5
Nancy Gill McShea To Be Inducted Into Eastern Hall of Fame
18 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
Nancy Gill McShea calls herself a 99 percenter. She has held many jobs since age 9, including two stints as a secondary English teacher and Librarian, and she competed in varsity basketball and baseball, all before she jumped on the tennis bandwagon in the early 1970s at the beginning of the Open era. The timing was perfect, as tennis coincided with her commitment to the young feminist movement, her volunteer work in politics as a Democratic committeeman and her years spent auditioning for television commercials in Manhattan.
Nancy worked for both of the Kennedys and in Allard Lowenstein’s congressional campaigns. She also lobbied in Washington against the Vietnam War. But when Senator McGovern lost every state except Massachusetts in the 1972 presidential election, she decided to have fun and flee from the suburbs. Tennis and modeling doubled as her gateway back into the mainstream while she raised her three children.
She played tennis in the parks, coached Junior Team Tennis, traveled the section as a junior tennis parent and high school coach and hustled in and out of New York to audition for commercial print and television advertising, including as a tennis player.
When her daughter Colette got a college tennis scholarship, Nancy wrote a satirical piece about the perils of the junior game for World Tennis magazine. Next up, a live guest appearance with Nick Bollettieri and a psychologist on Ted Koppel’s Nightline show during the 1984 US Open. Soon after, she started what turned out to be a 30-year career as a tennis reporter.
The senior world champ Bob Litwin recently told Nancy: “You have been the voice of Eastern tennis for so long and have contributed to so many ordinary people, like me, feeling that we are stars in our tennis world.” Nancy has written over 2,000 tennis articles to show that all of those people are stars. “Anybody who earns a tennis ranking of any kind or volunteers time to ensure that tennis is the sport for a lifetime is a star in my mind,” she has said. “And if I am only going to write about a person once I want to do my best and try to give the reader an honest view of that person.”
To that end, she has connected with the sport’s legends throughout the country and has received five press service awards for her work — as the Public Relations Director/Writer/Editor for the USTA Eastern Section; the Managing Editor/Writer for Eastern Roundup and Passing Shot magazines; a Copy Editor/Columnist for Tennis Week magazine; a sectional reporter for Tennis USA and USTA; a Columnist for Newsday; and a Staff Writer for College and Junior Tennis magazine. Last year, she co-authored the book “Tennis in New York†with Dale Caldwell.
No tags
Scoop Malinowski · May 5, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Congratulations Nancy you have had a very interesting tennis life! This is a memorable quote: “Anybody who earns a tennis ranking of any kind or volunteers time to ensure that tennis is the sport for a lifetime is a star in my mind,â€
Dan Markowitz · May 5, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Without reading your piece here, Scoop, who the heck is Nancy McShea?
Nancy Gill McShea · May 5, 2012 at 5:21 pm
I am Nancy McShea, Dan. I co-authored the 2011 book Tennis in New York and have written over 2,000 tennis articles over a 30-year period, mainly for the USTA Eastern Section — in Tennis Week, Tennis USA, then Tennis USTA, Eastern Roundup junior magazine, Passing Shot magazine, New Jersey Tennis and in Newsday, as well as researching and writing 18 USTA Eastern yearbooks and 87 of the 103 published Eastern hall of fame profiles.
Dan Markowitz · May 5, 2012 at 9:08 pm
That’s a nice resume, Nancy. Thanks for introducing yourself. I was just having a little fun as usually we write about the Maria Sharapova’s of the tennis world and not the Nancy McShea’s. But Scoop is up on all levels of the game while I–I have to admit–focus on more of the pro games as I’ve stopped playing tournament tennis for now.
Congratulations on your Hall of Fame berth.
Nancy Gill McShea · May 5, 2012 at 10:01 pm
I understand, Dan. Me too. Sharapova is great but I wish we could pull off a back to the future to the ’70s and ’80s when so many top-ranked pros CAME FROM THE TRI-STATE AND THE U.S. I had great fun watching my daughter work the Borg-Sadri (North Carolina) match as a ball girl on Armstrong; Vitas, Gene Mayer and Arias on the Grandstand; and John and Fleming everywhere. Television liked tennis. No more!!!!!
