Vanilla is OK with Billy Clark.
In Clark’s time as teaching professional at Twin Rivers Recreation Center in Greenwood and at Cleveland Country Club, he played integral roles in helping the facilities to play host to events.
Things have been a little more involved — and tasty — in Clark’s three and a half years in Columbus.
That’s because the Magnolia Tennis Club, where Clark is currently employed, takes immense pride in the fact that it has become a regular in playing host to the United States Tennis Association Southern 65 and Over Mississippi Tennis Championships, which will be this weekend in Columbus.
“I am not going to talk down what we did in Cleveland, but it was more of a vanilla thing, whereas this is kind of like the banana split of the tennis,” Clark said. “They pile on topping after topping and then the cherry. It is really great.”
Preparations are nearly complete for the annual event, which is scheduled to kick off Friday and to run through Sunday. Men’s and women’s division matches (3.0, 3.5, 4.0) will begin at 8:00 a.m. Friday and run throughout the weekend.
Approximately 250-300 tennis players from the state of Mississippi will participate in the team format tournament.
Matches will be played on eight clay and four hard courts at Magnolia Tennis Club. The number of participants this year has forced the event to expand to Mississippi University of Women in Columbus.
For Clark, who works as a teaching professional at Magnolia Tennis Club, the countdown started months ago to make sure all of the preparations will be taken care of for what should be another first-class event. The only problem is Clark and tournament organizers and volunteers won’t be able to control the rain. Weather.com projects a 40-percent chance for afternoon thunderstorms in Columbus on Friday and a 90-percent chance of rain Saturday and Sunday in the city.
Projections like those could make things challenging for Clark, who will help care for the courts at Magnolia Tennis Club. With more than 250 players, up from about 220 last year, that means Clark and everyone else working at the event will be busy. Clark said the event wouldn’t be nearly as successful without the support of the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau and the countless businesses that serve as sponsors as well as the hard work and attention to detail of all of the volunteers and members of the Magnolia Tennis Cub who perform a variety of duties.
“These people here get together and they want to make it special, and they make it special,” Clark said. “They make it happen. The CVB helps us make it happen, too.”
Clark said he didn’t have that kind of involvement or support when he helped organize tournaments in Greenwood and Cleveland. He said it has been different the past two years when Magnolia Tennis Club has played host to the USTA’s Southern 65 and Over Mississippi Tennis Championships. He said those involved want to show off the club and continue to enhance the reputation the club and the city of Columbus have earned for playing host to a well-run event and for providing excellent hospitality. One example of that hospitality will be a player party that will be Friday at Lion Hills Center and Golf Club in Columbus.
“The Columbus people and Magnolia Tennis Club people go the extra five miles to make it a really special event,” Clark said. “We have a bunch of volunteers. To be perfectly honest, that was new to me, and it has been great.”
Clark said the tournament has grown from 26 teams last year to 33 this year. He said the ladies 3.5 division has seen the biggest growth because it provides the best fit in terms of competitiveness for many of the players. The 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 gradatations refer to the levels of play of the competitors.
Magnolia Tennis Club will field five to six teams. Each team will have a minimum of six players. Most teams have eight or nine. Each match will feature three doubles matches.
Clark hopes the rain will stay away so he and everyone else involved in the tournament will be able to stay busy. After all, there will be plenty of things to do to make sure the stage can be set for Magnolia Tennis Club to have a bigger and better event next year when the event returns.
“It makes it fun (having so many volunteers and people helping),” Clark said. “It relieves the pressure. In Cleveland, I did most of the coordinating. Here I have to take care of the courts. This year with all of the rain that will be a big, big challenge, to say the least. We had a meeting (Tuesday) night, so it just comes together. To do the things we do here, we couldn’t do it without all of the volunteers and all of the people working.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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