First military tennis league in Virginia created at Fort Belvoir

The Virginia branch of the United States Tennis Association recently had an open house for adults at Fort Belvoir’s South Post Tennis Courts.
Organizers Gloria Dean of the NOVA Family Enrichment Program, Inc., and Bill Fitzgibbon, USTA league administrator, signed up more than 20 adults, all eager to play in an organized manner.
“I have been waiting for this to happen for five years,” said Mark Wuntke, who signed up at 9 a.m. and was on the courts by 9:30 a.m.
Fitzgibbon and Dean wanted to promote the adult league because of numerous requests from adults who noticed the children’s program.
“We’ve had so many inquiries as to adult recreational play we decided to try and start one on Fort Belvoir. Our hope is that it will catch on. Our goal was to get soldiers out on the courts. Today, we had succeeded,” said Dean.
This will be the first military league in Virginia, according to Fitzgibbon.
“We want to develop a format that enables active-duty and retired military adults and seniors to compete and enjoy the game, and spread to all bases,” he said.
Marion Porciuncula signed up and plans to play more tennis in the future.
“I started playing several years ago, now I’m retired. It’s a great way to get physical activity and spend recreational time with my children,” he said.
Porciuncula was at the courts with his daughter, Kimberly, 14, and son Marc, 15. “I like to play when there is time and I also like to watch it,” said Kimberly.
“It’s fun to play and I like to trounce my sister,” added Marc, with a grin.
Robert Houston, retired military, has been playing tennis since 8th grade.
“I picked it up and I play whenever I can find people to play,” he said. “I enjoy the competition and I’m learning the different skill sets needed to play doubles.”
Houston finds the sport challenging and a good social opportunity.
“I plan on playing until I can’t. It’s the perfect sport for all ages,” Houston said.
“As you get older you progress through different levels, different skill sets, you never lose your ability to play,” Fitzgibbon said.
Fitzgibbon, who started playing in his thirties, said tennis is a nice sport to play for fun and that age doesn’t matter. Over the years his children have also become interested and he recently played doubles with his daughter in a tournament.
“That was a tremendous amount of fun,” he said.
While Dean and Fitzgibbon would rather be on the court you can reach them at 703-360-8878 or deangj@aol.com and bill@virginiatennis.com for further information on participating in the 19 and over adult league that takes to the courts on Tuesday and Sunday or the children’s tennis league.