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Show ' ' .-.-4 . ! I .- .4w...vUV444iii? r m 4t I -;t' It ) i . !i-i'ir.-' , i . r i ',;-.' i . f tTTrfciAI ' , . ".: V... . . tit ; I i 4 '; ,. t ' i . . nTM h4j" ti t ; DaveAdler Bob McBroom, the 27-ear old tennis professional at the Park Meadows Racquet Club, is doing exactly what he wants to do for a living. Park Meadows tennis pro McBroom says his work is his life's dream by DAVEADLER Record staff writer The trick in life, it's often said, is to do what you want to do and get paid for it. It's a philosophy to which Bob McBroom subscribes. McBroom, the 30-year-old tennis professional at the Park Meadows Racquet Club, makes it crystal clear: "There's nothing I'd rather be doing than teaching tennis. It's a great life. "I love teaching and meeting all j the different kinds of people that I i come into contact with through this ! job," he said. "I have students as young as 2lk years old and as old as 75. I have a tremendous range of students from construction workers to wealthy business folk. "The great variety makes this job fun and interesting." McBroom, Racquet Club head tennis pro since 1983, has lived a life immersed in tennis. Encouraged by his father, a former captain of the , University of , Utah tennis team, McBroom began playing tennis at, theteftderage1)f- As a teenager in Salt Lake, he ' piled up tournament victories and i achieved national rankings. He J played in the junior nationals, won 35 intermountain tennis titles in both singles and doubles and earned a bid to a prestigious national training center for aspiring tennis professionals. profes-sionals. An invitation to attend the celebrated Dennis Van der Meer Tennis University in Erie, Pa. in 1974 was a signal event in his life. "I was 17 when I got a chance to go to there," said McBroom, beaming. "It's a program for nationally-ranked kids to train as teaching professionals. "I knew then and, probably before, that I wanted to be a tennis pro." Armed with professional credentials, creden-tials, McBroom took his upbeat personality and tennis skills West to serve teaching stints in various cities. The 5-foot-7-inch, 145-pound dynamo dyna-mo made a stop at the Park Meadows Racquet Club from 1975-78 as head pro, but other clubs beckoned his wandering spirit, including those in Big Sky, Mont.; Sun Valley and 4sland Park, Idaho; Phoenix, Ariz, and Salt Lake City. Chance intervened in 1983 and he returned to Park Meadows. "I was playing in a tournament in Salt Lake and I ran into (Park Meadows president) Dick Smith," said McBroom. Mc-Broom. "He said there was a vacancy for the head pro spot and so we talked about it. Everything sounded great and here I am." McBroom said he plans to stay at Park Meadows. "I love it here," he said. "I get a lot of support from the town, and there's strong interest in tennis in Park City." Evidence of his popularity can be found in the 100 lessons he offers each week. In addition, McBroom notes "tennis isn't subject to seasonal conditions at the Racquet Club because we can go inside whenever the weather is threatening. threaten-ing. "You don't lose time and you don't lose continuity or momentum while you're giving lessons with the availability of those facilities," he adds. "That's important from a , teaching standpoint. "This really is a great line of business," he said. "You even get to . meet your idols." ,?v One .-day about' a -year ago the phone rang in McBroom' s office at Park Meadows. The caller identified himself as Rod Laver. McBroom said, "I paused for a second because Laver is my idol. Then I said 'sure, Rod Laver, uh huh, right!' "But the guy insisted it was really Rod Laver, the Rod Laver," said McBroom. "He wondered if I wanted to work out and play some tennis with him." "Of course I did and so I told him to come on by," he said. "I never would have imagined that I would play tennis with Rod Laver." Playing tennis is important to McBroom, and although he enjoys tournament tennis, teaching is clearly his game. "I try to find out what each student wants from the game," McBroom said. "Some are pretty intense and some are more relaxed about the game. So I try to offer them what they want in the way of instruction. "I apply the same method to every student, regardless of age," he said. "It's especiallly important not to push children. The point is to make them familiar with the game, the balls, the net and the court. You try to interest them in the game." Selling people on the game of tennis is a labor of love for McBroom. His enthusiasm for it is unbridled and contagious. |
