Women's league fills the gaps in tennis calendar

By SUE PRICE
For the Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/19/06

Tennis is more than a game in many Cobb County neighborhoods; it's a lifestyle.

So it's no wonder that the weeks between the USTA and ALTA seasons find avid players feeling adrift and looking for a match.

"Tennis, anyone? Anyone?"

Desperate-for-tennis housewives Debbie Betz and Erin Kennedy decided to do something about it. They founded Grip N Rip, an online tennis community with organized leagues for women and juniors to make sure no one has an offseason.

The leagues runs in five-week seasons, three times a year — late April-May, late August-September and January-February — when the United States Tennis Association and United States Tennis Association leagues are not in play.

"It is for women who are interested in getting out and playing between seasons," Betz said. "A lot of women will take lessons during that time, but then never get to play real matches."

The idea is catching on. Betz and Kennedy, who live in Towne Lake, started with 16 woman in Cherokee County and, in less than two years, now expect more than 100 to sign up to play this spring in east Cobb, Marietta, Acworth, Kennesaw and Powder Springs.

Like many ideas, this one started with their children. In 2002.

"Our kids were very into tennis, and they'd go to lessons and drills, but they weren't calling each other to set up matches," Kennedy recalled. "So we developed a challenge ladder to give them a chance for more court time and competition."

The concept works well for kids who know how to play but aren't quite ready for tournaments. Soon, however, their children outgrew the ladder, so Betz and Kennedy expanded Grip N Rip to include women's tennis in spring 2004.

Now they're running a small business, on their own time and terms, while wearing sweatpants and tennis shoes. "We only charge $20 a person, so we don't make much, just a little fun money, but that's not why we're doing it," Kennedy said.

What they came up with is not the anti-ALTA, but it's different.

Because they wanted a laid-back league that is competitive but not combative, there are no playoffs. To avoid the politics and pressures of being part of a team, players sign up in pairs, without regard to subdivision lines.

Tired of baking brownies each week for the visiting team, they opted against any host requirements.

"Another difference is that Grip N Rip allows subs," Betz said. "If you can't play a certain match, you can get anyone as long as they are your same level. We just ask everyone to be honest about this."

They also did not want rigid schedules. "We wanted it to be flexible," Betz explained. "We organize the women into small divisions and then let them schedule the matches between themselves, when they are available."

Players choose their own level, with the hope that they are neither underestimating nor overestimating their abilities.

"The more honest the players are about their level, the better competitive matches they'll have," Betz said. So far it has worked well, she said, with few complaints. The percentage of return players is over 70 percent.

The first season started with 16 women. The next season grew to 50, and last fall that number doubled, Betz said. More are expected this spring.

"We didn't even advertise at first," she said. "It was all word of mouth. We started out in the Towne Lake area, and then it really took off when we moved it into Cobb."

Kennedy said they want to keep recruiting from different places.

"It's no fun to keep playing the same people over and over again," she said. "You don't learn anything that way. We're as equipped to handle 1,000 women as we are 100, so the more the merrier."

But they have had to turn away some players.

"We had a woman from Dacula call recently, but we had to turn her away because all her opponents would have to drive an hour to play her," Betz said. "We don't want to do that to people. We want to keep people happy. We don't want people to have to travel more than about 20 minutes."

With a plethora of potential players in Cobb alone, no one should have to.

"There's great potential for this. Where it takes us, who knows? But we're having fun with it," Betz said. "We've met some fabulous women and had some really great matches through this."