b'As Tennis Success grew as a junior athletic program,years. Along the way, Woods served as the executive di- Above: Texas A&M Corpus Christi tennis team visiting Tennis Suc-operating on a reserved set of courts at the storiedrector of the Texas Professional Tennis Association, thecess; Below: Education director Dr. Rosemary Marin with student; HEB Tennis Center and a locker room re-configuredgoverning organization that certifies teaching pros, andBottom: Youth volunteering as part of the Tennis Success program.into an office and gathering space, it became clear thatwas a mainstay of the Board of USTA Texas, playing academic success was essential to tennis successes- an out-sized role in the growth of the sport throughout pecially for kids confronted with the UILs no pass/nothe state. During that vulnerable period of transition play requirement to play on middle and high schoolfor Tennis Success, Inc., Ron Woods was the perfect teams. It was then that the programs mission essential- man to lead through the storm.ly doubled, as active and retired teachers were recruitedRecognizing that Tennis Success had long outgrown its as volunteers and paid tutors to assist kids with home- role as just a tennis program, and was by then equally work and school subjects with which they needed help. devoted to educational and social support for the kids it After 16 years tirelessly struggling to build one of theserved, the boards requirements for a long-term execu-countrys most successful free junior tennis programs,tive director did not include tennis skills. What the pro-Ronald Elizondo left Tennis Success in 2016 to replacegram needed most was a full-time organizer who could Susan Torrance as the tennis director and pro shopmake all the moving parts work in unisontennis, ed-owner at the Al Kruse Tennis Center, the place he stum- ucation, recruiting of students, tutors and volunteers, bled upon as a 12-year-old kid where he discovered thefacilities, fundraising, promotionsi.e., the daily herd-sport, and the family, that would save his life. Today,ing of cats required to keep the program going, while Elizondoalsorunstennisoperationsatthehistoricgiving it a chance at growth on a large scale.HEB Tennis Center, and provides free tennis lessonsI was one of those kids who fell through the economic to neighborhood kids through the Nano Foundation,cracks, said Cheri-ri Pea, executive director of Ten-dedicated to the memory of his late son. nis Success of almost fours years, after serving as assis-The 2nd Generation of Tennis Success tant director under Woods, since 2016. My mom was Thecommunityofcoaches,players,donors,volun- a teacher and a single mom, and she kept us busy with teers, past students, and parentshundreds of Corpuschurch and sportsmine were basketball and softball, Christians in totalwere determined to see Tennis Suc- but not tennis, she explained. Peas life growing up cess survive, and maybe even grow, following Ronaldamong gangs, drugs, and violence in Fayetteville, North Elizondos departure. Ron Woods played four years onCarolina, led to her appreciation of churches and other the University of Houston tennis team before returningnon-profits that help the community, especially in the to Corpus Christi to coach under Bob Mapes at HEB.effort to save kids from the perils of the streets. After In 1970, he was hired by the Corpus Christi Countrymoving to Corpus Christi to take care of her ailing fa-Club to run its tennis program, where he worked for 31ther, she found her new home at Tennis Success.94THECOASTALBENDMAGAZINE TheCoastalBend.com'