Tennis / Chris J. Parker : Scholarships Scarce but Still Available

Summer is not the ideal time to look for college scholarships. If a student did not get a scholarship application, or if an athlete was not contacted by a college coach last fall, usually his/her luck will not be much better 10 months later.

Usually, but not always.

“You just don’t call Santa Barbara, for example, or San Diego State and come up with scholarships,” said Mark Winters, the Southern California Tennis Assn. director of scholarships. “But there are definitely some out there.”

There are four women’s scholarships at Texas El Paso, for example. Coach Ron McGaughy was hired April 1, two weeks before the national signing day, and did not have time to recruit for next season.

“It’s been very difficult, to say the least,” McGaughy said. “My women’s program really has a void.”

McGaughy stressed that he is “not just looking for bodies” and is hopeful he can sign good players who were overlooked by UCLA, Stanford and other top West Coast schools. He pointed out that Utah’s Greg Holmes, who won the NCAA singles championship in 1983, was recruited by only one school.

“There are people like that out there, possibly,” McGaughy said. “That’s every coach’s dream. I hope there’s one out there for me.”

Having extra scholarships this late in the year is not uncommon, Winters said, because of academic ineligibilities, transfers or an unexpected increase in the university’s revenue.

“Some programs have been cut back, but in the meantime, some others have grown because football or basketball has grown at their school,” Winters said. For example, at Kansas and Nebraska, “the programs at those two schools are going like gang-busters.”

The same thing has happened at UTEP, where the basketball team has participated in the NCAA Tournament six consecutive years and the football team had the nation’s largest home-attendence increase last year.

“Because of the other sports, I believe we are on the upswing,” McGaughy said.

But Winters, who has directed the SCTA program for eight years, warned that getting a free ride should not be the only reason to attend a university. Campus location, academic workload and the attitude of the coach and team members also should be considered.

“It’s not a snap decision,” he said. “You have to get out and do investigations, make calls.”

Tournament time: Three tournaments are still taking entries for junior players who have grown tired of hitting tennis balls against a brick wall.

The seventh Calabasas Tennis Club Summer Junior tournament, which runs Aug. 12-15, will conduct singles competitions in all boys’ and girls’ age divisions and will be played at the Calabasas Park Tennis Club and Calabasas High.

Information: 818-888-8120.

The seventh Northridge Junior tournament, a six-day event at Cal State Northridge that starts Aug. 15, will conduct boys’ and girls’ singles play in all age divisions and doubles competitions in all but boys’ and girls’ 10-and-under.

Information: 818-885-4731.

The third North Ranch Junior Satellite tournament in Westlake Village will conduct singles play for all age groups except boys’ and girls’ 10-and-under. The tournament, which runs Aug. 12-15, will be held at North Ranch Tennis Club in Westlake Village.

Information: 805-497-9421.