The Hosts
James Skinner and Ruffin Thornton have been life long tennis fans, players and tennis instructors. Sandra Mason is a late comer to the tennis scene but brings passion and lots of tennis and pickleball involvement. Here is a little bit more about them:
About
James Skinner
I was first exposed to the sport of tennis when I was 12 years old. During a Black History celebration at my school, one of my classmates did her presentation on Arthur Ashe. Until that time, I did not know who he was. Sports to me, at that time, was Basketball, Football, and Baseball, period! Tennis was a nebulous concept to me. I didn’t know this was a game that I had access to. Seeing that image of Ashe holding up a trophy, one black face in a sea of white made an impression. I asked my dad for a tennis racquet and, being a P.E. Teacher, went to his equipment room and brought an old wood frame with a broken string along with a brown paper bag with 5-6 old, used, white tennis balls. I walked to Red Wing Park in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and hit those old balls on the wall. The magic occurred the minute I struck that first ball. NJTL first helped develop my skills through junior High School, college, and league team play. Fifty years later, the love affair continues as strong as it ever has. I am now dedicated to growing the sport for children and adults, like myself, who would not be exposed to it otherwise.
About
Ruffin Thornton
I started playing the sport after watching Arthur Ashe play Jimmy Connors in the Wimbledon final in 1975. As I recall, the finals were televised on NBC, and it was the theme music for the tournament that captured my imagination. I remember going out to the tennis courts right after the match, imagining that I was playing in front of the queen.
I later played high school tennis, starting at the bottom of the ladder as a sophomore and working my way up each year until I was the #1 player as a senior.
I didn’t have many college scholarship offers, so I played sparingly after an eye-opening attempt to play junior varsity at a Division I school. Over the next few years, I played less but enough to keep my game up.
As I entered the workforce, I began to renew my passion for tennis by playing regularly for hours after work and all day on the weekends—this continued play led to me playing adult tournaments: singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. By the end of the 90s, I was playing state-level tournaments throughout Virginia and North Carolina.
During this time, my love for the game grew, and I began teaching as a United States Professional Tennis Registry (USTPR) professional, now called the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR).
As a certified tennis instructor, I really started to see how tennis was more than just a “sport” in my life. It provided me with an opportunity to travel and teach, share ideas with others who enjoy the sport, and find a family no matter where I was.
Over my last 40-plus years of playing and teaching, I have enjoyed the sport. This podcast is my way of sharing my knowledge and talking with like-minded individuals about the sport that I love.