Rosemarie Shellaberger Tennis Center
(505) 473 - 6144
PAYING IT FORWARD
Victor Villareal believes in paying it forward. “A lot of people worked hard to help me get to where I am,” he says, “and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had.” These opportunities have helped the young man who once dreamed of becoming a history teacher to become the new Assistant Manager for the Shellaberger team. Victor’s ever-increasing responsibilities include overseeing STC’s summer camps, giving lessons, stringing, working the front desk, and helping out with Friday Fiestas. As for his spare time, he coaches for First Serve New Mexico and plays on Shellaberger’s Men’s 4.5 USTA team.
Victor was born in Germany, where his father was stationed in the Army. He grew up in southern California, in a little town called Colton, near Riverside and San Bernadino. The youngster grew up playing “pretty much every sport,” including basketball (his favorite), baseball, soccer, football, track and field…and even a little tennis. Academically inclined, Victor took advanced classes at Colton High School. Although he played on the tennis team, the team lacked a real coach, and it was never Victor’s primary focus.
When Victor entered Mount San Jacinto Community College, he became more serious about tennis, proving his dedication through afternoon practices, when temperatures on the court in the Palm Desert reached 120 degrees. He blossomed under the attentions of Jesse Escotiola, his first real coach, who saw a future in tennis for his young protégé.
After two years of studying humanities and secondary education at San Jacinto, Victor prepared to head off to Kansas to continue his education. The fact that the now-defunct College of Santa Fe had decided to institute an athletics program was not on Victor’s radar. But Yolanda Duran, the college’s newly hired women’s tennis coach, knew Victor’s coach Jesse, and together they helped to secure a partial scholarship for Victor at CSF, along with a place on the men’s tennis team.
It was a tumultuous time for the college; following Yolanda’s rapid departure, Kyle Russell was brought on board as the school’s new tennis coach. “When I got here, I tried to serve as hard as I could, and hit my forehand as often as possible,” Victor recalls. “After Kyle came, we worked on the fundamentals of my strokes. In a few months, we had revamped every aspect of my game.” Victor took the long view, hanging in with the difficult process of changing his strokes and his approach. “You start making a lot of errors, and you question whether it’s going to work,” he recalls. But he stuck with it, “even through the double-faults,” and today he possesses a lovely all-court game with solid fundamentals, along with an ambition to move up the 5.0 level.
From the beginning, Victor had been involved in giving back to the game, working with the First Serve New Mexico program at Shellaberger. But in 2009, CSF abruptly announced that it would be closing its doors in May. Victor was packed up to return to California, when Corey Matney, the center’s director, asked if he could work with STC’s summer camp program.
Victor took the job, and quickly discovered how much he enjoyed working with kids and being connected to tennis. His opportunities to be of service to Shellaberger and to the community have continued to grow since the change in the club’s ownership in 2011. “Sam and Eric have been great,” he says. “They’ve given me the opportunity to be on the court more, and to take on more responsibilities. I’m excited about being part of getting more people in the door.”
MEMBER OF THE MONTH
David Wannigman is proof of the efficacy of the scientific method. A radiation safety engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Dave designs, tests and installs equipment that keeps the workers and the environment safe. When it came to improving his tennis game, he applied the same rigorous analysis. “I needed to up my game,” says the new-found serve-and-volleyer, “so I went and bought a serve from Warren (Fulgenzi).”
Dave was born in South Dakota, and grew up on an Air Force base in Germany. He returned to the States to attend the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he studied bioenvironmental engineering. After completing his undergraduate degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he obtained an M.S in Health Physics from Colorado State University. Since the Air Force had paid for his education, he repaid the favor, specializing in radiation protection. His final posting was in Utah, but Captain Wannigman knew that he wanted to come to Los Alamos because “it’s where all the action is happening” (this year will be his twentieth at the lab).
Although Dave had played tennis recreationally in his youth, he didn’t take tennis seriously until he was in his mid-thirties, and settled in Los Alamos. “My kids beat me at basketball and snowboarding, so I decided to concentrate on tennis,” he explains. He started out as “a pretty mediocre 3.5 player,” working his way up the NTRP and USTA league ranks. In the mid-’90s, his Los Alamos team went to Nationals twice, and he was bumped up to the 4.0 level. He then branched out, competing on five different teams in five years. “I loved it every time we played a match at Shellaberger,” he recalls.
Last year was a big one for Dave. He married Alexis Bove, a gym enthusiast who owns the salon Alchemy. He also moved to Santa Fe (these days he rides the commuter bus to work); bought a house; was recruited for the Shellaberger team; and subsequently joined STC. “It felt like the right thing to do, since I was on the team, and the club needed members,” he says. Dave had taken a chance by joining when the club was still in limbo, its future uncertain. “Corey’s optimism really helped to convince me,” he recalls. “And then Eric and Sam (STC’s new owners) showed up with great energy. I had played at Gates Tennis Center in Denver (also managed by Sam and Eric), so I had confidence that they would do a great job. There’s so much going on at the club—you can always find a game.”
Dave appears to have mastered the art of having a good time, both on the court and off. He’s a big fan of USTA league play (“you get to meet so many people”), and he also enjoyed competing in the Southwest Slam in February. “I got to see some serves I don’t normally see,” he says. Following his success in improving his own serve, he’s now working on his volleys with Rocky Royer. His current tennis goal is to play on Sundays in NTRP tournaments, because “that means that you’re in the semis or the finals.”
When he’s not working on his game, the avid hiker is out early in the morning almost every weekend with his dog, but he’s careful to return in time for a tennis game. “When I’m eliminated from a tournament, I go hiking,” he says. Dave was undefeated in the ATP Division of the Anytime Singles League this spring (the playoffs are still in progress). Given his recent record, we’re predicting that he’s going to have to cut back on his hiking for more Sunday tournament play.
COURTSIDE APRIL 2012
