The NorCal Tennis Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the Class of 2010. They are Marty Davis, a UC Berkeley All-American, accomplished ATP player and superior coach; Peter Burwash, an inspiring former pro whose company, PBI, has brought tennis to millions around the world; Jean Harris, an inspirational super senior who at 92 is still ruling the courts; and Margie Campbell, owner of Spare Time Clubs, which along with selfless community service has brought tennis to thousands in NorCal.
Marty Davis
From San Jose to the world stage and back to NorCal; Marty Davis started playing tennis with his parents at Cabrillo Junior College at the age of 12. It went a step further when the family joined the Almaden Swim and Racquet Club, “I jumped right into it!” says Marty. Tony Trabert Tennis Camp fueled the addiction even more and he earned the No. 1 ranking in NorCal Boys 18’s in his first year in the age group.
At UC Berkeley, Marty earned All American his freshman through junior year, “I wanted to go to Cal for the academics,” he says. But the court is where he excelled; on a team along with the likes of Larry Stefanki and Michael Bauer, Marty played #2 singles and #1 doubles with Chris Dunk, leading the team to four top 10 finishes, the NCAA National Indoor Title in 1980, and the NCAA Championship match in 1980 against Stanford.
After earning an economics degree Marty decided to give the pro tour a try, “I saved money working in restaurants so I thought I’d travel on the tour until the money ran it, but it never ran out. It was an unbelievably fun job to have,” he says. Between 1980 and 1991 Marty won three ATP singles titles in Hawaii, Bristol and Melbourne, and four ATP doubles titles in Mexico City (Chris Dunk), Brisbane and Los Angeles (Tim Fosset) and Auckland (Brad Drewett). With Drewett, Marty earned a world ranking of No. 7 in 1988 and 1989.
Marty participated in 37 Grand Slam tournaments, and played on centre court in every one. He reached doubles semi-finals at the Australian Open twice with Brad Drewett, the doubles quarter-finals at Wimbledon two times, once with Chris Dunk, the other with Brad Drewett, and the doubles quarter-finals at the French Open with Chris Dunk. He finished top 50 in prize earnings five times and stayed in world top 100 rankings for seven years.
In 1985 Marty was selected by his peers to serve on the ATP Players Council, and in 1988 he was elected to the MPTC (Men's Professional Tennis Council), the governing body of professional tennis at the time. Along with Larry Scott, Marty played an active part in the 1989 dissolving of the MPTC and the start of the ATP Tour. “I'm very proud of my involvement with the formation of the ATP Tour,” Marty says. He held several positions with the ATP, including Director of Player Services, manager of the ATP Tour Headquarters Tennis Facility and Director of Licensing. He also provided commentary for ESPN, USA and Prime Network tennis broadcasts.
After his time with the ATP Marty became the assistant tennis coach at UC Berkeley, “I wanted to get back to California,” says Marty. He is currently the Men's Tennis Coach at UC Santa Barbara where he’s been awarded Big West Coach of the Year honors six times and led the team to six Big West Conference titles and four NCAA tournaments.
His long-time doubles partner Chris Dunk, with whom he was inducted into Cal’s Athletics Hall of Fame with in 2005, says of Marty, “In the 10 years we played together I can not recall one instance where Marty ever gave less than 100%. His nickname is "Mad Dog". Does that tell you something?”
An avid surfer, Marty along with his wife Jill and two children, Taylor and Kyle, enjoy their life in Santa Barbara, but their hearts belong to Northern California, “I’ve always taken a lot of pride in being from NorCal. A lot of guys on the tour were from NorCal and I was very honored and proud to be part of that group.”
Peter Burwash
Bringing tennis to the world is the legacy of Peter Burwash – as a player, coach, writer, motivational speaker and founder and owner of Peter Burwash International (PBI), which has brought tennis to millions of players.
