Tennis in some circles is considered the world’s healthiest sport for the physical benefits it gives its players. For a group of seven Valley residents, including 78-year-old Province man Dale Ehrbright, the hobby is healthy socially, too, spurring a recent fun-filled trip to the United Kingdom.

The friendship and camaraderie the sport provides is how Ehrbright joined his former doubles partner Leo Lapane and five others (from Casa Grande, Glendale, Phoenix and Sun Lakes) on their tennis journey across the pond. Five wives and girlfriends also enjoyed their time in Woking, England, with side trips to London and Paris.

The modern form of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century.
Lapane, 81, gave a few tennis pointers last summer to an Englishman visiting his parents in Maricopa, friends of the Lapane family. The man returned a year later playing the game at a much higher level. The two hit it off so well the visitor suggested Lapane bring some friends over to play at his club.

The group came together quickly with an International Tennis Federation tournament and a visit to a second club added to the itinerary. Ehrbright was working his way back into tournament shape when he pulled a calf muscle prior to the September trip.

Ehrbright had to ditch the singles tourney and said his limited mobility was the key factor in his doubles defeat. Lapane advanced to the final in his singles bracket, falling to the No. 10 player in the world. The club play was enjoyable for the group with Lapane extending an invitation for their new English friends to come to Pinal County next year.

The recent adventure was the latest for Ehrbright, who has enjoyed many adventures throughout his life both on and off the court.

Court sense

“My dad played tennis. He was not all that good, but he had a lot of fun at it,” said Ehrbright, who recalled shoveling snow off the court at the local park in Silver Spring, Md. He was playing on those local courts with his father when it was announced that President John F. Kennedy had been shot and killed in 1963.

A self-described “slow grower,” he failed to make the high school tennis squad as a sophomore. He excelled as an upperclassman, however, making the team his junior year and going undefeated as a senior, setting numerous state records.

Ehrbight gave up the sport to study, and after junior college he joined the U.S. Air Force. Near the end of his four-year enlistment, he saw a job posting for a recreational facilities manager that was right up his alley.

“I had managed swimming pools my entire life,” with additional stints as a lifeguard, safety instructor and swim teacher, he said. “I got the job managing three pools at Norton Air Force Base [in San Bernardino, Calif.] and started playing tennis again. I flew around the country to play.”

But soon after, he gave up tennis again, this time for a mechanical engineering degree at Santa Clara University. This was despite defeating the top player on campus and being recruited to join the team.

He returned to the court during his 26-year career with Chevron. During a stint in Pascagoula, Miss., “I got bored and started playing again.” He earned a No. 5 ranking in the region comprised of southern states.

Among his memorable outings was a tournament win in Alabama the week before the Mississippi Open. He and his partner were erroneously matched against the top seeds in the opening round but won that match in upset fashion and advanced all the way to the finals.

History repeated itself when Ehrbright moved to Maricopa in 2005 as one of the early homeowners in Province. He began playing at Sun Lakes, where nationally ranked players in the region gathered, and soon met Lapane.

The duo played at various courts throughout the Valley and in tournaments across the country. They reached a national ranking as high as No. 13 in their age group.

“At the time I was a very hard hitter.

And Leo is just a very consistent player,” Ehrbright outlined. “He knew what I was going to do, and I knew what he was going to do. It’s amazing when you play with somebody, and you know who is going to take the ball. I absolutely love that.”

Lapane agreed with that assessment. “Dale and I had some really good seasons together. We meshed well. Dale had a huge serve, and I was a good volleyer and quick.”

Beyond the sport

While Ehrbright loves the game of tennis, it is but one of many passions, he said.

He’s a licensed pilot and ham radio operator. Add skiing — both snow and water — horseback riding, metalwork and music (he built a table in his study that includes a pullout keyboard for playing and recording). And don’t forget dancing and playing bridge. He even started the remote-control sailing club at Province and was instrumental in getting its first pickleball teams into league play.

He has coached a number of tennis players through the years. He emphasized no matter your skills, if you stay back at the baseline in doubles, “you are going to lose,” and while many enjoy hitting the ball hard, the key is to simply “get the ball over the net one more time than your opponent.”

Peak player

Lapane remains a top player and tennis ambassador for Pinal County and beyond. He said that’s hard to believe based on his first year of tournament play in his early 30s when he competed a full season without winning a set.

For 15 years prior to coming to Arizona in 1985 he had worked in the tennis business — running junior programs and serving as a club pro. He, too, stopped playing for a while, focusing on his career as a chemical engineer at Hexcel Corporation. Lapane joined the club at Sun Lakes in his mid-60s, meeting Ehrbright and many others. The result was tennis taking over as his top priority.

He has been ranked as one of the top players in the Southwest in every age group in which he has competed. Last year, he was named Southwest Player of the Year by the U.S. Tennis Association. He plays weekly at venues from Scottsdale to Tucson in addition to national tournaments.

“I like the competitiveness, and I’ve enjoyed meeting the people,” Lapane shared.

Asked if the sport has helped keep him young, the one-word answer was: “Absolutely!”
“If you asked me 50 years ago if all this would have happened, I would have said you’re crazy,” Lapane said. “It has helped my health. It is the reason to get up every morning. Tennis is for a lifetime.”