August Captains of the Month
It's time to celebrate our August Captains of the Month! This month’s JTT Captain of the Month is Mark Scafide, captaining out of the Coast. Mark was born and raised in Long Beach, Mississippi, where he still resides. He’s married with three children and two grandchildren. He is a retired firefighter and currently works for the U.S. Navy. Mark has been a JTT Captain for 12 years and became a captain when his son and some of his classmates wanted to play more tennis than just during the school year.
“Our city of Long Beach did not have tennis courts at the time. Additionally, there were no opportunities for my son and other young tennis players to play tennis outside of the school tennis season. That I when I met Jan Estrada, who introduced me to JTT. She mentored me and we began co-captaining.”
“On average, I captain two teams per year, but I have captained as many as three. I am not a tennis player, but I’ve been around the sport my entire life as my mother played tennis. My son has played tennis since the age of eleven and continues to play to this day at the age of 24. I have always enjoyed coaching and assisting with various sports leagues, including baseball, softball, and football, but tennis has been my favorite sport. I am an advocate for youth sports. I don’t consider myself a tennis coach, but a junior team tennis coordinator. Over the years I have been very lucky to have great parents and wonderful JTT leadership. My favorite tennis player is Roger Federer.”
This month’s Adult League Captain of the Month is Claire Fowler. Claire grew up playing tennis in Greenville and has always loved the game when playing with family.
“I started captaining teams in 2004 and have captained many, many teams over the last 19 years. When my children were small, I took a 3 year break from USTA. When we moved to Hernando in 2014, I was brought right back to the courts by former opponents who are now teammates. My teammates are not just teammates, but dear friends. We love to win, but value tennis with local friends above winning. It’s an added bonus when you have a successful season and travel to state and sectionals with your people.”
