.

    “Tennis is a life sport,” he says. “It’s a good social experience, a way to get exercise and to develop as a person. It’s the best sport I’ve ever played. I’m excited to keep playing.”

    NET GAME

    Tennis Club Resumes Wednesday Free Play

    Members look forward to ‘a little more normal’ season

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Many local businesses are having trouble staying open and fully staffed, but the Provincetown Tennis Club has been lucky. The club, whose season runs from mid-May through mid-October, stayed open last summer despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Massachusetts allowed public and private tennis courts and golf courses to operate under strict health and safety protocols.

    Provincetown Tennis Club members David Bastien and Barbara Cardinal play a doubles match on June 20. The club offers drop-in doubles every Sunday from 8 to 11 a.m. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    The club was able to accommodate nearly 100 members last year. That’s pretty close to its average membership, according to vice president Doug Gavel.

    “Last year was very unusual for everyone, but we felt fortunate that under the state guidelines we were able to open,” Gavel said.

    Members and nonmembers were able to play or take lessons at the club at scheduled times, and the club even held its annual members tournament in August. But no regular social events or activities were allowed.

    This year, the club will be “a little more normal,” Gavel said, especially for socializing. It will once again offer public play and lessons for members and nonmembers, and will be reviving its afternoon tennis socials every Friday from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

    Sunday morning drop-in doubles will be available for teams of two every Sunday from 8 to 11 a.m. for a small fee.

    “We run it so that groups will play for 20 minutes and then switch up,” Gavel said.

    The club is also reintroducing its Wednesday afternoon free-play time. Locals residents who show a valid I.D. can play for free between 2 and 4 p.m.

    “We couldn’t do any of those events last year,” Gavel said.

    The tennis club is a 501(c)(7) nonprofit social club, so it’s technically owned by its members, who pay dues.

    “It’s pretty unusual,” said Gavel. “Every member has a stake in our survival, in staying financially prudent, and we’ve been able to do that over the years. Dues go a long way toward subsidizing our overhead, for staffing, having a pro here, and maintenance.”

    The club’s assistant pro, Matt Kandel, lines up a shot during a match on June 20. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    The tennis pro is Dorothy Zerbst, who gives lessons at the club.

    Some sports stores, like local surf shops, have had supply chain issues in getting enough equipment in time for the season. Again, the tennis club considers itself fortunate.

    “Our staff has really been ahead of the curve and gearing up for the season for a while,” Gavel said. Supplies are in, and the clubhouse is selling merchandise again this summer.

    The biggest issue businesses are facing this summer is a lack of staff — and finding housing for the staff they do have. But the tennis club is fully staffed, with staff housed for the season, said Gavel.

    For more information, see provincetowntennis.org.

    ALL RISE

    Wellfleet’s Abbe Seldin Made Tennis History in 1973

    She fought for gender equity with Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s help

    By

    WELLFLEET — If you search for Abbe Seldin in the archives of the New York Times, you’ll find four articles.

    The first, by Leslie Oelsner, appeared on Feb. 1, 1972, when Seldin was a 15-year-old sophomore at Teaneck High School in New Jersey, just five miles from the bridge to Manhattan. “Teaneck Girl Sues to Join High School Tennis Team” was the headline.

    Seldin, with help from the American Civil Liberties Union, had filed suit in U.S. District Court to be allowed to try out for the boys team because there was no girls team. This was five months before Congress passed Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education programs, including school sports. Seldin’s A.C.L.U. volunteer lawyers were two young Rutgers University Law School professors, Annamay Sheppard and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

    Abbe Seldin on the court in Teaneck in 1973. (Photo courtesy Abbe Seldin)

    “I was a normal high school kid, playing tennis on my own in tournaments around the New York area,” said Seldin, now 64, last week at her home in Wellfleet. Her father, Arthur Seldin, had inspired her love of tennis. “He was a really good player,” she said. “When he came back from World War II, he won all the tournaments around metro New York. He played number one for N.Y.U., captain of the team for three years. Dad was great.”

    Abbe was not especially political at the time. She just wanted to play tennis and be part of a team. She was ranked 22nd among 15- and 16-year-olds by the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association.

    Gender discrimination in sports was a hot issue. The state officials governing interscholastic sports at the time rejected co-ed tennis because of the “substantial practical, psychological and physical reasons for separating girls and boys on the high school level in competitive sports and in tennis in particular.” The following year saw the celebrated “Battle of the Sexes,” in which Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs, a former world number-one player, who had bragged that he could beat any woman on the court. Ninety million people watched the match on TV.

