Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Ray Anderson has Sun Devil Athletics marching to a meaningful mantra.
"He always says 'If you move, you improve,'" women's tennis coach Sheila McInerney said.
It's an all-encompassing philosophy that embraces hard work, comprehensive analysis, innovation and risk-taking. The latest in a long line of recent examples was unveiled on March 31 when the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced it would move its headquarters to ASU's Tempe campus on May 1, creating another in a long line of innovative business practices and partnerships that have defined the athletics department and the university since Anderson took over as Vice President of University Athletics and athletics director and Michael Crow took over as university president.
The idea is to make ASU a national tennis hub that serves everyone from the game's top players to the community's most underserved members with elite facilities, elite training and forward thinking. A similar philosophy has already been implemented in the Sun Devil wrestling, swimming and triathlon programs.
"I love tennis so if there's one thing that drives me crazy, it's when I drive by the Whiteman Tennis Center and the courts are empty except when our women are practicing or there's an occasional tournament," Anderson said. "When we build again, it will be a blended university-community asset open many more hours of the day to many more people, including those who want to play but can't afford to."
The plan is to relocate and dramatically expand the Whiteman Tennis Center in the new athletic facilities district east of Rural Road. In Anderson's vision, the complex would include indoor and outdoor courts, state-of-the art technology and the weight of the ITA and its sponsors behind it.
"This is one of the most beautiful, Olympic-sport friendly places in this country and probably in the world. If you can get the ITA and all that it represents in intercollegiate tennis to have their headquarters here, what does that mean going forward for advancing tennis, not just for ourselves at ASU but for this whole area?" Anderson said. "It becomes a magnet for all things tennis, whether it's free clinics, court time for a small fee, junior tennis tournaments, NCAA regionals or USTA pro events. You could potentially become the developmental training area for those who have graduated and aspire to go pro -- an intensive place where they can all be together and push each other. Nobody has really thought about doing that in a campus community but the potential impact it could have is huge."
The ITA is the governing body of college tennis at all levels. It has been headquartered in Skillman, N.J., near the campus of Princeton University for more than 20 years, but when Tim Russell became the ITA's new CEO in July, he introduced a significant shift in ideology, including relocating to a major urban area that offered good weather, close proximity to an airport and inventive thinking.
"When I took the job, one of the things we asked was: 'What is the future not just of college tennis, but also of our association?'" said Russell, who taught at ASU for 22 years. "We want to help create a sustainable future for college tennis and be a forward thinking leader in intercollegiate athletics.
"College tennis is about higher education so for me I thought it was important not only to partner with an amazing institution but one that had shared values; something I called a vision match. The ITA might not have known anything about ASU at the time but I knew exactly what was happening here."
One of Russell's many plans includes a service element whereby student-athletes from each of the ITA's 1,200 school serves the community in a variety of ways including a focus on wellness with seniors and conducting clinics for underserved youth. That is in lockstep with Anderson's vision of making tennis accessible to those who "can't afford $500 a month at a white-collar club."
McInerney said the women's team will also feel the effects.
"It would create more of an identity for tennis in the area," she said. "The more you grow the game, the more it helps everybody. It will help our program for sure to have more people playing in and around ASU."