The popularity of the game of tennis may come and go but in West Milford, it is alive and well. Thanks in part to a solid system of public courts and, perhaps more importantly, Elmer Zimmerman’s enthusiasm and the camp for kids that he has held every summer. At the camp its tennis, tennis, and more tennis where young players match up against similarly skilled partners in an effort to not just improve their game but nurture their love for the game.
The camp has been run for fifteen years, almost half the time that Zimmerman has been the tennis coach at West Milford High School. Due to the limits based on available courts, the camp is limited to a maximum of 40 players between the ages of eight and 16. The level of play varies where many of the campers will be vying for varsity and junior varsity spots at the high school while others are new players that are just learning the basics of the game.
"Some of these kids are a year away from trying out for the JV team and the real little ones are here just learning hand/eye coordination and about the game," says Zimmerman. "We teach all the basic strokes then we do some fun games and we do some match play as well."
The last day of the camp is one to which all attendees look forward. Prizes are awarded if they can hit various targets with a volley.
"Everybody gets to win one or two prizes," said Zimmerman. "I buy some and some get donated by the local merchants, which is great."
The camp lasts for three weeks and many of the kids are repeaters, coming all three weeks. Many girls who will be on the high school team and begin practices later this month attend as a means to hone their skills.
Both programs have had a lot of success over the years producing great teams and individual players. Zimmerman is moving towards his 800th victory as the head coach. He jokes that just means he has been coaching a long time.
"Tennis is a fun sport. You don’t need a whole big team coming out to play; you just need one other player," says Zimmerman. "They can even go to a hitting wall and practice by them self."
In its hey day, in the 1970’s, tennis was the dominate leisure sport. There were leagues in West Milford that played every night of the week. Between 60 and 80 players took part in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles competition.
Over the years, as people moved away or discovered other activities such as golf, the leagues disbanded. Now it seems to be on the upswing again, and while it hasn’t quite hit the level of its heyday, Zimmerman is encouraged.
"Now we have groups on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights, and high school and college drills on Thursday night," says Zimmerman. "Some communities don’t even have courts and I get a lot of calls asking me how we run our program."
How it runs and works is by creating excitement in the young kids that will eventually be the future of the sport at the high school and in the town itself.
