When the announcement was made that Texas A&M-Commerce would become a Division I NCAA institution, most of you know I did not agree with the decision. However, there was a hope that maybe the school would add some sports we either used to have or had never really had, such as Baseball or Soccer for Men, or maybe Swimming for Women and Men. One of the first sports that I felt would be the best would be Tennis for Men’s and Women.

From 1932 to the early 1990’s, Tennis was an integral part of the athletic department at East Texas State. The Men’s program was one of the most successful in all of the nation and the Lone Star Conference. The won the Conference Championship in 1932, 1941, 1964, 1965, 1966, ,1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1985, 1986, and 1987. They also won the NAIA National Championships in 1972 and 1978 under the leadership of the legendary Coach Dr. Bill Crabtree. Tennis roots run deep in Commerce, America. (Note: Legendary Lion Football Coach Ernest Hawkins helped coach from time to time and was an outstanding player in his own right).

Women’s tennis never had the team success that the Men had for many reasons, mainly because the program did not get started until the late 1970’s and also did not have the money nor the resources that their Male counterparts did, but did have some tremendous players.

Patti Bean was a four-year letter winner for the ETSU tennis team. As a freshman, Bean became the first Lion in program history ever to qualify for the national tournament. She was a three-year national qualifier and a two-time regional doubles champion with fellow Hall of Famer Rita Garcia. She capped off her career being named the Division II Tennis Outstanding Athlete of the Year by the TAIAW in 1981. As a freshman, she helped the Lions qualify for the AIAW Division II regionals, winning first place in doubles. As a sophomore she was named ETSU’s Most Valuable Women’s Tennis Player as the Lions captured the AIAW Division II Regional Team Champions. Bean helped lead East Texas State to a second-place team finish at the AIAW Southwest Regional tournament as a junior, finishing first in the doubles championship and second in singles. In her final season at East Texas State, Bean was the Lib Huggins Award winner, given annually to the outstanding female athlete.

Garcia lettered four times in tennis for East Texas State from 1978-81, competing in both singles and doubles at the Lions ranked among the top programs in the nation. During her collegiate career, Garcia posted an overall singles record of 134-25, qualifying for nationals all four years as a Lion. She placed first in the region as both a freshman (1978) and sophomore (1979) with runner-up finishes in both 1980 and 1981, posting an 18-2 regional record and a 13-4 mark in the national tournament for her career.

Garcia and Bean also comprised one of the top doubles teams in the nation as she concluded her East Texas State career with a 132-21 doubles record, which included four-straight regional championships. Garcia had a pair of top-10 national finishes in doubles, highlighted by a third-place showing as a senior in 1981 as the Lions placed third as a team, one year after placing eighth at nationals as a junior. Garcia was named the LSC Most Outstanding Tennis Player in 1981. 

So, aside from the history lesson, what is the point of this diatribe?

Well, I can say this. Bringing back tennis would be tremendous for the University. We already have a great tradition in the sport. We have banners to hang that are either now in storage or have been thrown away. It would add a spring sport for spectators, it would bring a high quality of student athlete to Commerce, and we already have some tennis facilities at the Cain Sports Complex, but it would be a revenue generator in 3 ways. One, if we were to build the facilities we had in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s you could host Conference and Regional tennis tournaments in Commerce. Also, a regular season tournament is something that we could do in the future after generating revenue, and finally, two non-TAMUC related tennis events. The tennis courts at Commerce High School are awful and in desperate need of repair, not to mention there are only 2 courts. The University could host a high school meet on behalf of Commerce High School, and finally, the University could get the UIL Class 4A Region II Tennis Championships back to Commerce. For many years, the University hosted the Region II tournament. After the tennis courts adjacent to Memorial Stadium was demolished, the UIL moved the tournament to Allen, and now it has moved to Longview High School. Having a new set of tennis courts would be a great addition to the facilities, as there is already a set of 4 courts at the Cain Complex. Longview High has a tremendous facility, with 10 courts, however, 8 courts could probably get the job done, and you have half that already. Below is a shot of what the ET Tennis Complex looked like-

The University Made a tremendous mistake by doing away with the courts altogether, which they did in the early 2000’s. They also did a tremendous disservice when they cut both Men’s and Women’s programs in the early 1990’s. It was a decision that the administration made to simply cut two successful programs. It was that simple, no other reason. Also, at that time, the school decided to cut the funding of track programs as well, which would be a good reason why another storied program went into purgatory.

However, we are Division I now. Division I schools build things, they don’t tear them down. Division I schools add programs, not drop them. Division I schools build on the roots of the successful programs of yesteryear, not destroy them and act like they never existed. Division I schools expand, not contract.

Whether we start with Tennis, or Baseball, or Swimming and Diving, as was heard from the actor Afemo Omilami in the 2002 movie Drumline, “The beginning is always today.”