News Flash: A Sport Called Professional Beach Tennis Exists

Here's something I didn't know: Beach tennis is a professional sport. The rules are, shockingly, a lot like tennis, except they play on a beach.

Although they call themselves "professionals," I have my doubts about whether they're actually making a living doing this. The defending champion of the National Beach Tennis Association has to moonlight as the tennis coach at College of Charleston. His name is Phil Whitesell, and he had this to say about his school in an interview with Rivalfish:

You coach tennis at College of Charleston, a school rumored to only have a basketball program. Are the girls there as hot as they are portrayed on TV during March madness?
Have you ever been to Charleston? I didn't think so. Both the quality and quantity of girls is impressive. There's a 6:1 girl-to-guy ratio. Some of the guys on the team like to say that out of every six girls, there's four hot ones, and even the two fat ones have hot faces. I think it's because the French settled down here in the South before us.

I'm sure the athletic director at College of Charleston will be thrilled with that quote, and the admissions office has already put it on its brochures.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-20-2007 @ 12:37PM

Sandon Barth said...

Hey,
Just the same, you probably get paid to give your opinion in this column or in the paper. That must make you a professional too! Just for kicks, why don't you research the sport a bit more before popping off. Beach Tennis is a worldwide sport with people making more money than the AVP players, or beach soccer, and we in the US are just getting involved in beach tennis! I am sure if you grew up in the 80's you would have laughed about Professional Volleyball, look where they are now!

3-23-2007 @ 11:42AM

maltheim said...

While I appreciate Mr. Smith's interest in the sport of beach tennis, I do think most of his comments seem to off the cuff and devoid of much actual research regarding the game. For instance, the photo above shows the players using paddles. This is the European version of beach tennis, as opposed to the U.S. version, where we use standard, regulation tennis racquets.

However, if there is any one thing I'd like Mr. Smith to acknowledge, that would be that the sport of beach tennis was completely unknown to American�s just 18 months ago. In that short time, we have built a new, viable professional sport, which has given a second life to many former pro tennis players, and at a point in time where traditional tennis is struggling to find an identity with American youth culture, managed to create a fun alternative sport that will surely only help bolster the image of all racquet sports.

I urge Mr. Smith to visit our web site to learn more about Beach Tennis USA. The major events of our 2007 National Tour will be televised�another sign that there is significant public demand for new, exciting sports programming. See you on the beach!

Marc Altheim, Commissioner
Beach Tennis USA