After the Wheel Came Off : Sater Stalks Tennis Fame in Maccabiah Games at Fast Limp

At age 61, most men are looking forward to slowing down.

Not Herman Sater.

He can’t afford to. He’s chasing a dream, and if he slows down, it could turn into a nightmare.

How many men, after 29 years as a weekend warrior, suddenly get the opportunity to compete on an international level? That opportunity has come to Sater, an Encino tennis player never previously involved in anything bigger than a Southern California amateur tournament.

In January, Sater flew to Philadelphia where he competed against 24 other players 55 and older for one of six slots in the senior division of the U. S. tennis squad that will play in the 13th Maccabiah Games in Israel this summer.

Sater, a Valley auto-parts dealer, won all of his matches and became the oldest member of the tennis team. But he didn’t exactly leap for joy when the competition at the University of Pennsylvania was over.

Limp might be a better word.

Sater had gone east with a bad knee. It was worse after the pounding of four tough matches. An examination revealed he had torn cartilage.

How did he get it?

“Who the heck knows with these things?” he asked.

What he did know was that he had no intention of passing up his moment in the international spotlight. So he hired a trainer to come to his house several times a week. He has undergone a vigorous exercise program, including lots of walking and many hours on an indoor bike, not to mention enduring endless hours with ice strapped to his aching knee.

Sater is even considering arthroscopic surgery if he can recuperate by July 1, the start of the Games.

“I’m going to go either way,” he said. “They only hold this thing once every four years, so the next time around, I’d be nearly 66.

“It’s tough. Especially when you’re playing against 55-year-olds. Every year makes a big difference at this age.”

Sater spent plenty of time competing when age was no factor but never on a tennis court. He was a basketball player in college, playing guard for USC in 1947-48.

“But after college, I realized that, for a small guy like me, it was worthless,” said Sater, who stands 5-foot-9. “So I decided to play tennis.”

It proved a match made for his own view of heaven. Sater first picked up a racket at age 32, and he rarely has put it down since. He estimates he has won 20 tournaments, singles and doubles.

“I quickly became a fanatic,” he said. “I would play every day if I could.”

And for many years he could. Then in 1983, Sater required surgery for a nerve in his arm. That knocked him out of action for nearly five years.

Instead of retiring, he set his sights even higher, toward the Promised Land.

The Maccabiah Games, staged over a two-week period for Jewish athletes worldwide, will involve some 4,000 participants from 38 countries competing in 35 sports. About 500 Americans are expected to take part.

Past competitors in the Games, which began in 1932 when the area was known as Palestine, have included swimmer Mark Spitz, basketball players Larry Brown and Dolph Schayes, gymnast Mitch Gaylord, golfer Corey Pavin and tennis player Brad Gilbert.

An impressive list. And one to which Herman Sater intends to add his own name. Even if he doesn’t have a leg to stand on.