Randy Bernard
For over 40 years, Randy Bernard has been instilling a love for tennis in students of all ages. Now, he’s working to make the game even more accessible for the Spartanburg community.
Tennis has been a part of Bernard’s life for nearly as long as he can remember. Growing up, he competed in junior tournaments and had success as a college player. He briefly competed professionally in his 20s before deciding that he wanted to fully dedicate himself to coaching.
“I’ve been a teaching professional since I was 21, and got very involved on the Southern professional board,” says Bernard. “Then I started my career at the country club and teaching tennis, and became a volunteer very quickly with the South Carolina Tennis Association.” At various points, he served as the President of the South Carolina Pro Association and the Vice President of the South Carolina Tennis Association.
Bernard realized that he had a passion for making tennis available to kids and families who might not have the opportunity to play. “Tennis is often looked at as a sport for people who have money,” says Bernard, “but we want it to be something that everyone can enjoy.”
Now, he serves on the board of the Spartanburg Area Tennis Association (SATA) as the Event Coordinator, where he works alongside an incredible team to bring the game he loves to his local community.
Last year, before he had become an official member of the board, Bernard wanted to put together a program for underserved kids to have the opportunity to play tennis. Working alongside the SATA, an event was created, and children were bussed in from the Bethlehem Center and the Hope Center for Children. Over 50 kids were in attendance, and the SATA hosted a Junior Tennis Clinic and pizza party. Each child who attended the event went home with a ball and racket.
“It’s really a small thing,” Bernard says, “but it gives these kids hope that they can have these opportunities that will come where they can learn the game.”
A year later, Bernard had joined the SATA board, and was intending to call the Bethlehem Center to see if they would be interested in being a part of the event for a second year. The Bethlehem Center beat him to it and called first.
“I was going to contact them,” Bernard says, “and we were going to do it again, but they called me and said that was the biggest thing the kids had talked about. They just had so much fun.”
There was no question — the event was coming back for a second year.
The Junior Tennis Clinic, which will take place on June 16th, is “a cultural celebration.” “We want to get everyone involved in tennis,” says Bernard. “Tennis in the Spartanburg community is probably 95% Caucasian, and it shouldn’t be that way.”
SATA’s outreach doesn’t just extend to the children of Spartanburg — Bernard shares that the association will be hosting a cultural celebration event for adults later this summer, on July 25th.
“So much of what the board is doing is still so new,” says Bernard, “but it’s been a blessing to be a part of guiding this organization to really take care of all the tennis needs in the community and to grow. We just want to bring people together.”
Nationally, tennis has grown over the past several years, even with the emerging popularity of pickleball. Bernard shares that much of this is due to the tennis community learning from pickleball’s success.
“Pickleball was so popular because it had a slower ball,” he explains. “Anybody can play pickleball. So now, in tennis, we have a slower ball, and we’re teaching people to use that slower ball. We’re developing. We want to make the game as accessible as possible and bridge the gap so that there’s easy access if you want to start playing.”
In recent years, Spartanburg hasn’t had adult tennis programming outside of leagues. Bernard is determined to change that, and says that the SATA is now hosting beginner clinics for new players hoping to jump in.
Amidst the whirlwind of events and activities, Bernard says that his favorite part of his job is still the personal connection at the heart of it all. “What I love is impacting lives,” he says. “Any way that I can touch someone that’s going to bring them joy, whether I’m teaching lessons or volunteering for an event.”
However, he’s quick to say that the work of SATA would be impossible for one person to do alone. “Everything we do is a team effort,” he says. “There’s a great team of people, from board members to volunteers to sponsors, so it’s a great community effort. We’re just blessed to have a bunch of fired-up people in love with the game, and they’re excited about introducing this sport to the community, especially the new way of playing — the fun way, the easy way.”
If you’re interested in getting involved with SATA, you can visit their website to view their full event calendar at https://www.satasc.com/.
