Tennis Dreams Die Hard

John Bridgeland spent an hour this Thursday working on his groundstokes and volleys. It was a practice session like countless others: smooth, classical forehands and backhands, lofting topspin lobs, staccato volley winners. Confidently he guided ball after ball toward the opposite baseline, until the varsity arrived for its afternoon workout.

Three years ago, as a freshman, Bridgeland played varsity tennis for Harvard, before the arrival of All-American Howard Sands and other heavily recruited players who last season led the team to a berth in the NCAA championships. And as he left the Palmer Dixon courts on Thursday, Bridgeland paused for several silent minutes to watch the "A" squad warm up. Earlier, he had provided a perfect caption for the scene: "I keep playing for a lot of reasons, but I guess most of all there's a feeling that you could still be competitive and win a big match if it came up."

Bridgeland is one member of a small corps of junior varsity veterans who compete with rising freshmen and sophomores to serve as back-ups for the "A" team. But the opportunities for varsity play are few, and without delusions of unanticipated glory in the remainder of their careers, the senior "B" players find other forces drawing them across the river and onto Harvard's chilly indoor courts.

These are players who had high sectional rankings on the junior circuit; some even received national honors. They have driven themselves since they were 12-and-unders to perform under pressure, in front of anxious parents, confronting not only talented opposition but also the mental challenge unique to individual sports like tennis. They came here expecting to play varsity, and most have at one time or another.

"I can't remember not being identified as a tennis player, and I can't imagine not thinking of myself that way, so I just keep at it," says Tory Kiam, who has helped the Harvard coaches organize the eight-man "B" squad as an alternative to dropping out of the program.

Staying in shape and striving for personal improvement regardless of match results are other motivations. Paul Lennon, who like Bridgeland and Kiam is in his last year here, has worked his way up to the varsity several times, only to falter and drop back down to the second string. He's been sitting out this fall with a hip injury, but refuses to rule out a return, saying, "I came to Harvard to play and win, but I also just wanted to see how good I could get. I guess I'm not really sure yet."

At this time two years ago there would have been no place for Lennon, Kiam, Bridgland, Kevin Skelly, Peter Smith and other strong players to go if they didn't make the first string. Probably strong enough to beat some Ivy League varsity squads, this crew got its chance to stay on the courts and compete when Kiam began working with coach David Fish in the spring of 1980 to put together a "B" team with its own schedule.

Fish hired a new assistant, Don Usher, who from the start dedicated himself to molding a program which, in his words, would "not only give us reliable fill-ins, but would also allow these darned good tennis players to get out and fight and win."

"We joke about it now," Usher says, "but when I came in, I had to really struggle to find a way not to cut Tory altogether. Then with the new program, we had a way to keep him and the others and let them work hard on their games."

The work paid off. Last spring, for example, Kiam returned from a successful second-team road trip and confidently jumped up to the varsity for the New England championships, in which each team sends three pairs of singles players to compete in three separate draws. Kiam won the "C" division, beating Yale's fifth and sixth varsity players.

"I had told Tory last fall that I would keep him around just as an assistant coach if I had to, but he said he'd make me keep him for his game," says Usher, "And that's just what he did."

Fish points out that by carrying more players than most other top college teams, he has a place for unpolished freshman talent that might otherwise end up devoted to intramural soccer or touch football. Robert Loud, a sophomore who now holds the number-four position on varsity (up from number 15) "would probably be lost to us if we hadn't had a place to work with him last year." Fish says.

The "B" squad, for all of its attributes, has raised some questions for Fish and his top players. Funds for special trips are scarce; so is court time. Varsity captain Adam Beren concedes that there is a certain ambivalence "over whether we shouldn't go all out to make the top six a really great national power."

After last year's performance, those dreams suddenly seem a lot closer to reality, but as Beren himself says, there is no guarantee that Harvard will be able to recruit another generation capable of replacing him, Sands. Mike Terner and Warren Grossman after they graduate in 1983. The "B" team, mean-while, gives Usher a chance to work with rookies who can't come close to the varsity now, but who may someday produce a solid record, if not an Ivy title.

"The idea at Harvard is that we're supposed to be educators, and we can do that and still field a team which goes to the NCCAs, if we happen to get the players in a particular year," says Usher.

Regardless of the team's success this season, Kiam, Bridgeland and Co. will probably not see an NCAA tournament. They'll continue their on-and-off practice schedule through the winter, battling freshmen for ladder positions, and when spring arrives, there will be another trip south and maybe a few varsity openings during reading period.

"It's not exactly what it used to be for us," says Kiam, "but if I get my thesis out of the way in time, I'll be out as much as I can be."