The MAC is Aces with Tennis and Pickleball

Tennis and Pickleball are treasured athletic traditions at the Missouri Athletic Club. Tennis Director Scott Stutz, Pickleball Director and Tennis Pro David Fuhrig, and Junior Tennis Director Conner Stevenson share the details on the array of programming the Club offers on the latest episode of the Missouri Athletic Club Connections Podcast. Click here to watch.

Missouri Athletic Club Connections highlights the foremost private club in St. Louis known for attracting exceptional people and enriching lives for generations.

Transcript

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Hi, and welcome to Missouri Athletic Club Connections, a podcast highlighting Missouri's only premiere athletic club. The MAC is recognized as the foremost private club in Saint Louis, known for attracting exceptional people and enriching lives for generations. Hi I’m MAC Membership director Rodney Stoyer. And we've taken this podcast to the court. Here with me are the leaders of our MAC tennis programs. Thank you all for making this happen and coming to the podcast today. Good, good. Why don't we go around? Hopefully our members know most of you, but why don't we just go around the horn here? Name, title, a little bit about what you do here at the club. Yeah. Scott Stutz name. My title is the tennis director here at the MAC, and I've been here for roughly 26 years. Great. David Fuhrig, I'm a tennis pro here at MAC, Pickleball Director as well. Many titles and racquetball director as well. And I've been here I'll be four years in the fall. Kay. Connor Stevenson, the director of Junior Tennis here. I've been here only four years. I've been alive about as long as Scott's been at the club. So I've got a lot of ground to make up here. And youth tennis director. So herding cats that's half your job, right? Yes, that as well. Got it. Got it. Well, for anyone who might be new to the MAC, we want to talk about all things tennis. I think it's a lot more than most of our members, especially new members, think. There's an awful lot more going on here and the offerings, serious leagues, cardio programs, you know, workout things, everything in between casual, social, you name it. So, you know, let's talk a little bit about those. What are some of the programs, whoever feels like starting some of the things that you individually work on as far as our programs here? Yeah, we have there's not one tennis item we don't offer here at the MAC from adults to juniors. We have an offering for every level, every age group. And Dave and Connor do a good job hosting those classes and clinics throughout the entire year. But from an adult standpoint, we have from beginners, if you've never held a racket, you can come to Dave's clinic and he can teach you how to hold a tennis racket all the way up to a 5.0, 6.0 Women's, Men's League that play very competitively around town. Yeah, right. You’re up, Dave. Just talking to pickleball. Everybody knows pickleball is one of the hottest things on the planet right now. What's so great about it is you can just pick up and go, you know, it's fairly easy just to come in. And as a beginner, you can hit the ball over the net and start having fun right away. As you know, some other sports, there's a longer learning curve. So like I said, it's a hot commodity. We offer classes for beginners, you know, intermediate, advanced. Like Scott said, there's offerings for everything under the sun that you can think of. there's open plays. We have Saturday night bashes that are - So a social aspect too. absolutely. People come and they'll have dinner, they'll have some drinks after and stay and do that. And we have leagues as well where people can come and be competitive but still social as well. So, yeah, pickleball is a great sport and growing here at the MAC as well. Absolutely. Conner you’re up. My job is to keep people from leaving tennis to go to pickleball. So, yeah, so like working with the youth, it's a pleasure here. We have kind of a great system that was already set up, you know, shout out to the previous junior director that was here just having programs that were kind of healthy from four years old all the way up to 18, which allows me to get a really good range of kids that I work with, you know, but within that structure it's been nice because, you know, we have so many awesome families here that we have so many kids between those age ranges that will have, you know, a couple of days worth of that 4 to 10 year old range. And it was structured and set up so that they are usually at the same time so that families could come, you know, send two or three sometimes kids down and enjoy like dinner or drinks, whatever here or work out during that. We try to keep those times the same so that they get used to a certain schedule for many years. And then once they get to kind of that yellow ball level as they take it more seriously. Maybe some private lessons. We transition to different days, different times, and that kind of sets the same schedule too, so that parents can get used to a schedule, get used to how that works with things here. And so I won't bore you with any of the details as far as when and everything those clinics are. That’s all online, but just know that that's kind of the strategy that we have, but definitely with how many awesome pros we have. We also encourage