    King was Abbe Seldin’s favorite player.

    “Martina and I are the same age,” Seldin said, referring to tennis star Martina Navratilova. “But I really liked Billie Jean. I didn’t care much for Margaret Court Smith. I remember the original nine in the Virginia Slims. It’s 50 years since women started the W.T.A. and had their own tour.”

    Seldin and Ginsburg never actually met, but they had many long phone conversations. In her court brief for Seldin’s case, Ginsburg argued that, in a sport like tennis, gender is “as irrelevant a factor as is race, religion, national origin, political beliefs or hair color.” The lawyers maintained that discrimination on the basis of sex violated the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal rights, an argument that Ginsburg would later champion successfully in a series of landmark Supreme Court cases.

    The second time Seldin appeared in the Times was on April 22, 1973, while her case was still pending. An article about the parents of young tennis stars playing in a tournament on the Upper East Side, by Charles Friedman, reported that “Mrs. Shirley Seldin, another Jerseyan, said she gets ‘choked up’ and ‘my heart misses a few beats’ when her daughter, Abbe, plays.”

    “Mother didn’t play,” said Abbe last week, “but she knew everything about tennis and could analyze it.” She also fully supported her daughter’s desire to join the boys team at Teaneck High, as did the school’s tennis coach, Arthur Christensen.

    Two months after that mention, Abbe was in the Times again, in Parton Keese’s “People in Sports” column on June 28, 1973.

    Keese reported that Judge Leonard Garth, who was presiding over the case, had offered to referee a match between Abbe, who was now 16, and three top male players on the school team. Garth was an avid tennis player. “I’ll do anything to dispose of this case,” he told the Times. “I’ll take her on myself if I have to.”

    Before that could happen, the case was settled out of court in Seldin’s favor. She tried out for the team and made it. But by then, the supportive Coach Christensen had left, and the football coach was put in charge of tennis.

    “He ran it like a football team,” Seldin said. “Basically, he had a really bad attitude towards me. We started practices and he had us do football drills. You had to climb stairs using your arms and somebody would hold your legs, to build up your upper body strength. I made it to the top of the stairs and then the guy dropped me. I fell down the stairs on my chest and front and had the wind knocked out of me. And I just left. I went home to my mom and I said, ‘It’s not for me. We gave it our best shot.’ And my parents said that was absolutely fine.”

    She went back to working with private coaches and playing at the Stadium Tennis Club in Harlem, then went on to play tennis at Syracuse University. She is not bitter about what happened in 1973.

    “The important thing to remember is this was the cusp, the beginning of Title IX, which was huge,” Seldin said. “I was able to benefit the very first year, when I went to Syracuse. I went to the chancellor of the university and the director of women’s sports and said there needs to be athletic scholarships for women.” She was one of the first women at Syracuse to get one.

    Seldin still plays tennis two or three times a week, at Oliver’s Clay Courts in Wellfleet and at Willy’s in Eastham.

    In Wellfleet, Abbe Seldin plays for fun. Playing in high school in the ’70s, on “the cusp of Title IX,” was another story. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    “I’m very proud to say I have two brand-new titanium knees and they’re excellent,” she said. “I’m just running like a kid. To be able to run again, to move side to side — it’s a miracle.”

    Her fourth appearance in the Times was last week, on Sept. 28, after Justice Ginsburg’s death, in a story by Andrew Keh. That piece, and another about her in USA Today, related her painful experience on the stairs at Teaneck High.

    “When all this came out recently in those articles, I posted it on Facebook for my graduating class,” Abbe said. “All these football players and tennis players I hadn’t heard from for years wrote back about how horrible that coach was and how many of them had quit the team because of him. All the guys remember him. He abused the football players horribly. It brought me a sense of validity. I was no chicken.”

    Edward Miller is a member of the Teaneck High School Class of 1966.

    MATCH

    Provincetown Tennis Closes Out Tournament

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — The Provincetown Tennis Club (PTC) finished up its members tournament last week.

    Maria Cirino defeated Judy Mencher in two sets, 6-2, 6-3, in the women’s singles final, while Brad Howarth defeated Michael Cummings in sets of 7-6, 4-6, (10-8) in the super tiebreaker.

    The women’s doubles final was won by Kim Cromwell and Anne Paradis. The pair defeated Deb Shapiro and Karen Shaw by default, as the losing team dropped out due to injury.

