The beige paint is peeling and drab. When it rains hard, the roof leaks, you can’t hear a thing, and you easily can slip on the hard courts while chasing a ball.
But oh, the stories Centre Court Racquet Club can tell.
Alas, CCRC has seen its final days. The eight-court facility on Warwick Boulevard, located next to a fire station and Todd Stadium, has been sold to a personal-storage company and closed Saturday. That wrapped about 42 years of indoor tennis, including visits by players who went on to compete at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and Roland Garros.
The club’s retired developer and manager, Col. William H. Shivar Sr., 94, whom everybody simply calls “The Colonel,” is a member of several halls of fame. They include the Athletic Hall of Fame of the Lower Virginia Peninsula — I was there on the night he was presented in the Hampton Coliseum alongside notables such as Hampton High legend Ronald Curry — and of the Mid-Atlantic Tennis Hall of Fame.
Almost every day, you’d see him in his office or at his desk in the lobby of Centre Court.
“I spent more than half my life with it,” he said. “It’s been an experience. I never thought I would spend that long with it when I first started it back in the early 1970s.”
Shivar, who grew up in South Carolina and played for an excellent Presbyterian College team, served in the Army. His first assignment in Virginia came in 1957, when he ran the weather station at Fort Eustis and played lots of tennis before being shipped to St. Louis in 1962.
There, he made a great practice partner for a promising young left-hander who lived in the southwestern Illinois town of Belleville, just across the Missouri state line. His name: Jimmy Connors. Shivar even won 6-0, 6-0 against him when Connors was 14 or 15 — less than a decade later, Connors was the world’s No. 1 player.
In 1972, “I got out of the service and had nothing to do, and I’d always thought about building an indoor club,” he said.
He also started a pro tournament in Hampton Coliseum. Connors competed, as did Romanians Ilie Nastase and Ion Tiriac. Nastase, controversial though he was, at times was the world’s top-ranked player.
“When we had the tournament played at the COliseum, they came down to Centre Court and practiced,” Shivar said of Nastase and Tiriac.
Also playing often at Centre Court was Leigh Thompson Coss, another Lower Peninsula Hall of Famer. She was among the world’s best players in the early 1980s until injuries derailed her career.
Shivar has seen people with far more important roles than tennis pros come inside the doors. He saw the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Air Force during the shah’s rule play there “back before Jimmy Carter gave Iran away,” Shivar said.
Virginia’s John Warner, who retired as one of the most respected members of the U.S. Senate, has played there. So has Frank Carlucci, the Secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration’s latter years. So did Charles Gabriel, a former Air Force Chief of Staff who became a 2-star general.
In the last 20 years or so, Centre Court has been an epicenter of Mid-Atlantic junior tennis. Promising young players such as Treat Huey, Francis Tiafoe and Denis Kudla came from the Washington area to compete in junior events before going on the pro tour, where they currently play.
Centre Court also has been a great place to watch college tennis. Harvard’s James Blake was among those who competed in college tournaments at Centre Court.
“He was playing on that first court by my office,” Shivar said. “He hit the hardest forehand that’s ever been hit in Centre Court.”
William Shivar Jr., the Colonel’s son, has been a teaching pro at CCRC for the great majority of its existence.
“Centre Court brought into my life so many wonderful friendships and memories,” the younger Shivar said. “I encountered thousands of interesting people and I was able to hear their unforgettable stories.”
Through this season, CCRC provided the indoor home courts for Hampton University and nationally ranked Christopher Newport. Before campus indoor centers opened at William and Mary and Old Dominion, Centre Court also was the bad-weather home of the Tribe and Monarchs.
It was the home of singles and doubles leagues for dozens of Peninsula players.
For many years, one of the best singles leagues in the area was held at 9 a.m. on Saturdays during the colder months. So on the final Saturday, many of that league’s players gathered for a group photo before their competition — each holding a sign noting how long he had been coming to CCRC.
One of the attendees was Newport News Mayor McKinley Price, a former Hampton University and Huntington High player who has been working on his game at Centre Court since its earliest days.
There are plenty of other indoor courts in the area — Riverside Wellness and Fitness Center, McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center, An Achievable Dream Tennis Academy, etc. But in terms of history and significance, there will never be another Centre Court.
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YOUR MEMORIES (from a Facebook query, with my occasional editing mixed in):
Bob Nealy, Grafton High boys coach and longtime player: I remember playing on the humid clay courts in the ’70s and ’80s. I remember taking (my) very first tennis lesson by Bill Shivar. I enjoyed seeing so many tennis personalities every week in leagues. Also, Centre Court could always be counted on for hosting tournaments during inclement weather. Most importantly, I will miss the numerous times I have missed the turn into Centre Court.
Lenny Berl, Williamsburg: Watching my sons Seth Berl and Chad Berl on the courts receiving lessons and coaching from Eric Chistiansen and competing in USTA tournaments.
Lorie Kay Lopez, Mechanicsville: Watching my son Zack Lopez play in USTA tournaments there and all the local family showing up to cheer him on. (Lorie’s sister-in-law is Charo Hunter.)
Al Pearce, Hall of Fame motor-sports writer and my former Daily Press co-worker: The time I whomped and stomped all over “Easy Ed” Richards in the annual (for a while, anyway) Daily Press/Times-Herald Tennis Tournament. But Coke Henderson (I think that’s right) thrashed me in an even-more terrible fashion a few years later. ‘Tweren’t funny a’tall.
