Thanks to Madeleine Dreith, players age 4 to 80-something are loving tennis

When folks look back at Madeleine “Maddy” Dreith’s impact on Hawaii tennis over the past three decades, what might be the toughest question is awe-inspiring.

Does Dreith cherish her job as director of Community Tennis for the U.S. Tennis Association’s Hawaii Pacific Section more than the many people she has touched in tennis cherish her?

“I love my job,” Dreith says simply. “It’s so rewarding. Getting somebody hooked onto tennis, I’ve seen it happen so often. They just get addicted to it.”

The Punahou alum has helped feed the addiction for thousands since coming home from Southern California after a

10-year sojourn. She “found my independence” at UCLA, then worked in retail management at a stationery store in

“Hollywood/Beverly Hills” that Don Knotts and Sylvester Stallone frequented.

A job with Hopaco, and husband Albie’s goal of starting his own physical therapy business, brought them back to Hawaii.

Tennis was already a large part of their life. Their first date was on a tennis court. Maddy qualified for the 65-and-older league team tennis last year and returned from her fourth national tournament last month. Her husband has qualified for twice as many nationals.

Their love of tennis led her to “pursue a passion” with USTA Hawaii Pacific in 1998. She was also inspired by a 1995 trip to nationals.

“I had such a great time,” Dreith recalls. “I wanted to be more involved in tennis, to promote tennis, to share this experience. I wanted to have other people experience this.”

USTA national was just starting its 1-2-3 teaching programs and Dreith introduced them here. Initially, the program offered one free lesson to introduce people to the sport, but its immediate popularity transformed it into low-cost, six-week beginner group clinics focused on fun, friendship and accessibility.

“I’d approach all the park directors,” Dreith recalls, “and say, ‘Hey, would you like USTA to come into your park and we will provide all the teaching of the tennis classes for you? We’ll be in charge of registration. We’ll provide all the equipment. We’ll hire the coach. We’ll do all of the admin for you. All you have to do is give us a permit for your courts.’

“It just started popping up all over the place.”

It still is, though it’s now called Play and Learn and fed mostly by word of mouth. The program has expanded to include kid and adult lessons, and competition at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. There are also 90-minute drill classes, which often fill up within 15 minutes of opening up.

Classes are held at about 20 sites, mostly public parks. There are more than 10,000 registrations annually, according to USTA Hawaii Executive Director Ron Romano.

Players range in age from 4 to late 80s. A parent-child program has taken off, with many parents stepping in to coach to cover lessons for all the kids. The group format keeps costs low.

Dreith gives much of the credit to Hawaii’s weather and public parks, along with USTA’s national leadership.

Romano gives Dreith much credit, citing her ability to “build relationships and work well with everyone.”

“She makes tennis fun and easy to learn with an emphasis on social, exercise and fun,” he adds, then calls her “dedicated, hard-working and motivated.

“She always has a very positive, can-do attitude, and her positive attitude becomes contagious,” he says. “We are lucky to have her as part of our team.”

Dreith also started Kilauea Junior Tennis Club in 1999, to teach herself to coach, identify future coaches and teach kids life skills. First it was just classes, then kids formed teams for league. Now Kilauea has 32 teams, many with trained parent coaches.

Two of her former juniors married each other. Many of her former tennis kids now have kids. Three boys started at Kilauea, moved up to Junior Team and high school tennis, returned to Kilauea to teach and coach, then taught on their own. All went on to become … physical therapists.

“It’s been so … rewarding,” Dreith says. “A lot of people don’t realize two-thirds of what we do. One-third is all the competition. The other two parts are development and promoting tennis in the community.”

She says it’s all about “the mission,” and “to give the gift of tennis. It changes your life socially. I’ve helped so many kids get into tennis, but the funny thing is, parents are starting to as well. They’ve been watching their kids for how many seasons, and then all of a sudden, they’re like, ‘I think I’d like to try.’

“It has been really gratifying.”

Soon, Dreith and the Hawaii Section will spread its wings yet again. The USTA Hawaii Pacific Campus hopes to break ground this year in the Ewa by Gentry community. According to the USTA Hawaii Pacific website, the plan for its 7-acre “world-class tennis and Education Center” is for 12 courts and a clubhouse “to serve as a premier facility for sports, learning and community gathering.”