    Doug Coelho and Deb Shapiro defeated Maria Cirino and Joe Hilton in the mixed doubles final by sets of 0-6, 6-3, (10-8). In the men’s doubles final, Jonathan Hamilton and Doug Walker defeated Doug Coelho and Joe Hilton by a score of 2-6, 6-4, (10-4).

    Doug Walker, left, and Jonathan Hamilton, right, celebrate capturing the men’s doubles tournament title with a comeback victory at the PTC members tournament. (Photo courtesy Provincetown Tennis Club)

    Hamilton, who is a member at the club, said the tournament had an exciting finish.

    “The men’s doubles final was a terrific match and a comeback victory for us,” he said.

    The club live-streamed all finals matches on Facebook, because visitors were not allowed to watch in person due to Covid restrictions. Hamilton and Doug Gavel, a member of the PTC board of directors, provided commentary, although Gavel was on his own during the matches Hamilton was involved in. Hamilton said live-streaming tennis activities may become a thing of the future for the club.

    Tennis lessons at the PTC will continue through September. Visit provincetowntennis.org for more information. —Ryan Fitzgerald

    ENFORCEMENT

    Willy’s Owner Fined $101,000 for Wage Law Violations

    Widow of tennis pro who died on the job will be compensated

    By

    EASTHAM — Barbara Niggel, the owner of Willy’s World Wellness & Conference Center, has been fined $101,466 by the state attorney general’s office for a litany of labor law violations.

    Attorney General Maura Healey’s Aug. 21 action came a year after Joe Abbott, the gym’s tennis pro, died on the job of a heart attack, a tragedy that prompted his longtime students and friends to stage a public protest against Niggel, who has for years been accused of repeatedly failing to pay her employees, contractors, and vendors.

    “It’s really sad, and it’s really gratifying,” said Ann Sigsbee, one of Abbott’s students, of the state’s ruling. “The outcry and pouring in of information from the community helped the attorney general seal the deal. The attorney general has said as much.”

    The fines, which are civil, not criminal, citations, are mostly to be paid to the state. But Niggel must give $18,436 to two employees as restitution for failing to make timely payment of wages from December 2018 to September 2019, according to the citation.

    Sigsbee said the bulk of that amount, $17,741, will go to Joe Abbott’s widow, Francine Abbott, of South Dennis. Another employee will get $695.

    Niggel, who has owned gyms since the 1980s in Orleans and Eastham, declined to comment.

    Abbott, 63, died on Aug. 7, 2019, while teaching classes and moving heavy bags of material to refurbish the outdoor tennis courts at the Eastham gym. After his death, his widow discovered that her husband had not been paid for about $20,000 of work, Francine Abbott told the Independent in March.

    Devoted students of the highly regarded tennis pro refused to go back to Willy’s. About 60 people have signed a letter to Niggel stating they won’t return until she pays Francine.

    It’s not clear if public attention to the dispute launched the attorney general’s action, but it certainly helped, Sigsbee said.

    The attorney general’s office found that Niggel failed to keep records of sick time earned, failed to make timely payment of wages, failed to furnish accurate records to the attorney general, misclassified workers as independent contractors, and violated the earned sick time law, according to Margaret Quackenbush, a spokesperson for Healey’s office.
    Sigsbee wondered if this latest finding will make a difference in Niggel’s behavior and the gym’s future. Niggel has had a Houdini-like resilience for years, having extricated herself and her business time and again from accusations and enforcement actions.

    In 2014 Niggel was indicted for failing to pay unemployment tax and had to pay the state $177,081 in restitution. In 2015, the electric company Eversource shut off her power because of a large unpaid bill. In 2018, the ceiling of the gym’s saltwater pool partially collapsed into the pool due to extreme moisture buildup and poor ventilation, according to the town building inspector’s report.

    She recently reopened the gym after it was closed by the Eastham building inspector, who found the gym violated fire codes, building codes, and electrical codes. Though her sprinkler system no longer worked, she hosted a large after-hours party in the gym in December 2019. When Eastham’s fire chief and the town administrator saw video of the party, circulated on social media, they shut down the gym and required the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems to be redone, along with the electrical and fire suppression systems.

    Those who signed the letter of protest to Niggel say they won’t actually go back to being customers at Willy’s until Francine has the cash in hand, Sigsbee said.

    “It’s not over yet,” she added. “Barbara can appeal.”

    DEBT OF GRATITUDE

    Friends of Willy’s Coach Press Niggel to Pay His Widow

    Remembrance and protest on the anniversary of Joe Abbott’s death

    By

    EASTHAM — About 50 people gathered outside Willy’s World Wellness & Conference Center on Aug. 7, marking one year since the death of tennis coach Joe Abbott, who collapsed at work on the gym’s tennis courts.

