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Have you ever heard of captaining a team, but not actually playing? If not,
meet Don Niemas! (Pictured on the left) Niemas comes to Columbus for the
ninth year in a row with his senior men’s 3.0 Roswell Park team. Ironically,
he has not played a match since 2002.
Niemas’ interest in
Tennis originally began in his early 50s when he joined and captained a
local ALTA team. Through league play, he quickly connected with many tennis
players around Atlanta area. One of his first ALTA opponents, Jim Meidl, was
a member of USTA. Niemas’ skills were so impressive, that Meidl asked him to
join his USTA team even after being defeated. From this match on, Meidl and
Niemas were teammates and friends, instead of opponents.
Don had three very
successful years of tennis after joining his Roswell Park USTA team.
Unfortunately, he experienced a back injury and was told his tennis days
were over. Well, that might be the case for most players, but not Don Niemas.
The love and passion for the game could not keep Don away from the courts,
even with an injury that hindered him from playing ever again. Making the
best out of a bad situation, Don continued to volunteer to be the captain of
his team for the next six years. His interest in tennis now consisted of
studying each individual’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as determining
who plays best with whom. Last year alone, Roswell Park won the State
Championships in Columbus, the Sectional Championships in Mobile, Alabama,
and the National Championships in California. After all of his success, his
new view of tennis became, “I can be objective now. Nobody questions [my
decisions] when we win!”
Without Don’s dedication after his injury, his team feels that they would
not have been as successful throughout the last six years.
In addition to his
senior men’ 3.0 Roswell Park team, he expanded his captaining to another
team at the same time he was working with Roswell Park. Niemas led this team
to the State Championships both years he captained, bringing home both the
finalists and State Champions titles. He also added that two yeas ago, he
captained a team that consisted of two players in their 60s and three
players in their 50s. They were the oldest Adult League in the State
Championships tournament, and won!
Although Don’s teams
are usually very successful, he says his job is not easy. It takes a lot of
time and dedication. “It is not a matter of winning, there is a whole lot of
stuff that goes into it. Luck is not a factor. They [the team] drill,
strategize and get coaching.”
Even though the Roswell
Park team is thrilled to be at the 2008 Senior League State Championships
for the sixth year in a row, it is actually a very sad time as well. Don
will be closing the USTA Georgia chapter of his life, as he will be retiring
and moving to North Carolina in September. The biggest part about USTA that
he will miss is the guys from his team. Congratulations to Don Niemas for
six years of success with USTA Georgia! |
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