parents to reach out because I know so many have so many questions about, absolutely, what do I do? You know, I'm trying to take it more serious, I’ve never played tennis, things like that. And so that's where it's a blessing to be able to rely on all these pros. So encourage anybody to reach out with any questions. We'd love to help out. Well, and I've watched Dave - oh go ahead, Scott. But yeah, to piggyback on what Conner says, one of our incredible niches we have here is our staff. And I’m not just saying that because I've worked here for 26 years, but every member that walks in through the door can find a pro that they're probably going to connect with right away. Right, Right away. You know, everybody's got different personalities, a different way about themselves. And, you know, it's all relational, but there's always somebody that's going to be able to help out. Well, and I know there's again, we mentioned that there's always some overlap a little bit pickleball, racquetball going all over the place. But totally I mean, if you say tennis pros, what are we at right now? I mean, it shocks a lot of people. How many tennis pros are are working here, giving clinics, doing lessons. Roughly what are we at? How many people? Summertime, we're up if you I'll call them tennis instructors. We probably have close to 15 on staff. Yeah, that's where we hire some part time staff throughout the summer, throughout the year. It's, you know, about a dozen, dozen of us that are almost working full time right now. So there's somebody for everybody. Somebody for everybody. Well, one of the other things I love what you said, Dave, about the you know, somebody comes and says, I know nothing about tennis. I've been fortunate enough because of, you know, being in membership and bringing new families in. I've been so fortunate to watch our youth staff do the same thing where it's, you know, I don't know if Junior even is holding the racket the right direction. Right. And I love watching that. I love watching how welcoming you are. I mean, you know, Conner, I know you're like, you know, your kid’s ready to go to some national tournament. Yeah, we want them. But you're being just as welcoming to the kid who literally might be holding the racket backwards. Right. And I love that. And that's a lot of patience with your team. Yes. But within that sometimes is the most rewarding part. You know, it's like seeing the realization and joy and learning and progression of certain kids and parents through certain ages. And maybe they take that all the way up 12, 13, 14, 18 years old. Maybe they play in college, maybe they don't. But there is no, you know, success point to that. You know, a kid could stop playing or, you know, not play competitively at all at any point in their lives, but just enjoy it. And so to kind of get the parents and kids to understand that, understand where they want to get to and just to help them accomplish that is awesome. So at every level, it's a joy for us to be able to do that no matter where they take that to for sure. Yeah, I love that. That's perfect. Now, also, we're sitting here on one of our courts, court one as a matter of fact. But just the basics. Scott, give us a layout of the court situation here at the club. Well, all the courts, there's two banks of four courts, so we have eight indoor courts, and they're all located on the east side of the building. There is an upper bank and a lower bank. The lower bank is looked over by the restaurant. So if there's clinics, matches going on, people come in, eat dinner, watch their children play, watch their husband or spouse play or wife play. And that's a very popular bank. Of course, courts five through eight. When I play, I play up here because there are no windows, So I just want to clarify that. That's right. That's right. That's why I play up here when I do. We get those requests quite often. I want to play upstairs because I don't want anybody to see me. Upstairs. Four preferably, you know. Yeah, that's me for sure. Dave. You went into some details about pickleball, but, you know, let's at least talk more about that. The draw, if you will. I feel personally like the draw for tennis tends to be either youth. And I'm saying with new people joining the club, either with youth or because they're wanting to get back into tennis or they're already an avid tennis player. But pickleball, right, is a lot more of that. Hey, I just I like you said, I want to learn how to do it. I just want to do it. So what do you see from a new member standpoint of people just saying, Hey, I'm brand new to the club, let me learn about this crazy sport? Well, I can't tell you how many people I've encountered. That said, I've never been an athlete. I've never played sports or even maybe even been interested in it. And they come out and play pickleball. And just to quote a member that I've talked to a lot, she said, I feel like I belong here. I've never felt like I belong on an athletic field or on a court or anything like that. But I feel at home on the pickleball court, you know, I can I feel like it's something I can do. I can improve at. It's a welcoming atmosphere and it's so encouraging for people that you wouldn't even think would come out and do something like that. And I think that's the beauty of it, that it's kind of for everybody. You can be really advanced, really