In the evenings this time of year, most of Nicholl Park in the heart of Richmond is dark, save for one shining exception: The bright lights of all six tennis courts, busy with players of all ages smacking green fuzzy balls across the tightly drawn nets.
The park courts are home to the Richmond Tennis Association (RTA), a nonprofit organization that is experiencing its most winning season yet.
Four of the association’s teams recently won their winter league titles and are headed to the United States Tennis Association’s Northern California sectional championships, which begin play Thursday in Sacramento.
It’s the most teams the Richmond organization has ever sent to sectionals. The winners will compete in the national championships in Arizona in April.
Earlier this month, the RTA secured its first ever qualifier to the nationals when one of its newer players won the NorCal Qualifier 40+ tournament in Berkeley.
This winter has been a season of contentment for the RTA, which was founded in 2012.
That’s when Garry Hurlbut, RTA president, and his wife, Maryn Hurlbut, the vice president, treasurer and secretary of the RTA, retired and moved from Oakland to Point Richmond.
Shortly after arriving, the couple noticed the poor condition of the two tennis courts at The Plunge Garden Park near the city’s historic swimming pool.
The couple started a campaign to fix up the courts as well as the rest of the park. Maryn Hurlbut also established a tot’s tennis program that provided free lessons for young children. Their efforts were such a success that the park was renamed in 2016 as the Hurlbut Tennis and Garden Park.
In the midst of this volunteer work, Hurlbut and his wife discovered there was no adult tennis organization in Richmond.
So, Hurlbut organized the RTA and began to recruit members. Hurlbut played baseball and basketball in high school, but he picked up tennis about 20 years ago and felt a tennis organization could benefit Richmond residents.
“There was obviously a need for it,” Hurlbut told Richmondside.
The RTA now has more than 120 members of many ages. Hurlbut is the oldest at 81 and plays on the 70+ team. It provides volunteer assistant youth coaches for young players, a program that is managed by the YTA (Youth Tennis Advantage) program in collaboration with the Richmond Recreation Department.
About 40% of the association’s members live in Richmond. The rest are from nearby communities.
The membership dues remain relatively inexpensive. It’s $40 per year for an individual and $50 per year for a family. The association relies mostly on grants and donations for its $40,000 annual operating budget.
The membership is divided up into teams by age, with teams rated by skill level on a sliding scale ranging from 2 to 9 depending on the players’ abilities.
They compete with a five-team league, including tennis clubs from Oakland, San Leandro and the Claremont resort in Berkeley.
The teams play year-round with the competition divided into four seasons. There are 10 matches per season with each team playing one other on their home court as well as their opponent’s court.
This winter season, the RTA had its best results yet when the men’s and women’s 8.5-rated teams won their league titles as did the men’s 7.5-rated team and the men’s 6.5-rated team.
All four squads will play in the sectional championships in Sacramento.
Tennis group’s mission includes building community
The RTA, however, is more than just a sports organization. Its website notes that its mission is to build community and promote healthy lifestyles.
Hurlbut said the fellowship and fun the RTA provides is what has built the program.
“There is a lot of good spirit here,” he said. “It really represents Richmond well.”
He said the mission and atmosphere at the RTA has allowed the association to recruit younger and more experienced players, which he said played a role in the team’s success this season.
“I think that the culture that RTA has created has attracted folks to want to play here under the environment/community that we promote,” Hurlbut said. “Our team captains have the power to manage their teams/players in alignment with our mission while applying their own unique perspective/strategy that best fits their players’ talents.”
Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez certainly agrees. The mayor stopped by a recent evening practice to congratulate the teams and praise the organization.
“This is great for the community,” Martinez told Richmondside. “Tennis is sometimes thought of as a sport for the elite, but this shows it’s a game for the people.”
That positivity could be heard from the players who were at the courts under the lights that evening.
David Kardon, captain of the men’s 7.5-rated team, said his squad is excited to participate in its first sectional championship.
Kardon, a Berkeley resident, played tennis in high school and then picked it up again in 2020 during the pandemic, given that the sport would offer the relative safety of being outdoors with players physically distanced between one another.
Kardon said he has stayed with the RTA because of the camaraderie of the group.
“It’s an incredible community,” he said. “We really enjoy each other.”
Scott Gelfand, a New York native who played tennis in school and has lived in Richmond for 25 years, said Hurlbut has “created a community” with the RTA.
He said the association encourages him to play the game he loves as well as hang out with others who feel the same way.
“Everybody here gets to play, and it keeps us motivated,” he said.
On another court, Sal Marchetti was practicing hard as well as showing off the “golden ticket” the USTA awarded him for winning that Berkeley tournament and advancing to the national championships in Arizona.
The Richmond native was a water polo player in his youth and didn’t start playing tennis until 2021. Marchetti said he didn’t expect to become a top-notch player, but he learned the game quickly and flourished in the RTA community.
Marchetti also acknowledged he had a personal motivation to do well in the Berkeley qualifying tournament.
“My wife and I have always wanted to visit and see the Grand Canyon, and I promised her if I won this tournament, we’d go together,” he said.
He’s also looking forward to competing.
“Who knows what will happen there, but I am excited for the opportunity,” he said.
Congratulations! Very impressive to have reached so many ages and levels of ability.