Dedicated to Bob Davis

The year was 2001 and the Delcastle Tennis Ladder was in full swing.

There were 11 players on the ladder, and it was displayed on a sheet of paper attached to a clipboard hanging in the Delcastle Tennis Center Pro Shop (now the bathrooms near the outdoor courts). There was an announcement that the ladder would no longer be continued by the facility.

In the spring of 2002, my father, Bob Davis, who was among the participants and enjoyed competing year-over-year, saw the disappointment on everyone’s faces and heard it in their groans. Sure, the ladder was small, and there was a fee to join, and it didn’t count for anything, but it was a close-knit group of players who had a love for the game and a desire to have an outlet to escape everyday life, exercise, socialize, or whatever their personal reasons may have been.

A New Era Begins

Bob had an idea… what if I kept the ladder going? Would people want to play? He wouldn’t charge a fee, so there was a resounding YES from the group, and the Delcastle Ladder would continue, this time upgraded to a more modern system using Excel sheets at Bob’s home.

He would update the list and even created a webpage with some help from other players at the time: the (now defunct) delcastletennisladder.com. He eventually updated the website to the final form delawaretennisladder.com (no longer in use, but the page is still there) since it had been some time since he had separated from Delcastle.

As the years went by, new people moved to the area, got into tennis, heard by word of mouth, and also wanted to join the ladder. The ladder grew from men only, to include women, to include doubles, to include mixed doubles, and eventually a winter ladder, running it year-round and hosting season-end tournaments.

A Labor of Love

From 11 players it grew close to 300 players at its peak. What originally was a part-time gig was growing into a behemoth of a full-time job. This didn’t deter him. He kept the ladder free of charge and engaged the community more and more.

He still operated everything out of the Excel sheets on his home computer, and he would bring this “work” with him on vacations. I’d find him working on it weeknights, weekends, and even into the early morning while still working full-time because clearly it wasn’t work to him, it had become a passion.

He encouraged me to get into tennis, and I joined the ladder because my dad ran it, so why wouldn’t I? It would be an understatement to say that I lived in this man’s shadow for literal decades. It seemed like everybody on the ladder, and even all local USTA members, knew who my father was. Many people gave testaments regarding my father’s influence on them getting into tennis in the local scene, how he was the catalyst driving them to be part of the USTA, or just fostered their love for the game and gave them something to look forward to each year.

Passing the Torch

He would often explain to me that he had no regrets investing the time (and it did consume an inordinate amount of time) because of what he saw it fostered within the community. He enjoyed building something and being the glue that bound together that which everyone could enjoy. Making a positive difference in people’s lives was something he truly enjoyed and is what drove him to do most of the things that he did.

As with everyone, time catches up with us all, and after running the ladder for 20 successful years, 2022 would be the final year he was able to keep it going. He had hoped someone would continue it in his retirement, and although there have been attempts in the past, nothing really measured up with the community. Now, as a group of very active tennis junkie friends, we hope to restore the Delaware Tennis Ladder’s luster and impact on the community, but with a modern flair.