great player or you can be somebody that is, like I said, not an athlete. And you're able to come out and have some success on there and feel good about yourself and be social with other people and not feel uncomfortable or intimidated. Right. And to clarify on the court situation, so we do pickleball on the upper pavilion, eight courts, correct? So eight on four tennis courts, which is a lot of pickleball indoor pickleball, that's kind of a lot. So we can, you know, really take advantage of that for the pickleball bashes and things like that. It is yes. So on every tennis court there's two pickleball courts, one on either side of the tennis net. We have portable nets that you'll set up and, you know, they're easy to roll out, lock them in place, put them in and put them back when you're done. So it's an easy transition. Even though you do, you got to set the net up, but it takes no more than 60 seconds just to set up, take down. So yeah eight pickleball courts and as many of you know I’ve been pushing for more and maybe stand alone at some point. Yeah. exactly. Well, hey, everything's on the table for long range plans for this clubhouse, right? I love how that grows. You know, Scott, it would be like Scott could use one or two more tennis courts, you know, and then that turns into like, 20 would be great. You know, let's just add 20 more. I want a clay one, I want a grass one, I want it, you know, I want everything, all of them. Well, why don't you and Conner, you mentioned this a little bit, but I'll give the other two guys a chance to chime in about what you enjoy most, about coaching, about being a pro, about the learning process. What do you two enjoy the most? For me, it's the success of the members, you know, from a child and a parent emailing me or texting me or calling me and saying, Hey, you don't know how invaluable you were, Scott. My child just made the varsity tennis team. Yeah, I mean, that's a huge success all the way up to lessons of mine that have won the highest, you know, one of the highest titles in a junior tournament here the country offers. So that's a big range with that. That's my drug, if you will. I just I love hearing that. I love getting that feedback from them. And it just fosters an incredible community within the MAC. I've had members here that I taught as eighth graders who now are still lessons of mine with their own children. Yeah, me being here 26 years like Conner aged me earlier on. I'm an old man, but they stay here. They know we offer great programs. They know we have good pros and they don't want to go anywhere else. Yeah, I love that. Dave, What about you? I being a tennis pro, you meet so many different people and there's so many members here at the MAC, so you meet people from all different age ranges and different personalities like Scott said. So you're not necessarily limited to working with one group of people like, you know, ten year old kids or something. You know, you have a chance to work with kids or recreational players or advanced players if you want. We have a great high performance junior program, right? You know, there's always something you can do and you meet so many people and, you know, you develop relationships with them. And, you know, Scott said you you cherish those relationships and you actually become friends with the people that are your clients and you work with. So for me, it's just getting to meet so many new people, you know? Well, much like basketball, for example, especially downtown, tennis is definitely one of those communities within the club, right? I mean, it certainly is. Has that that unique feeling for sure. So another thing, of all the members that you coach, you don't have to name names, but can each of you go, We'll start backwards. Conner, just give me a memory, just something a specific member or something that really stands out to you. So this actually happened just about an hour ago. So right before we walked up here, a new story that I thought was just too good not to share. Yeah. Beginning of the summer, I had a group of two or three families email wanting a group private lesson with somebody

at like 9: 14:08

00 in the morning just before their day started, maybe before swim or whatever it was, they had to do. They just wanted an hour, just a pro with a group of them. And so I got them One of our red ball specialist, Patrick, who's also been here a long time, great at what he does. And so for the last month, they've been here five days a week, 9 to 10 a.m.. So they were supposed to end today I guess. So he had them out here this morning and he tells me this story that they, the seven of them, even though they're younger, more towards the red and orange side. So between like 6 to 10 years old, he had just taught them enough that they were going to start rallying. He had told them, hey, you're going to be maybe playing a little bit of competition against each other. He said they were out there early and set up. So I don't know where they, you know, some American flag. They were out there early and were singing the national anthem to themselves, like hats off and everything singing the national anthem before he started their games and everything. And, you know, so the parents are emailing me like, this is great. And it just sparks this interest of what started out as, Hey, we just want to do this to start our summer