Tennis is a Rogers family affair

What started as a way to get out of the house changed for the Rogers family generation.

At the end of May Dobyns-Bennetts Willa Rogers ended the 43-year drought for Lady Indianians tennis.

She became the first female champion after Margie Brown in 1978 and sent possibly one of the largest sports dynasties in the family on a high note before leaving for Liberty.

It’s fun because Margie and I are the same age, Willas ’father Robert said. I used to get a lot of grief because I would lose him, but he ended up as a phenomenal player in North Carolina.

It’s crazy that for 20 consecutive years, one of our kids or one of our cousins ​​has been on the DB tennis team. And since 1971, my two brothers and I have been on the team for almost 10 years.

BEGINNING

The family has been in contact with DB tennis for some time, for over 50 years. And it all started with the patriarch of the family, Emory.

The way Dad tells the story, he had a friend at Memphis Medical School who played tennis, which he respected a lot, Robert said. Dad grew up in South Alabama during the Great Depression, so tennis was nowhere to be found and he never played. His friend told him that if he ever had children, tennis would be a sport.

Three of the four brothers, Robert, Bill, and Tom, played for the Indians in the 1970s and thrived. Malcolm, the eldest brother, did not play.

Tom is really the one who started it, Robert said. We all played at Al Wilkes in DB, which was really Mr. Tennis at Kingsport at the time. We never played together, but there was never a gap in between.

It all really starts in 1967 when I was in seventh grade, Tom said. My dad came to my room and said, Tommy, I don’t care what you do, but I want you to do something. I don’t want you sitting here, riding your bike constantly and listening to Jimi Hendrix. Just go out and do something like tennis. And that word tennis came to mind. I honestly thought he was trying to threaten me at military school.

So I rode my bike in front of the old J. Fred fields behind the football stadium where the road is now, and there were some older men hitting tennis balls there. I didn’t even have a racket, so I had to borrow one and when I started hitting the ball, I was hooked.

After finishing his DB career with a record 56-5, which included winning the 1973 circuit doubles title, Tom played in Tennessee of the Year.

When I was in high school, we didn’t even get close to winning the state because when all the private schools were still playing public schools, he noted. I remember watching Roscoe Tanner play in Baylor. Roscoe was unreal and Baylor had a high school team that no university team could beat.

Bill continued to play in the state of East Tennessee and was a temporary coach for some time after the death of legendary coach Buddy Hartsell.

Robert got a scholarship to play for Davidson, but decided to go to a pre-med program in Tennessee.

When I got into high school, Dad built a tennis court in our backyard so we could practice, Tom said. We all started training every day, and we even had a racket chain machine. I excited the clubs of the peoples in town when I was 14 or 15 and charged $ 7.

There was only one other guy in town who wrapped up bats, and he tried to get me in trouble once with the IRS because I didn’t charge people a tax when I threw away their bats.

Tennis has done a lot for us. It taught us a lot about problem solving and thinking on the fly, Robert said.

NEXT GENERATION

It should come as no surprise that the next generation of the Rogers family also found an inspiring game for the Indians.

Toms kids Andy, Ben and Kelli all won at least one team’s state championship with the tribe.

Ben was on the 2003 state team in 2003 and brother Andy on the replay team in 2004. Kelli was on the girls ’state 2004 and 2005 teams.

Ben only played at DB for one year and I remember they were planning Chattanooga Baylor that season, Tom said. They only won one match there, and that was Bens when he won their No. 1 6-0 and 6-0. He just had really bad luck in a state that plays as an individual. All of my kids won at least one state team title.

Ben continued to play for the Tennessee team and earned an All-America status in doubles in 2005. He played on a professional tour for a few years and won six Futures pair titles before heading to coach Purdue.

Ben was on a completely different level than anyone else in our family, said Tom, who signed up for the Dobyns-Bennett Alumni Fame Hall in 2016. He started playing at the age of 2-3 and gave him every chance to be really good. He used to play a lot of John Isner.

Counting children Sam, Evelyn, Emma and Elise played in the tribe from 2006–2018. The DB girls were in the team competition in 2012.

Roberts ’two older daughters, Josie and Ruthie, were also judged by Lady Indians.

Josie was the state’s runner-up and four-time duel champion at both the district and regional levels before continuing to play at the U.S. Navy Academy. He has 60, he is eighth in all career races, winning the fleet.

I think many of us were like dad, and we never really pushed our kids toward tennis, but if they did, they’d have fun, Bill said.

Funny story: When Josie and my daughter Evelyn were on the team, they won a big semi-final match in the state tournament and played Ravenwood in the next match. My coach came out, so we went out to buy paint that you can put in the car, and it washed away when the girls ate in Toots in Murfreesboro. Well, it hit us back because when they came out of the car and saw all the messages, they thought someone had painted the cars and started crying.

CLOSING THE CHURCH

Despite all the success Rogers ’family had over the years, until Willas’ victory, no one had won the singles championship in high school.

Some around the DB tennis program referred to it as a curse.

Josie had been closest, but bumped into Brentwoods Somer Henry in the 2015 doubles finals after losing in three sets.

Willa achieved this groundbreaking state championship victory at Lincoln County’s Lucy Higgins Route 6-0, 6-0. The semi-final battle with Colliervilles Margaux Britt could have been Willas ’most difficult match on the road to glory; he won the last set 9-7 in three after taking.

Josie collided with (White Stations) Kenya Jones, who continued all-American at Georgia Tech, a couple of times in the semifinals and lost, Robert said. We actually wondered if the curse exists because no one can break through.

Willa was in a really tough match in the semifinals, but he was able to fight and win. We were really proud of him and happy that he was able to end his career on a high note.

We knew it was the family’s last chance to win one, Bill said. When he won, it was both a relief and a great pride for the family.

I’ve watched tennis all my life and that semi-final game Willa played was the most nervous match I’ve ever seen, Tom said. Tennis has been really good for our family and we were only proud when Willa won.