It all started after a neighbor tossed away her tennis racquet when Peter was 12-years-old in Canada, “There was a tournament at the tennis courts near me. The under-13’s only had three people and were looking for a fourth.” Without even knowing how the scoring worked Peter won the tournament. “I raced home on my bike to tell my mother, but she didn’t believe me and called the woman across the street and said, ‘I’m sorry but I think my son stole your trophy.” A truly fated moment, “My goal was to play professional hockey but life changes directions and it’s been a blessing,”
Peter is one of the original members of the ATP and during his pro days earned 19 international singles and doubles titles. “In those days we went out for 48 straight weeks because you couldn’t afford to come home,” Peter explains, “It’s all thanks to Issy Sharp for giving me he $3,600 I needed for plane fare. It was very generous of him.” Peter is the former No. 1 player from Canada and was a regular participant on the Canadian Davis Cup Team. Success on the court continued after the pro tour, he earned the No. 1 ranking in Hawaii for three years and in 1985 a ranking of No. 13 in the USTA’s 35’s category.
After retiring from professional tennis Peter started PBI, “it was a great way to bring the sport to many people,” he explains. PBI currently runs fulltime tennis programs at 64 hotels and clubs in 33 countries, and employs nearly 100 professionals. “We’re a service organization. At every resort we’re number one in almost every department because of our service,” says Peter. “Loyalty is top priority; my role as president is to take care of employees, employees take care of customers, and customers take care of the bottom line – not the other way around.”
In 1975 Peter also began groundbreaking tennis programs for the visually impaired, mentally challenged, Special Olympics, hearing impaired and prison inmates. “We started wheelchair tennis and put the rules and everything in place,” says Peter. 100% of wheelchair tennis participants have received a lesson for free, “ We’re not just about resorts; we get into the belly of society that doesn’t have the chance to play the sport.”
USTA past president, Alan Schwartz, called Peter a visionary and a missionary, “His vision is clear; bring tennis and good service to the world, use tennis as a vehicle for improving people’s lives. It’s the missionary in Peter to traverse the distance between idea and execution.”
PBI pros have been instrumental in various nations’ development efforts and working with tour players. Venus and Serena Williams, Greg Rusedski, Sebastien Lareau, Leander Paes, Yayuk Basuki and Andrew Sznajder are just some of the players Peter has coached during their careers.
Peter has written ten books on leadership, service, health and life improvement, including Tennis for Life and Total Tennis. He is the Instruction Editor for Tennis magazine and has made numerous contributions to many other publications. He’s also served as a commentator for ESPN, TSN, Star-TV and CBC and held an 11-year radio series on tennis for CBS Radio.
His numerous associations include the USTA National Communications and Marketing Committees, USTA NorCal Chairman of Coaches Commission and the Chairman of USPTA Tennis Across America.
Now a long-time resident of Carmel Valley, Peter has been very impressed with the NorCal tennis community, “When I retired from the pro tour and wanted to play in the USTA senior tournaments, I sent letters to all of the different regions. NorCal was the only one that responded.” Truly a benefit for us!
Jean Harris
At 92 years of age Carmel resident Jean Harris knows something about longevity, and apparently it is connected to tennis.
Her daughter, Judi Leavelle-King, says, “She’s such an inspiration for all players; it’s amazing that at her age she just keeps going and playing despite any injuries. She is an incredible role model.”
The mother of five and grandmother and great-grandmother to many more, Jean started playing tennis at 12-years-old when her family spent the summer in Prescott, Arizona, “We had a cabin there and the young people would put chalk marks on the ground and chicken wire fence on the ends of the court,” Jean explains, “We would play tennis in the morning, go swimming in the afternoon and then ballroom dancing at night. We didn’t have tennis lessons or anything, we would pick up the game as we had seen it or heard about it and just play.”
Like many, Jean attributes her love for tennis to the interesting people that the sport draws, “During high school and junior college I would play around ten tournaments a year, so I met a lot of very nice and interesting people. I liked playing tennis in high school; my parents wanted me to take glee club rather than PE so it was nice to have tennis in my life.”
After college Jean didn’t start playing tournaments again until she was 60 and became one of the top ranked doubles players in Northern California, having won tournaments all around the world and on all surfaces. Her success includes having won 19 Gold Balls and 18 Silver. In 2002 along with doubles-partner Dodo Cheney, Jean won the 85+ on all four surfaces – hard, clay, grass and indoors – a Gold Slam, for which they were honored at the US Open.
