Court Sign at South

High school tennis in the Garden City is a big deal. The season runs from the third Monday in March through at least the first week of June, and sometimes longer. Each high school has a boys’ and a girls’ team, with two coaches and up to twenty-five players per team. Additionally, the North and South courts usually host a weekend or two of the MIAA Individual Tennis Tournament, which draws up to a hundred players per site. Our teams have had great success over the years, and the players love it. 

So do I. I have coached high school at South since 1982, first as the boys’ junior varsity coach and then, starting in 1991, as the girls’ head coach. The position complemented my work in the classroom (I retired from teaching in 2015). Working with athletes under sunny skies can be exhilarating, and I still derive pleasure in watching my players improve. Spring tennis, to be sure, can also be frustrating, especially when rain-outs lead to weeks with four matches in a row to catch up. Still, I am grateful to have been given the chance to coach the sport that I love for so long. 

Twenty years ago, tragedy struck our tennis community when Linda Zuker, my assistant coach for more than a decade, contracted a rare disease and passed away. Her daughters, Lauren and Danyel, had played on the team and been captains. Linda herself was an avid player and popular coach, her specialty being doubles. During the season we chatted almost nightly, leading her husband, Eddie Zuker of Chestnut Hill Realty, to quip that he wished she’d speak with him that much. At her passing we were all heartbroken. Soon we were searching for a way to commemorate her life.

We finally resolved to hold a tennis event involving the players from both high schools. Though interrupted by the Covid Pandemic, the tradition will be renewed in two weeks. On Tuesday afternoon, May 31, Newton South High School will host the 17th  annual Garden City Cup, a mixed doubles exhibition tennis match. The event honors Linda’s memory, and we hold a brief ceremony during the Cup to greet the extended Zuker family and  briefly reminisce. By the way, the Linda F. Zuker Memorial Youth Foundation supports youth athletics in the region as well as Tenacity, an organization that promotes tennis in the inner city.

• The program starts at 4 PM with boys and girls JV mixed doubles teams playing an 8-game pro-set, with a tiebreaker at 7-7 (7 pts./win by 2).
• Approximately at 5 PM,  we hold a brief ceremony, after which varsity boys and girls begin their matches.
• About 80 players combined from both high schools compete in the Cup: all in the spirit of good fun.

This tradition does more than bring the high schools together in a friendly competition. It also keeps alive the memory of our beloved friend and former coach, Linda Zuker.