Bound for Nationals

BRADENTON — Nate Griffin’s competitive spirit hinges in large part on his teammates.

A former high school and collegiate tennis player, the River Strand Golf and Country Club director of tennis rarely gets a chance to practice with his Mixed 18 and Over 10.0 teammates. But when he and the club’s seven other players are together on the court, it’s as if no time has passed between them.

Griffin joined the club’s competitive tennis league in 2010 and has spent the past four years traveling to local, state and national competitions.

“It’s a chance to get together socially as a team,” Griffin says. “The sense of team is what drives me, and I think (it drives) the rest of the team as well, to go out and compete.”

On Thursday, Griffin and his teammates will leave for Tucson, Ariz., where they will compete in the 2014 USTA League Mixed 18 and Over 10.0 National Championships.

The team earned a berth in the national championships, which will be held Nov. 21 through Nov. 23, after defeating Brevard County 3-0 to win the 2014 USTA Florida Mixed 18 and Over 10.0 Sectional Championship Oct. 10 and Oct. 11, in Daytona Beach.

River Strand competed in the national championships in 2012, finishing third out of 13 teams. With the addition of Tatiana Soldalova, who coaches at IMG Academy, and Whitney Biles, a 5.5-rated player, the club is hoping to improve on its previous finish.

“This is the strongest team we’ve ever fielded from this area,” Griffin says. “The additions really make us a formidable contender for the title.”

During the three-day competition, River Strand will compete in a bracket along with three other teams. Each team will compete in a series of three mixed-doubles competitions; however the combination of two players’ ratings can’t be higher than 10.0. The team that wins two out of the three competitions will earn the point.

The winner of each division, along with one wild card team, will advance to the semifinals with the semifinal winners advancing to the finals.

The River Strand 10.0 team formed in 2008 when Joey Gratton and Tina Von Kessell started playing and encouraged other players to join the team.

The team competed in its first national competition that same year; it finished fourth. Since then, River Strand has competed in the national championship every two years. In the year following their national championship appearance, teams are forced to break up to give other teams the opportunity to compete.
In 2011, Gratton died after being critically injured in a powerboat racing accident at the Key West World Championship.

Today, the team is often recognized throughout the tennis community as Team Joey in memory of Gratton. Von Kessell continues to serve as the team captain, and Gratton’s son, Brock, also plays on the team.

“It’s nice to have something to rally around and get motivated by,” Griffin says. “We want to honor him.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].