ITF

40 Summer 2021 ITF World "We live but a nine iron down the road from our tennis club of 13 courts so, while I never really hung around the clubhouse before Covid, there was little difference coming in the back way to one of the field courts for a game. "The club gym was off limits for a while, so in our garage I put together some crude but effective, pulley-driven, milk containers filled with water as my weights, which kept me reasonably fit." A recipient of the ITF Seniors Award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2016 ITF World Champions Dinner, Van Nostrand, who reveals he is "still in awe of that evening", describes his early tennis career as "vanilla", suggesting it was "bland and suspect". In reality, he was a successful junior player, initially at Bay Shore High School and then Cortland State University. After graduating he spent three years in the US Navy before, upon discharge, teaching maths for the best part of 30 years back in Bay Shore. All the time, tennis was a constant. Van Nostrand taught and coached the sport to his own children or the kids at his school whenever he could – during the summer holidays, at weekends and in the evenings. A racket was never far from his grasp. "I am very proud to have been able to nurture all four of our children to love the game," he added. "My 30 years in public education confirms that it is extremely difficult to teach your own kids anything as they tend to rebel against anything they think you want. "The accomplishment of Boots and I lives on today as all four of our kids received college tennis scholarships and all eight grandchildren continue that legacy of loving and playing this lifetime endeavour." One of their children, Molly, achieved more than just an affection for the game. In 1985, aged 19, she reached the main draw at Wimbledon after navigating three rounds of qualifying before falling in the quarter-finals to fellow American Zina Garrison in three sets. "This was a super thrill," said Van Nostrand. "She was so close to making the semis and meeting Martina Navratilova on Centre Court. "My school was still in session so I could only follow by radio and early 5am pre-match telephone calls. As Molly progressed through the draw, my Principal offered to excuse me from the last few days of the school year so I could head for Wimbledon. "But Boots had it all well under control, and they were having a ball. They didn't need any more distractions." Inadvertently, raising their children to appreciate the game and introducing them to a sport which would come to mean so much, also gave rise to further family silverware. One of Van Nostrand's career highlights was the time he and Boots both won an ITF World singles title at Philadelphia Cricket Club in 2004, hers on clay and his on grass. "This was one of the great thrills of my tennis career, watching my student capture the World Individual singles crown," added Van Nostrand. "Boots always was a very good athlete, but while growing up and during the first years of our married lives, she never touched a tennis racket. "However, as our four kids grew to like the game, they needed someone to practice with, " I am very proud to have been able to nurture all four of our children to love the game." SENIORS

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