    They held signs remembering Abbott, but said they were also there in protest, because Willy’s owner, Barbara Niggel, has not paid Abbott’s widow the $20,000 Niggel allegedly owed Abbott when he died.

    “Be Kind, Be Decent, Willy’s Pay Joe What You Owe,” read the sign held by David Bernstein, a tennis player who started a GoFundMe campaign after Abbott, of South Dennis, died at age 63 of a heart attack on Aug. 7, 2019. The campaign raised about $40,000.

    Bernstein and other students of Abbott say they are not done trying to help Francine Abbott, Joe’s widow, as well as his six children and 12 grandchildren.

    Ms. Abbott did not want to comment about the money at the protest Friday, but said, “Everyone who is here is why Joe came to work in the morning. And they became my support system this past year. They were his family, and now, they are my family.”

    Students and friends held signs honoring tennis coach Joe Abbott in front of Willy’s Gym on the anniversary of his death. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    Niggel, through her attorney, Ed Kirk, has disputed Abbott’s claim. Kirk told the Independent in March, “If and to the extent it is demonstrated that Joe Abbott was owed any money at the time of his death, that amount will be paid. Given her long-standing relationship with Joe Abbott, my client would be of the opinion that Joe Abbott would not be happy with the allegations being made against my client at this time.”

    Bernstein said Abbott was very loyal to Niggel, who has a long history, documented by numerous small claims in Orleans District Court, of failing to pay contractors and employees, as well as violating building, health, and safety codes, which caused the town of Eastham to shut down the gym for months last December.

    Bernstein said Niggel is asking Francine to “jump through hoops” to document the money owed. He and Abbott’s other supporters say they won’t pay fees or use the newly reopened gym until the money is paid.

    Protestors also said they were upset about the way Abbott died, immediately after strenuous work to resurface the outdoor courts on a hot August day. They said Niggel had collected extra money from the tennis players to hire a professional contractor for the project.

    The day Abbott died, he had been hauling 80-pound bags of material to resurface the courts, said Betsie Lind of Eastham, a longtime student of Abbott’s. Lind said he then began her lesson, but promptly stopped, saying he was feeling too hot and needed to sit down.

    Lind said Abbott was sweating profusely. She tried to use the downstairs phone by the indoor tennis courts, but it did not work, so she dialed 911 on her cell phone.

    Lind remembered Abbott as more than a tennis instructor. “He was more like a life coach,” she said.

    Mary Gulrich, one of Abbott’s students from Eastham, added, “He treated each of us with dignity and respect and greeted us with hugs and joy.”

    “We are very saddened that it’s been a full year and we’re still waiting for Francine to be paid,” said Anne Sigsbee, another of Abbott’s students who joined the protest.

    Along with private lessons, Abbott coached several teams, including a men’s team that went on in February to win a U.S. Tennis Association national championship in Florida.

    RACKET REPORT

    Tennis and Pickleball Return

    Local courts open up for players

    By

    Provincetown Tennis Club
    At the Provincetown Tennis Club, Doug Coelho shows off his balletic net game against Peter Gherardi and Jim Veninger, across the net at right and left. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    Pickleball is helping Sheila Garry get back to a sense of normalcy. She says that’s what almost everyone who’s coming back to the sport is talking about.

    On June 1, Gov. Charlie Baker authorized certain sports activities, including outdoor pickleball and tennis, to commence as part of phase two of the state’s reopening plan.

    “I think a lot of people are willing to put their feet in the water and start wading in, if you will,” Garry said.

    She is a resident of Eastham and an avid pickleball player. The sport is basically a miniature and slower version of tennis and has grown in popularity across the Cape in recent years, with Outer Cape aficionados hitting the courts in Wellfleet, Eastham, and Orleans, and some driving further up Cape to play. Eastham’s court, new in 2018, was part of the rehabilitation of the town’s Field of Dreams, funded with Community Preservation Act funds voted on in 2016.

    While Wellfleet and Provincetown have closed their outdoor recreation areas, the Eastham Recreation Dept. opted to keep its basketball and pickleball courts open throughout the pandemic. The town placed signs on the fences of the courts urging those who participated to follow the state’s guidelines on social distancing.

    At the recreation commission’s May 13 meeting, recreation director Christine Mickle said the town opted to keep the courts open because people were following the guidelines and playing in small groups.