Dodo Cheney, who at age 20 was the first American to win the women's singles title at the Australian Championships, says of Jean, “She was my doubles partner in the 85’s; we played well together and won a Gold Slam. She’s a wonderful friend and partner, a pleasure to play with, and a real sweet, decent person with a wonderful character.“
Jean is also the recipient of the 1979 Sportsmanship Award from the Northern California Tennis Association. In 2002 she received the Betty Gray Washington Sportsmanship Award from the National Senior Women’s Tennis Association, which is based on a player’s on-court conduct, friendliness and overall contribution to women’s tennis. And she is also a certified umpire and has volunteered her services for over ten years.
Her daughter says, “Our mom has been a role model to everybody throughout her life, both on and off the courts. Our family is so very proud of her and we know that she is admired by the many people whom she has met all over the country throughout her life. She is truly amazing.”
The things that Jean loved about tennis as a teenager is what keeps her going on the court today, “It’s the people that you meet in the tennis facilities. It is a great sport, good exercise. Some of my best friends have been tennis players that I have met at the clubs where I’ve belonged over the years.” Jean still plays socially at Carmel Valley Ranch and competes in the USTA Nationals, 90s. A true inspiration!
Margie Campbell
Dreams do come true, as is exemplified by Margie Campbell who along with her husband Bill grew Sacramento’s Spare Time Clubs from one location in 1973 to 10 this past year. Margie’s relentless attention to Spare Time combined with her selfless community service has made it possible for thousands of players in Northern California to enjoy the game of tennis.
The tennis bug bit Margie when she was nine years old at Sacramento’s Arden Hills tennis club, “My parents put a tennis racquet in my hand and I took to it like a duck to water!” she explains.
“Having been able to play tennis has defined my life in many ways,” says Margie, who was a regular on the juniors tournament circuit and ranked 2nd in Girls 14 and under. “At the time we played tournaments just for fun, there was no scholarship or thinking about turning pro – you just went out on the court because you loved it.” Even so, Margie was thrilled to have the chance to play, “In that day there weren’t a lot of opportunities for women to compete in sports, but I was lucky because I did have that chance – a lot of women my age were not able to do that until they were grown.”
That love of the sport is what led to the opening of the first Spare Time Club with her husband, whom she happened to have met on a tennis court while playing mixed-doubles, “The idea of the clubs came from Bill’s Masters thesis. We both had a passion to develop junior players so we wanted to establish clubs that had enough courts to do that.” At their first club, Rio Del Oro, eight of the 19 courts were designated for juniors.
Because of Margie’s dedication to reaching juniors in the community, her organization holds numerous novice tournaments and leagues designed to help juniors advance their game. Outreach programs are available for kids that show potential to succeed and talented juniors from the community are able to train at Spare Time with experienced pros. Spare Time is also involved with Quick-Start and Tennis in the Schools and each club engages in community outreach through the local high schools, “We love it all and think it’s important,” says Margie.
Juniors are just the start; both Margie and Bill have taught tennis at Sacramento’s Parks and Rec and coached for several schools in the area, including Sacramento State University, where Bill is currently the volunteer Tennis Director. In addition, Spare Time Clubs hosts numerous NorCal sanctioned tournaments and leagues, of which Margie fully participates, playing on one league team and serving as captain on another. The organization also participates in the USTA’s Tennis Across America program, as Margie says, “We drew from all over the community and offered free lessons and brought people back into tennis.”
Margie, who is also a former NorCal president, says humbly, “Any award or honor that I receive is something I have to thank a lot of people for, I just represent a lot of people who work a long time to make tennis happen.”
Her modest manner is no surprise to her husband Bill, as he explains, “Margie always tackles her responsibilities in a quiet dignified resourceful and creative way. She loves to undertake the most challenging projects and bring them to a successful conclusion, without concern about who gets the credit. We have loved being married for 40 years, raising our children and being business partners.”
“It’s an honor to be part of the tennis community and to be a contributing member of the community that accomplishes and does things,” says Margie. “You have to have USTA support to do things well; the excellence that they bring is undeniable and we’d like to thank them for their generosity.”
