The Greenfield Tennis Association is the heart of tennis culture in Greenfield. Spectators in lawn chairs line the hills of Highland Park to watch singles matches and middle schoolers join the doubles leagues as fierce competitors. Players of all ages and skill levels come together to enjoy the sport and spirit of competition, but without the guidance of Rick Miner, none of it would be possible.

Miner began his tennis journey after high school, feeling a loss of where to continue his athletic pursuits. A football and basketball player in search of a new hobby, he began playing tennis with friends while in school at Greenfield Community College and played in Greenfield Tennis Club tournaments at Beacon Field. He later played on the tennis team at Bridgewater State University.

After falling in love with the sport, he returned to Greenfield and started coaching the Greenfield High School girls tennis team. A special education teacher in the district, he guided the girls tennis team from 1990-1992 before becoming the boys tennis coach at the school in 1993.

While teaching and coaching, Miner participated in town tennis tournaments and singles leagues, igniting a passion for tennis in those around him.

The GTA stemmed from the Greenfield Tennis Club, an organization founded in the 1940s. The club held three to four tournaments a year at the Beacon Field red clay courts.

The transition from the Greenfield Tennis Club to the Greenfield Tennis Association began in 2008 when the red clay courts were threatened. The clay courts of Greenfield are special, providing premiere courts for the community for almost 100 years.

“It’s softer, you slide and it doesn’t get as hot,” Miner said of the clay courts.

“It’s extremely rare and they’re precious,” Brian Lamore, a fellow GTA member added. “They’re free, nobody does that. This is extraordinary having these courts this nice be free.”

The year 2008 marked the beginning of the rise of the Greenfield Tennis Association, amassing 135 members in its first year. After the town decided to no longer provide the red clay and calcium chloride, the association stepped in to assume total responsibility for the valued courts.

“Back in 2008 when the town was having some issues with money they decided to stop providing clay, calcium chloride, and the lines for the two clay courts in Greenfield — at Highland [Park] and at Beacon,” Miner said.

Since 2008, the GTA has helped the red clay courts thrive. To do so, they’ve spread the word across the community.

“We contacted as many tennis players as we could and we tried to get the word around to other people that if people were interested in keeping the clay courts in Greenfield we would do a membership of $25,” Miner said. “The money that we raise would go toward the clay for the courts, the calcium chloride for the courts, and the lines for the courts”

Starting in the spring, members of the GTA nail down the lines for the courts after the red clay is delivered. The town has since resumed providing the clay and calcium chloride, with members of the association volunteering their time to set up the courts. Windscreens donated by Amherst College accompany benches built by Lamore’s technology classes at Turners Falls High School line the courts.

Miner, the president of the association, is joined by Vice President Tim Prevost and Treasurer Harry Bovio. Steve Plotkin is in charge of court maintenance at Beacon and Lamore is in charge of court maintenance at Highland.

Miner introduced a singles league to Greenfield in 1999, run through Greenfield Recreation, which remains to this day with 28 people in regular attendance. After 15 years, Miner handed the singles league off to Andrew Varnon and moved into his role as president of the GTA.

Even with pickleball on the rise, tennis continues to thrive in Franklin County.

“We have a team in our doubles league called ‘Pickleball Dropouts,’” said Miner. “There’s some tennis players that also play pickleball so they talk to each other. ‘Did you know there’s a doubles league?’”

The Greenfield Tennis Association will host the West County Cider Beacon Clay Court Classic July 22-26, with an August full of tournaments to follow. The People’s Pint Classic will be played Aug. 3-4 and the association’s mixed doubles tournament will be held Aug. 10-11.