    “It’s been awesome that they left the pickleball courts open,” Garry said.

    The state has posted special rules for using athletic fields, tracks, tennis courts, and full-size basketball courts. First, players sharing such spaces must separate into groups of no more than 10. Larger playing areas and surfaces may be used by more than one group of 10 at a time, provided that adequate social distance and group separation can be maintained. To ensure group separation, groups must be spaced at least 20 feet apart.

    It’s not all about pickleball. Local tennis courts have begun reopening, too.

    Steve Oliver of Oliver’s Red Clay Tennis in Wellfleet said that he’s reopened one of his courts, but the number of players participating is still very limited.

    “I usually don’t get busy until the end of June,” Oliver said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

    Oliver’s concern goes beyond the coronavirus; it’s about the fact that tennis has been a declining sport for years.

    “Its heyday was in the ’70s and ’80s,” he said. “Tennis membership is not what it used to be, and younger people don’t seem to be playing tennis.”

    At the same time, Oliver has watched the popularity of pickleball grow, and knows that’s what some of his older players are graduating to. Traditional tennis is played on a 78-foot-long court, he explained, while pickleball is played on a 44-foot-long court. Tennis uses woven rackets with a tennis ball that can travel at a much higher speed than the paddle and plastic ball with holes, basically a whiffleball, used in pickleball. “The reason people have taken to that game is because you don’t need to run as much,” Oliver said.

    The Chequessett Yacht and Country Club in Wellfleet, Pamet Tennis Club in Truro, and Provincetown Tennis Club have all opened for the summer season under state and individual court guidelines. For a full list of guidelines visit each club’s website.

    Wellfleet’s public outdoor tennis courts remain closed. That’s not because of the coronavirus, but because they’re undergoing repairs, according to Suzanne Grout Thomas, director of community services in Wellfleet.

    “The tennis courts will be closed until necessary repairs have been completed,” Thomas said by email last week. As for when they’ll be ready for play, “We are waiting for a schedule of repairs from the contractor,” she wrote.

    Charlie Costa, who runs the Pamet Club, said the hard court and one of the clay courts at the club are open and available for members and court rentals at this time. “We will have reduced staff hours, so we will not be open and available as much for rentals,” Costa said via email.

    Mask-wearing norms during play vary from court to court, it seems. Garry said that although her pickleball playing friends are keeping their distance from one another, most are not wearing masks. Oliver said he is not requiring players to wear masks, either. He is leaving that to players’ discretion.

     

    65-AND-OVER TENNIS

    Outer Cape Stripers Bring Home National Championship

    Weinman and Small go undefeated; Bernstein and Haigh win critical tie-break

    By

    EASTHAM — The Outer Cape Stripers, the men’s tennis team normally based at Willy’s Gym in Eastham, won the United States Tennis Association 65-and-over national invitational tournament over the Feb. 8-9 weekend.

    The tournament, held in Orlando, Fla., featured the winning teams from USTA championship tournaments in 17 regions across the U.S. The Stripers represented New England.

    Captain Jim Bisceglia’s team included David Bernstein, Henry Brehm, Bill Dugan, John Gauthier, Jerry Haigh, David Kenney, Tom LaTanzi, Russ Sandblom, Chad Small, and Peter Weinman.

    Outer Cape Stripers
    The Outer Cape Stripers after winning the USTA 65-and-over national invitational. Left to right: Dave Kenney, Tom LaTanzi, Dave Bernstein, Henry Brehm, Bill Dugan, Capt. Jim Bisceglia, Chad Small, Jerry Haigh, Peter Weinman, Russ Sandblom, and John Gauthier. (Photo courtesy USTA)

    A random draw at the beginning of the tournament determined the schedule in which each team played four matches. After that round, teams were seeded based on their records and played single-elimination matches until one team was crowned champion.

    “We had a tough draw,” said Bisceglia. “Two of our four first-round opponents, Florida and Middle States, made the semis with a combined record of 7-1.”

    The first turning point of the championship came in the fourth match of the first round, when the Stripers faced the Middle States champions from Princeton, N.J., who were 3-0 at that point. The Stripers needed to win to qualify for the semifinals — and they did.

    In the semifinals the Stripers faced the undefeated Florida team that had beaten them in the first round, and this time they prevailed.

    In the finals, the local men were up against the Princeton team again, which had defeated a team from Georgia in the semifinals. The ultimate victory came in a tie-break, with the Stripers winning 10-8 to take two of three sets.

