It’s looking good for Dave Rowat’s chances of making the Canadian tennis team. Rowat, a coach at the Fergus Tennis Club, placed second at Tennis Canada’s Steve Stevenson National Tennis Championships in men’s single over-35 from Aug. 17 to 22.
With this win, he’s hoping to grab a spot on the Canadian team heading to the 2016 International Tennis Federation Young Seniors World Team Championships in Croatia.
Rowat started playing tennis at 10 but only started taking it seriously at 14.
“I had to pick one winter between doing some travel hockey and starting to play some tennis tournaments, so it was at that point where it was like ‘okay if you’re going to start playing some tournaments you have to play more than once a week or twice a week,’” said Rowat in an interview with the Advertiser.
He said he loved the individualism of tennis.
“I played hockey, baseball, soccer, all that stuff growing up … (I’d) just get bored with it. I’d be on the outfield and never catch a ball, go up to bat and strike out. At least with tennis you’re in at every single point,” said Rowat.
He won his first tournament at 17, saying it was a lot of work.
“I didn’t have a lot of natural talent growing up, I practiced and practiced and practiced, so to me, winning a tournament was a big deal.”
Rowat did not compete for a while after a car accident took him out of the game.
“I missed six years, almost seven years of competing. It really was just nice to be back out there and competing. There were stages where I thought ‘I don’t know if I’m going to do this again,’” he said.
Rowat won his first competitive match after working his way back onto the court. “I won the match and that was gravy but being back on the court and being in that environment, that was a big one too.”
But he is eager to go again. He recently won the Ontario Tennis Association Senior Provincials and Canada International Tennis Federation Senior Championships in men’s single over 35 in July.
“It took me a long time to get back to anywhere close to this. So, it’s pretty rewarding to not only have the results but literally just to (be) out there and training. I’m enjoying it,” he said.
Rowat started coaching tennis at camps when he was a young teen; he now coaches at the Fergus Tennis Camp. He said he thinks tennis is a great sport for children to get into.
“With the individual side of it, I think it gives the chance for kids to see a little more self confidence earlier on, sometimes on a team sport that’s harder to develop I think,” he said. “It’s the sport of a life time. I have personally taught people in their early 90s. If you pick it up early in life, you have those skills truly for a lifetime,” he added.
Open house
There will be an open house at the Fergus Tennis Club on Sept. 12 (rain day Sept. 13) from 12 to 4pm, where there will be an opportunity to meet Rowat, play games, do drills, win prizes and other fun activities.
For more information about the open house, visit
www.fergustennisclub.ca