Kristin Dantzler, York High senior: York Girls Tennis winning the East Regional championship against a very good Lafayette team on a day when the temperature inside almost reached 100.
Jack Schwolow, former Franklin High and CNU player and Kingsmill pro: My best memory is playing Wade McGuire of Mills Godwin in the team event and only losing 6-4, 6-3 because it was inside but played the individuals outside and he waxed me 6-0, 6-0. My second-best memory is playing there when it was clay when I was a young junior and lobbing a ball deep at the baseline with my new-found topspin and the kid I was playing got tied up in the net after jumping for the ball and his dad had to come on the court to get him untangled. … A lot of Don Watson tournaments there with Caroline and Nancy Hammond and Suzanne Edwards. (McGuire, who grew up in the Richmond area, was a former Virginia state high school champion and two-time NCAA singles runner-up for the Georgia Bulldogs. He even was a practice player for the U.S. Davis Cup team.)
Megan Behrns, former Poquoson High star, University of Central Florida player and current CNU women’s assistant coach: Ahh, I am going to miss Centre Court! Having lessons from Bill and sitting and chatting with Colonel, and running around goofing off with Frannie Shivar and all the tournaments-making new friends. I will never forget that place or the people there.
Ernie Webb, my former Daily Press sports colleague: Nick Mathews destroying my then 300-pound self 21-4 and being mad that I scored four. (Ernie, an accomplished journalist, now works back in his native Missouri and has lost three-digit pounds; Nick, an accomplished journalist and my former boss, now is the chief editor of The Daily Progress in Charlottesville.)
Eric Shulman, a Division III national-level player as CNU’s four-year No. 1 who’s now a teaching pro in Richmond: When Martin (teammate Martin Brown) biked from CNU courts to Centre Court when it rained and we had to move (the) match inside. He was in the third set with (the) match tied 4-4 against Mary Wash. Martin ended up winning.”
Doreen Shulman, a longtime Richmond-area player who is Eric’s mother: I watched many USTA matches there with my kids. But I loved watching Eric beat the #1 guy from Salisbury when he was at CNU. I think he won 10-7 in (the third-set super-tiebreaker). Epic. But then again, I’m the Mom!!!
Kevin Brandalik, a teaching tennis pro in many locales: Coming in at nighttime to teach lessons (Colonel was so nice to sell court time cheap to me to bring my Hampton Tennis Center clientele there in the winter) and to see him stringing racquets on that old hand-crank stringing machine. Then when I was done teaching, I’d sit with him and listen to his stories of all his tennis adventures while in the military! He was Centre Court!
Jeff Mascarinas, former Old Dominion player: What?!?! I love Centre Court Racquet Club! I grew up (in Virginia Beach) but was impressed at tennis on the Peninsula. I am sad to learn this!
Vicki Friedman, sports journalist and avid recreational player: The Cox girls won their second state title there over Mills Godwin after rain forced the matches indoors.
Tonique Merrell, former Heritage High star and Howard University player: That time I playced Jackson Breit — awesome match! And those clinics with Brian (Hogge), Eric (Christiansen) and Jacob (Braig).
Andy Armstrong, Hermitage High principal, who won the Peninsula District singles title for Menchville High: I bought my first racquet there at 13. Still remember walking from Gildersleeve (Middle School) after school for my first clinics. Lots of memories.
Francis Alvir, tennis pro in Warrenton and U.Va. player in the mid-to-late 1980s: Loved that club. Hung out with Shannon Sealey, Henry Prillaman in late ’70s, early ’80s there.
Marty Hublitz: I will never forget the place and the Colonel and family. It never mattered how the courts played. You just show up and play. Thank you for your dedication.
Susan Hagan Osgood: Can’t believe this is happening. … I worked there as a kid. … Ran leagues and spent every Saturday with the Colonel watching college hoops. I love that place. Best wishes to everyone who blessed this unique place!
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MY MEMORIES:
**I have played a Saturday 9 a.m. singles league there since the early 1990s. I’ve won more than I’ve lost, except against the Colonel’s son Walker, a former Penn State No. 1 player. But I well remember one of the lopsided losses — it came to Newport News native Tripp Phillips, who went on to play No. 1 for North Carolina, where he is now an assistant coach, and become a world-class doubles player (even on Centre Court at Wimbledon against two Brits).
**Unfortunately, CCRC is the site of my most painful defeat. In the fall of 1986, the Colonial Athletic Association men’s tournament’s final day was held there because it had been raining while William and Mary was the host. McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center had yet to open.
I held match point in the championship match of the eight-man No. 1 bracket but lost 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 to the Tribe’s Will Harvie — the most painful loss for someone who began competing tournaments in 1975 and still occasionally does so.
But that pain was nothing compared to what Boston Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner felt later that night, when a ground ball got through his legs at Shea Stadium, handing the New York Mets a win in Game 6 of the World Series. The Mets won the Series in Game 7 two nights later, and Buckner’s name lives in infamy.
**I saw the club change from clay to hard courts — a great decision, in my opinion — in the early 1980s. I even won an 18-and-under Thanksgiving Classic on the new hard courts, beating Jim Thompson, now the men’s head coach of nationally ranked Virginia Tech, in the final.
**As a practice sparring partner and volunteer with the CNU program for more than a decade, I have interacted with numerous incredible people and have seen the Captains defeat nationally ranked teams on those often-lightning-fast hard courts. That has been incredibly rewarding.
But like many of you, I wonder: What the heck am I gonna do? On to the next indoor chapter.