    “Everyone on the team had a clutch win at some point,” said Bisceglia, “but the constant was the pair of Peter Weinman and Chad Small, who won all three critical matches and went 6-0 for the tournament.”

    The Stripers proved themselves in more ways than one. Not only did the team make a dramatic comeback in the tournament, it managed to win a national championship after not having a home court to practice on for the last two months, because Willy’s has been closed since mid-December. The team was forced to travel to Yarmouth to practice.

    Bisceglia praised his players for their “total commitment to practicing and to the team-first concept.”

    This was just the Stripers’ fifth year competing. For the last three years, the team has won the New England sectionals and advanced to the USTA national tournament. The team finished third at nationals in Surprise, Ariz., in 2017.

    “I am very proud of our Stripers,” said Barbara Healey, USTA coordinator for Cape Cod. “Jim and his team have worked over the past several years developing a team that could go the whole way.”

    The deciding match of the tournament featured Dave Bernstein and Jerry Haigh. When the two won their tie-break, the entire team and its fans rushed the court.

    “To say that we were on cloud nine after that final match would be an understatement,” Bisceglia said.

    “What made the experience so special was that every one of our teammates who was called upon to win a match, with no margin for error, delivered,” Bernstein said. “So sharing the victory was that much sweeter.

    “Tennis on Cape Cod has brought so much joy to all of us, fostering friendships that will endure,” he went on. “Our late dear coach, Joe Abbott, is responsible for introducing many of us to each other and teaching us how to play the game the right way — and to not take the game or ourselves too seriously.”

    OBITUARY

    Joseph C. Abbott, Beloved Tennis Director, Is Dead at 63

    His sudden death at Willy’s Gym stuns a wide circle of admirers

    By

    EASTHAM — Half an hour before he collapsed on Aug. 7, Joe Abbott was working with his fellow staff members at Willy’s Gym, where he directed the tennis program.

    Joe Abbott
    Joseph C. Abbott.

    “They were laughing, giggling in the office,” owner Barbara Niggel said. “He went back down to the courts to teach a lesson.”

    There, near the courts, Abbott, 63, of South Dennis, collapsed from what was determined to be a heart attack.

    “He was fit and watched what he ate,” Niggel said. “There weren’t any warning signs, except his shoulder hurting him.”

    Abbott’s death came as a shock to his friends, family, and the tennis community on the Outer Cape.

    “He was a total sweetheart,” said Bob Kuttner of Boston and Truro, one of the many people who played at the gym and knew Abbott. “It just stunned everybody.”

    Niggel said he had an “infectious personality.”

    Abbott’s daughter, Nicole Abbott DeCost, said her father touched many lives. The line of people who wanted to pay their respects was out the funeral home door and around the corner in Yarmouth on Aug. 11. She estimated that at least 500 people came, many from out of state and many more from his former home in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. Some people waited in line as long as two hours.

    Abbott made people feel like they were his best friends after only a few interactions, said DeCost. He kept up friendships that dated back decades.

    “He connected with everyone,” said his daughter. “I don’t know how he did it. It takes a special person to make you feel like the only person in the room, the world even. He did that with all of us kids, too.”

    Abbott had six children, all boys except for Nicole, 10 grandchildren, and one great-grandson. He is also survived by his wife, Francine Abbott, and his mother, Beverly F. Abbott of Boston. His father was the late Joseph C. Abbott.

    “My cousins were telling me about conversations they had with him, and I’m like, ‘When?’ ” DeCost said. “He works full-time. He’s helping take care of 10 grandchildren.”

    Abbott’s friends, including tennis player David Bernstein, set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for his family. As of Aug. 21 $27,585 had been pledged. Bernstein said Abbott helped develop a successful U.S. Tennis Association program for older people at the gym.

    Tennis player Anne Sigsbee of Orleans said she was on a few of the teams Abbott coached.

    “He was the kind of person who paid attention,” she said. “It wasn’t just a posture of paying attention. It was true interest.”

    DeCost said a large man approached the family at the funeral service.

    “He looked like he had gone through a lot in his own life,” she said. “He looked us in the eye, and he was a big man. He said, ‘Joe lifted me off my feet and kissed me on the face.’ ”

    Nicole is due to give birth to a daughter in September. Her father worked extensively on the nursery but pretended not to be excited.

    “He won’t be able to meet her and that’s the hardest thing we’re trying to deal with,” she said.

    Abbott played a crucial role in helping to raise Barbara Niggel’s two sons.

    “Joe saw we didn’t have a solid father figure,” said Harrison Niggel. “Joe has always been there for us.”

    —————

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