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Published on 09/01/1999 All articles from this issue

Fremont Hills serving players of all ages

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By Pete Borello / Town Crier Staff Writer

There is a women's tennis team playing out of Fremont Hills Country Club in Los Altos Hills that has emerged as a team for the ages. All ages.

No signs of age discrimination here: Fremont Hills has players who are in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s.

Together, these 14 women have dominated the United States Tennis Associations' 3.0 division this summer, routing the best the Bay Area has to offer.

"It's worked out very well," team captain Helen Kupka said. "It's neat to have players in so many different age brackets who can deliver."

As in deliver trophies. Fremont Hills has already captured league, district and section championships.

Now, the team is preparing to play the nation's finest. Next stop: Tucson, Ariz., site of this year's USTA Adult League National Championships, which run Oct. 7-10.

"I didn't think we'd come this far," Kupka said, "but we've just killed people."

In the USTA Sectional Playoffs, held Aug. 20-22 in Carmel Valley, Fremont Hills went undefeated.

The team beat all four of its opponents by scores of 4-1, including Lakeridge of Vallejo in the finals.

This marked the squad's first trip to the sectionals, and Kupka believes no women's team from Fremont Hills has ever qualified for the nationals before.

Kupka credits the team's success to having a stable of solid singles players, a deep bench for doubles and plenty of mental toughness.

"We have players who can focus and stay in it mentally," she said. "They are very determined to win."

Four team members have played at No. 1 singles at one time or another this season: Kupka, Susan Kroll, Carole Hockett and Claudia Westrum.

The top doubles team of Kathy Manchuk and Margaret Toppel are 15-0, and the No. 2 and 3 tandems have also compiled stellar records.

And to think, this talented team wasn't formed through a series of rigorous tryouts.

"It's a volunteer team and there were no tryouts," Kupka said. "We aren't exclusive - we don't reject anyone. If you think you can cut the mustard, you're in."

But can Fremont Hills cut the mustard at the nationals?

"We hope so," Kupka said. "But the competition takes a very big jump and we're in the toughest flight."

Fremont Hills starts out against the Caribbean, the top-seed, and also has formidable teams from Florida and the Pacific Northwest in its flight.

These opponents also figure to have youth on their side.

"The other teams get younger the further you get along," Kupka said. "There were a lot of 30-year-olds in the sectionals and there will be 20-year-olds in the nationals."