Thomas Tung · May 6, 2012 at 2:04 am
The 70s and 80s were a wonderful time for tennis in the US, but those days are over. My take is that tennis was seen as a way to catch up with the Joneses and gain a certain sense of social respectability/networking. It still occurs nowadays, but on nowhere near the same scale. Ironically, the perceived “breakdown” or loosening up of social classes/mores/etc also meant that other sports came to the forefront of traditionally upper class Americans, especially baseball/football/basketball. Tennis and golf went top-down, and tennis was a real trailblazer in that respect. Still, I’d love to see an American player with skill on and off the court (lovely, even artistic ball handling; determined and focused play; and also skill in handling the media). Yep, I’m wishing for an American Roger Federer (or the next best thing) 😛 Haven’t seen too much of that lately; Donald Young was hyped as such, but hasn’t really produced enough concrete results. Being out there without parents to shield you from that ball coming back can be a rough psychological hurdle to pass repeatedly …
Nancy Gill McShea · May 6, 2012 at 3:12 am
I don’t think tennis was a socially respectable issue back then. I played basketball and baseball in high school and college and had no opportunity to continue either sport after I left school, so we started playing tennis. It was the right time for people in my era. We were young, we were raising young children and tennis was an ideal family sport. Tennis networking was not an issue either back then but it is a bigtime issue today. Tennis is more big business now than a sport. Witness the US Open. And team sports were always at the forefront with school kids; they are more accessible and CHEAPER to play.
Thomas Tung · May 6, 2012 at 4:12 am
Nancy, I’ll take your word for it as I was in single digits during that era. My impression was formed from books and casual conversation with others.
Switching the topic, what’s your take on the American cultural perception of tennis for the 18-and-under folks nowadays? Just curious, because when I was in high school, playing tennis in the public park courts, my friend Henry and I would get annoying taunts and comments thrown our way; something along the lines of, “I could beat ALL of you” or comments that implied that we were unathletic weaklings because we played such a “sissy” sport.
Scoop Malinowski · May 7, 2012 at 1:31 am
Thomas, you raise an interesting issue – the cultural aspects of tennis. The places I play, it just brings us all together and is a good social activity as well as good exercise. I say tennis is in a way like a religion and a good religion. Tennis brings people together. A friend commented and agreed, he said in FL tennis brings their group together and then they all go out for lunch. And then while they chat, he said someone always brings up religion with some kind of comment and it divides the group. Some religions are good some are bad because they divide people. As far as the social aspects and classes and networking, that’s an interesting issue.
Scoop Malinowski · May 7, 2012 at 1:37 am
Thomas, good question how other HS kids/athletes view tennis, if they see it as a sport for wimps, or have Rafa and Fed changed that misperception. We play in a park where a lot of people walk by on a path and most just walk by without stopping to watch a few points, even if it’s a good match. I’m the opposite though, even if I happen to stumble on a court and see a match between novices I am curious to watch a little.
Nancy Gill McShea · May 7, 2012 at 3:35 am
I am always curious, too, Scoop. Will answer the sissy issue tomorrow. It’s complicated. Such a tough sport but most people do not appreciate it or understand it unless they play it or watch it often. Rafa and Federer? They do not register with non tennis people. Will explain further.
Scoop Malinowski · May 7, 2012 at 1:41 pm
Always Nancy, even if they are very unskilled, still a match is a match, just like to see two people compete against each other and what happens. I saw two HS kids down in FL, looked like good athletes with great footspeed but very mediocre and unschooled at tennis but they were trying hard as heck and they were very even and were able to get the ball over, despite some kooky looking strokes. Both players had potential to become very good players if they stayed with it. They seemed to really enjoy it too. One game must have had like eight deuces then the one kid with the more passion and fire won it finally (he yelled after winning big points) over the more stoic kid with an Edmonton Oilers cap on. Then the next game the Oilers hat kid quit the match, saying he had to go and the other kid was like What do you mean?, there’s only two games left. The one kid quit because he didn’t want to lose lol. In that about ten minutes I saw some great hustle, Nadal like passion, a hook call lol, and a shady conclusion. It was good theater for just a random match on a public court, as hard fought as some pro matches. I look forward to reading your explanation later Nancy…
