Working Together

THIS TEAM DOES
EVERYTHING TOGETHER

By Jason Steinberg

The 5.0 Men’s team representing Greensboro, NC, while all tennis pros, make for a very unique team. This team is made up of the pros from many of the different tennis complexes around Greensboro, but they all come together as a group of friends to play tennis.

These guys have known each other for a long time. Three of the players on the team -- captain Derek Gamble, Mike Weidl, and Jason Kinder -- even played college tennis together at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Gamble said, “Tennis has really been an excuse to get together and hang out.” Everyone on the team enjoys not only tennis, but other activities such as golf and biking. Their families even like to get together and have fun.

Gamble mentioned that the team is always playing practical jokes on each other and on everyone else. “They just don’t know about it.”

This group of guys is unique because of how tight knit they are. They also don’t act towards each other like many pros in an area would. Gamble explained, “Most pros won’t get along. There is too much competition. We really do enjoy each other.” The guys will share ideas about tennis in the Greensboro area, hoping to grow the popularity of the sport.

Aside from doing everything together, this team has been very successful over the years. They have been the runner up in the 5.0 division at Sectionals each of the last three years. They also were runner up in the 5.5 division last year. This experience is sure to help them this week in Mobile. As they try to take that next step to Nationals, this team continues to play hard and have a good time.