off. And now these kids are out there doing this. And these are memories that, you know, when Patrick's walking down the hallway, two weeks from now and these kids see him. Yes. That's that's not just a coach. That is Patrick. That's their guy. Right. And so that sense of family that creates here is just priceless. So that story stuck out to me. And I hope that's kind of something we continue to cultivate here in this club. Wonderful. Wonderful. Dave. You know, there's obviously a lot of them, but if I could just isolate one little story. So just a group of guys that I work with a lot in different clinics, we've just become friends a lot. And this was about a year and a half ago. I was throwing a 40th birthday party for my wife and I'd become close enough with everybody. I just happened to mention it to the guys that were there. As I said, I said, Hey, I'm throwing this party. I'm just inviting whoever can come out and enjoy themselves. And I invited a few of them to come, not even thinking they would show it's just a polite invite. Right. And it was a surprise party. And I showed up and there's another story in that all together because I drove my wife with a blindfold on. And we and I and I didn't know that was so weird because when we pulled up, we drove right past everybody and everybody gave us the weirdest look. I had this lady blindfold this passenger seat. Right? Right. Anyways, I don't want to tangent too much, but that's a whole nother story all together. There's YouTube videos we can find about that. Whole nother story. So anyways, I pulled up and there were three of the guys that I work with were at the party. So it was, as I had mentioned earlier, you become friends and develop relationships with people. They really were right at my wife's 40th birthday party. Yeah, something you wouldn't necessarily expect and I didn't expect to see them there, but they cared enough to come out and show up. So one of the things that's wonderful and unique about the MAC, no question. Yeah, right. Scott, you got one? Yeah. Mine's, it's tennis related, but not less than related specifically for years and years and years for probably 15 years I had many lessons, adults and juniors, that would play in front of Stan Musial up in our Musial Grille. And he would watch. And he watched my lessons for years. And every time I'd walk by his table, he would stop me, Stan would. Said, Who is that? They're getting better. Who is that? They're getting better. Wow. He has a great forehand. She's got a great serve. But to have one of the best, greatest baseball players ever, you know, put his hand out, say, stop, I want to talk to you. Right. I want to ask you about your lesson out there, knowing he's been watching for that many years and cares enough to say something. He could have just let me walk right by every day. He cared enough to say something. Now that's pretty neat. That's pretty neat. Just somebody of that stature. And someone that clearly that understands sport and athletics and everything. I mean, he could have complimented your shirt and you would have thought it would've been the greatest thing in the world. Yeah. He never said anything about my game. It was always about my lesson’s game. But that, that matters. That's a big point. It matters. See if tell him or hiring. I don't know if. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's actually we should use that for a hiring video. Okay. Last but not least, we got to do the details. We talked about the courts, talked about everything else. I know there's a million ways to do this, and you can find most of this on the app, but just the basics. Booking courts, clinics. How should members watch for everything? I think everything, we're pushing the app. We would like everybody to go to the app and to sign up and it's been working really well now I've been getting emails, people have been getting my phone number online or on the app calling, leaving me messages, Hey, I need pickleball information. I need tennis information. Who do I talk to? That usually comes to me first and I filter that out to either Conner, Dave or Carolyn our adult coordinator. And every pro schedule is a little different. So that's why we all need to be spoken to individually, right? To see if we have time and where people would fit in. Yeah, absolutely. But again, a number of pros to find the right fit. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But again, everything is on the app. That's the best part about it. Well, gentlemen, this have been wonderful. You know, obviously I've known for years about the wonderful tennis programs we have. I'm going to talk to Scott afterwards. I'm hoping I'm going to move from orange ball and go up now. Maybe. I don't know. We'll see. We'll see if I. You got to get approved by Conner. I got to get approved by Conner before I can move up from orange ball, we'll see what happens. I'm not too hopeful. But anyway, literally to all of our listeners, thank you so much, gentlemen, for all of the information, for telling us everything about tennis, telling us the great stories and the great tradition of tennis here at the MAC. And to our listeners, thanks again for tuning in to another amazing episode of Missouri Athletic Club Connections. Stay connected with us through the events calendar, the MAC app and all social media, and we'll see you all again soon.