Nancy Gill McShea · May 7, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Excellent explanation, Scoop, of the intensity of tennis at any level. Your description of that match between two kids was more than good theatre; it was so visual it reminded me of the intense 4th quarter of yesterday’s Knicks-Heat game. But truth be told, the local courts that were jammed in my era are now totally empty. Random sports’ fans have no knowledge of tennis, period, and are certainly clueless about the intricacy of the game. Example: I used to sit at the top of court 3 at the old US Open — before the USTA turned it into a corporate event — so I could watch matches on 3 courts simultaneously. A girl who played Eastern juniors with my daughter was also a ball kid and Mr. Gerulaitis coached her. She wasn’t heavy but was somewhat stocky like Australia’s Mark Edmonson (sp?). She ran to retrieve a ball and people around me laughed and shouted, and I paraphrase, “How did that girl get to be a ball girl; she can’t even run she is so fat!!!!” I told them loudly in no uncertain terms that that girl would beat them easily, that tennis also involved brains/strategy, that she was ranked 10th in the East in the 16s. As for the SISSY ASPECT, I think it’s a guy thing with kids who don’t know the sport. One of my sons opted to play high school soccer instead of tennis, not because of the sissy aspect but because nobody in the school was interested in watching a tennis match. Rafa and Federer are great athletes but American kids don’t know who they are nor do they care because: 1. the last existing newspapers rarely cover tennis, and definitely not local tennis, so there is no human interest (like there was when John, Mary, Ruta, Vitas, etc. were coming up), 2. Rafa and Federer are not Americans so kids don’t relate, 3. kids don’t watch tennis ’cause there is no visibility either; tennis on TV is confined to Tennnis Channel and Cable customers don’t get it(I’m one of them so I, too, have little interest; blame the Dolans), 4. the USTA doesn’t market the human interest aspect; they just issue press releases; 5. IT COSTS TOO MUCH MONEY TO TRAIN A TENNIS PLAYER. Sad. Great game. Amen.
Nancy Gill McShea · May 7, 2012 at 3:38 pm
One more comment. In 2005 I invited a friend to the President’s box (I was still working for Eastern at that time before D.A. Abrams became the E.D. and replaced me with Michelle Blake. My friend is a lifelong club player, actually taught me how to serve back in the day. Rafa was just coming up and we watched him from the front row. He was dressed in his sleeveless number and was huffing and puffing like he does. My friend made fun of him, thought he was theatrical. My cousin was the main guard in the players’ room that year and he gave us tangible examples of how Rafa and Federer were great guys and terrific sports. NOBODY HEARD THAT NEWS ANYWHERE.
Thomas Tung · May 10, 2012 at 5:44 pm
I think the four factors you mentioned lead up into the fifth one, Nancy. Without enough visibility/support/enthusiasm, tennis is relegated to the role of a second-tier sport here in the States, and thus gets second (or worse) tier funding. Which is a real shame; one can learn a lot how to conduct yourself off the court, as well as on. Just look at Federer. Getting into the roughhouse shenanigans of other sports is a quick way for you to get tossed out of the office in a hurry, or even arrested. Not gonna help your chances getting hired when you are technically a “felon”, no sir!
Scoop Malinowski · May 10, 2012 at 6:03 pm
Thomas believe it or not I have heard of many examples of fights happening related to tennis, though I have never experienced this myself or seen any. Stuff happens in tennis…Bob Hewitt and Roger Taylor KO…at a USTA 35s a few years ago the one player followed his opponent to the rest room, locked the door and beat him up…Rios was supposedly physically threatened by a certain ATP player…Scott Davis waited on outside grandstand to get at John McEnroe after their doubles match got out of hand…an over 60 guy at my courts who has a daughter that graduated from Yale, headbutted and kicked his doubles partner who is a doctor…the same guy punched another guy the next year after an argument over line calls ( I didn’t witness either but was told about these incidents)…a top 35s guy told about a coach walking on the court to presumably attack his player’s wise ass opponent who subsequently began cracking him with his racquet but he kept pursuing and walking through the hits “like the terminator” until an FBI agent pulled his gun from his bag from the next court, shouting at them to stop…I’ve also had some run ins after a guy tried to hit me with two overheads in a warmup and another former opponent put his hands around my neck for about two seconds after I called him an A hole. Yes tennis is a clean sport when you watch Federer and Nadal but away from the spotlights and media, things do happen and some people push the envelope.
Russ Mulroy · July 1, 2012 at 6:09 pm
Interesting articles by everyone but who the heck is Dan Markowitz?
Scoop Malinowski · July 2, 2012 at 2:00 am
Russ welcome to the site, Dan is the never short on opinions, renowned co author of Spadea’s bio “Break Point.” Not to mention an accomplished contributor to Tennis.com and a very good player.