Photo by Neidy Gutierrez / SOC Images.
*Slice of Culture is teaming up with Hudson Tennis Academy for a giveaway of free lessons to three winners—either adults or kids. See the full details to enter HERE.
A tennis association for the people.
That dream started in the mind of Jeff Lamb and has carried throughout his tennis career, one that’s been nurtured by Hudson County, to this day.
Standing inside the fenced tennis court section of Lincoln Park in Jersey City and overseeing the hits of students from different ages, Lamb consistently works towards that reality with each volley, lob and overhead.
For many, especially those coming from an urban area where other sports bathe in the spotlight, the luxurious history of tennis still lingers into today’s society. The view of tennis visors, rackets and bright, lime green balls trigger an image that many think they can’t afford or aren’t welcome to explore. And for Lamb, founder and director of Hudson Tennis Academy (HTA), those are the images he wants to break through and recreate for local communities, especially in his home of Hudson County.
“Tennis was always viewed as a bougie sport… We want to make something where we could be very inclusive of everybody from upper-, mid- to lower-class. Eventually what we do hope is to have those tiers where we could offer anybody access to the sport…,” Lamb told Slice of Culture.
“[Through HTA] I get to hang out with my friends, get to see some of these kids grow up, get to befriend new adults, new people and meet new friends. [That’s] the main core of what we are trying to do at [HTA] and why I always emphasize the community aspect of it.”
Rallying To A New Path
Lamb thought having a corporate job was the only path for him after college; a mindset which “you’re kind of forced into,” attributing it to the Asian culture he grew up in. But what he gravitated towards went against that expectation.
He coached swimming for almost a decade before later falling into private tennis coaching. As the size of his students grew, he knew more and more that he didn’t want to be subject to the traditional 9-to-5. He wanted to be active, outside and be able to serve a bigger group of people through sports.
“I turned down two jobs from professors that got me those two jobs before I graduated [college] and I just said no. And it was not like I even started [HTA yet]. I turned down two jobs just to be [like], ‘All right, I’m gonna figure something out,’” Lamb said.
Pouring in his efforts, it took four years to build up a small tennis academy. Then it took another three years to get to where he is now: standing in Lincoln Park’s tennis court with “Hudson Tennis Academy” sported on his chest, racket in one hand and ball in the other.
And on the other side of the net, if it’s not students volleying off of his serve, it’s his friends, many of whom encouraged him to push through with HTA—even when he was “really close to giving up.”
“… People just ask me, ‘Hey, how did you succeed? How did you do this?’ But there’s like 15 other people in this and I’m just so happy to be the face of this,” Lamb nodded, looking over to his friend and head of marketing, Charles Tran.
Tran is one of the many friends who’s helped keep the dream alive. That became more evident when Lamb quickly hit up the court to rally with Tran, grabbing his racket and letting the tiny mic continue to cling above his t-shirt’s HTA logo.
Most people tell Lamb that it’s “easier” to run Hudson Tennis Academy elsewhere: “somewhere there’s more space, where prices [for spaces] aren’t absurd.” But he doesn’t listen; he said it might be selfish, and it might be the ego in him, but he’s determined to make it work.
“If tennis is a thing that the barrier of entry is so high because of costs, I want to find a way eventually to make costs affordable. Now, that’s not saying that we won’t be charging for whatever privates [or high tiers], but we do eventually want to have a part in the community and make it free and accessible, or at least at a very discounted rate for those who can’t afford it,” he added.
So despite the advice, Lamb stays right here, in Lincoln Park, waiting for the next serve and teaching students how to tackle it when it comes.
For The Love Of The Game
If you’re looking for tennis that can be “super serious,” HTA could be for you. If you’re looking for a sport to be “super relaxed,” HTA could also be for you.
“For those that are interested, we’re gonna funnel them into different sorts of training and so forth. I think that sports in itself is great for kids and adults. And this generation, I don’t think kids [or] even adults are outside enough,” Lamb said.
“Beyond just the sporting itself, I view that it’s a great place for them to develop communication and people skills.”
And if you or someone has any inkling of hope to go pro, there’s success that’s been absorbed into some of the courts in Jersey City.
Eric Taino is a retired American ATP Tour tennis player who represented the Philippines in international competitions. He has a number of accolades: No. 1 nationally ranked college tennis player on a No. 2 nationally-ranked UCLA tennis team, 52nd professionally ranked in doubles and, most notably, defeating 18-year-old Roger Federer at the qualifiers of the 1999 Waldbaum’s Hamlet Cup Open in Long Island. In an interview with ABS-CBN, Taino said he felt “lucky” to win, and that Federer—today’s 20-time grand slam champion—was just young.
Behind Taino’s achievenments, he’s just a Filipino-American from Jersey City who fell in love with tennis thanks to pastimes spent rallying with his father. And, recently, he spent a day rallying with HTA students.
“Eric did not grow up with much money in the same situation as anyone here would have grown up in. He did not have the same access to tennis as most kids in LA or Florida would, but he still found a way,” Lamb said.
“And that was the message that we want to deliver to our juniors and our kids, that if he could do it, there’s always some room for you guys to pursue that dream if you’re able to give out that much effort.”
HTA is currently looking for partnerships to help expand their program into the wintertime, as they’re currently an outdoors-only program. They encourage any private space, gym or school to reach out and help them meet the demand of parents and families.
To register into the academy or talk about partnerships, you can visit hudsontennis.academy and also email [email protected].
“We want [the name Hudson Tennis Academy] to have something that identifies us to this area specifically since Hudson [County] tennis is not known to be that strong as a county… so that maybe one day we could raise the level of Hudson Tennis inside this whole county in general,” Lamb added.
