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Spotlighting Heroes in the Tennis Community
A Promise Kept: Arthur S. Allmond of Windsor
During my first conversation with Arthur S. Allmond, I instantly heard the passion in his voice for the game of tennis. A passion which I soon learned has grown since the age of 11 when he stumbled upon a wooden tennis racket in a neighbor’s garage. The racket was given to him in return for a simple promise – to learn the game of tennis and to teach it to others - and that is just what he has been doing ever since.
Allmond taught himself the game because there were few people in the small town of Windsor that played and less courts to play on. So instead, he would hit a rubber ball against the side of his house in the yard, the “grass court” as he called it. The love of the game continued into college where the tennis coach and textbooks on tennis helped him become more knowledgeable of the game. He also watched tennis greats of the time, such as Pancho Gonzales, and learned to “hit flat which most of the pros were doing then.”
As an adult, Allmond organized local tennis tournaments and participated in the All-Tidewater Navy Tennis Tournament multiple years. He currently is a board member of the Suffolk Tennis Association; helps his niece, Lisa Allmond, coach the Surry High School boy’s tennis team; and volunteers his time on Saturday mornings at the Smithfield Library to anyone interested in learning the game of tennis.
Allmond’s whole family, including his three year old son, plays the game of tennis. He believes that through tennis one can learn the values of persistence and patience. He continues “I think it is the only sport that it all comes down to thinking and executing...in an individual sport such as tennis, if you make a mistake it is your fault alone and when you get older you realize that life is like tennis, it’s all on you.” Allmond is known throughout the Hampton Roads area for his dedication to the growth of tennis, whether he is in Surry with the high school team or Suffolk with local players, he is inspiring others to love the game that has given him so much over the years. He credits the late Howard Mast of Suffolk with teaching him the value of community - “we are all in this boat together, if one sinks, we all sink.”
Now a Chief in the Navy, Allmond is always on the move, whether to a public speaking engagement or a tennis court. But be sure if you ever run into him, he will instill in you a passion for tennis. The Hampton Roads area is privileged to have such an inspiring and dedicated individual within its community.
A Player & A Mentor – Frank A. Davis of Franklin, VA
(Above: Frank Davis and his Franklin High School Tennis Team)
Frank A. Davis is not just the Director of Parks and Recreation in Franklin, he is also a coach, a mentor, and a player himself. If you live in Franklin or surrounding areas you most likely have heard his name and it was probably in a conversation about the game of tennis.
Davis picked up a racket and started playing the game while he was in the military. There was not much else to do and although he had no idea about the game, he began to learn. When Davis returned to college in Clifton Forge he enrolled in a tennis class where he continued to learn more about the game and improve his skills. He was married and bought a house in Hopewell and as luck would have it a park with a tennis court was nearby. Davis soon realized that there were many people playing tennis in the area and he quickly joined in. Recreational tennis was feeding his need for the game, until a friend from St. Paul’s College introduced him to tournaments. This is where Davis truly bloomed as a player. Davis began traveling to tournaments in Ft. Lee and Prince George and playing a local tournament in Hopewell.
Soon after, Davis became Director of Parks and Recreation in Charles City County. Unfortunately Charles City was not like Hopewell at the time and neither had tennis courts nor tennis players, but Davis would soon fix that. He applied for a Federal Grant to build tennis courts at two separate locations within Charles City. His grant was approved and soon there were two courts built in a cornfield and two built at the local recreation center. Davis began teaching the locals the game of tennis & sponsoring a local tournament - tennis players and tennis itself was born in Charles City.
Davis was growing the game of tennis, but he had the urge to continue his game as well. He soon learned of USTA sanctioned tournaments, such as the Southeast Tournament in Richmond. Davis joined the USTA and began playing in sanctioned tournaments. He traveled to Hampton Tennis Center, James River Country Club and Kingsmill Country Club for tournaments. He also played at Byrd Park, where the legendary Arthur Ashe trained, and remembers taking his son to meet Ashe and having pictures taken. Davis remembers meeting Ashe and speaking with him was so motivational in his quest to grow the game of tennis and his skill as well. Davis continued to play and reached the top 40’s in USTA for singles and was also ranked in doubles.
Nowadays you can find Davis playing at the local country club in Franklin and interacting with the kids in the Parks and Recreation Summer Program. He is also the coach of the Franklin High School Boys Tennis Team, who is currently 6-0 this season. Davis is proud of his team, calling them his “sons”, knowing most of them since they were little coming up through the Parks and Recreation programs. He encourages eighth graders to come out for the tennis team, so that they can learn the game early and loves to see each individual player’s game grow as the year’s progress. Davis credits the late Howard Mast, whom he met during the Tim Reid Celebrity Tennis Tournament in Suffolk, as inspiration in all he does with tennis and hopes he can “run and play tennis like Mr. Mast did at his age.”
Davis has certainly started something in Franklin. He can’t drive to his house, which is nearby tennis courts, without having local children flag him down to come play tennis with them. He even brings the kids with him in the summer to tournaments he is participating in. Davis teaches his students everything he knows, including how to beat him and relishes the moment that his student passes him because he knows they were listening. They truly learn to be the best as students and tennis players in the “Frank Davis School of Tennis.”