By Pat Beaver
As the son of an oil industry executive, Rick moved around a lot, from the Big Apple, New York City, Morristown, New Jersey, to Saudi Arabia, boarding school in New Jersey, and finally to Houston, Texas. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Texas in Austin, Texas where he majored in accounting.
His introduction to tennis happened at the age of 10, while living in Morristown. He attended a free tennis clinic, where he learned more than some fundamentals. He really got the bug to play tennis in Saudi Arabia, and continued to play there for the next 4 years.
At the age of about 12, he had an experience that has stuck with him. He was playing in a tournament in Saudi Arabia, and made it to the finals. That final match went to a third set tiebreaker, and he quickly moved ahead, to have 3 match points on his racket. He lost the first 2…….then double faulted the third….losing the match; then went home and cried. He says that experience has given him the ability to empathize with others that fail when the pressure gets great.
He rebounded with grit and determination, and while attending boarding school in New Jersey, he played #1 singles on the JV team as a sophomore, and #2 doubles on the varsity team during his junior year.
After high school, his concentration turned to his education and career, taking a break from tennis for several years. Once he graduated from college, his career took over, and he worked as an auditor for KPMG, and then Occidental Petroleum. In 1988, Rick landed in Nashville. He currently works for a private company as an accountant.
Once he settled in Nashville, he resumed his interest in tennis, at the Nashboro Village Tennis Center. A friend invited him to participate in a tennis tournament, and, he once again was quickly hooked on the game.
He played regularly at Nashboro Village from that time until they recently closed their tennis center. It was there that he was introduced to men’s MTTL. He began playing on an MTTL team at Nashboro Village in 1990, and found it to be a great network, offering social interactions, and a way of building friendships. After a few years of playing MTTL, he started to run fall and winter indoor leagues, and, in 2002 he took over as captain of the men’s MTTL team at Nashboro Village. He then became the MTTL commissioner in 2004.
Men’s MTTL plays on Thursdays, May thru August of each year, with an end of season tournament at Vanderbilt in September. Each match fields 4 singles courts and 4 doubles courts. When asked about the biggest challenge, he said that finding teams for newcomers is the biggest hurdle. Many of the teams are already set, and don’t have openings.
What’s the most fun? All of it! With the passage of time, all the issues dwindle. It gets easier each year, and he is supported by a great group of MTTL Captains.
