Fri, Jul 04 2008
|
|
Published May 20, 2008 12:35 am - When it comes to tennis, Marianella Padron is amazing. ‘I just love the sport’ Joplin woman’s collection of tennis rackets spans number of generations By Rich Brown
rbrown@joplinglobe.com When it comes to tennis, Marianella Padron is amazing. The Joplin woman, a Venezuelan transplant, developed amazing skills in the game in just two short years. But, perhaps even more amazing is the level she has achieved in collecting rackets over a much longer period. “I just love the sport,” said Padron, executive tennis director at Millennium Tennis & Fitness Club. “It is something that I really cannot explain because tennis is something that I really enjoy and love doing.” Although Padron came from her native land of Venezuela to the United States in the eighth grade, she didn’t start playing tennis until she was 16. After graduating from high school, she returned to Venezuela to enter college and was ranked among the top 10 women’s players in her country. “I don’t have any family members who do any kind of sports, so I think this is just natural,” she said. “That is why I am in this business because I love the sport.” While attending college in Venezuela, she lived with her parents and that is when the idea of a racket collection occurred to her. “My parents had a house where I had my own room so instead of a picture frame, I said ‘Oh, we can display an old racket over here,” she said. “Suddenly, I got another one ... and another one ... and, then, it got to be too many to display on the wall, and when I got out on my own I had to find a special room where I could store them properly.” Padron, who is 39, started that collection 15 years ago and has seen it grow to over 2,000 rackets. “I started with the rackets you could easily find, like at a thrift store and Good Will, such as a Jack Kramer Wilson or a Pancho Gonzales Dunlop,” she said. “They were fairly popular at that time.” Padron, who graduated from Florida Atlantic University where she played No. 3 in both singles and doubles, went to work at the National Tennis Center in Key Biscayne after graduation. “I worked with nationally ranked players and trained them,” she said. “At the time I had probably around 200 rackets. A lady gave me a tennis collectibles book and that is when I started looking other places to acquire more rackets.” Not only did she start going to more stores but, also, began Internet searches on EBay. “That is when I started collecting early 1900s rackets,” she said. “I collected only wood rackets at the beginning. That is my specialty. And then after about three years, I decided to get some metal rackets to expand the collection. 
•
Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
More from the Sports section
4th-inning spree lifts Dugout Dawgs OCC ‘obvious choice’ for Caleb Hutchcraft Late model special set at Nevada oval |
Print this story
E-mail this story
Post to del.icio.us
Discuss this story
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
The Joplin Globe Publishing Company 117 East Fourth Street, Joplin, MO 64801 Using our site is your agreement to the terms and conditions. News: news@joplinglobe.com • (417)623-3480 Advertise with the Joplin Globe Copyright © 2006 The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO All rights reserved. |
Popular Business directory links - Joplin Apartments | Joplin Attorneys | Joplin Auto Dealers | Joplin Auto Parts | Joplin Auto Repair | Joplin Beauty Salons | Joplin Car Rental | Joplin Dentists | Joplin Doctors | Joplin Flowers | Joplin Hotels | Joplin Insurance | Joplin Loans | Joplin Mortgages | Joplin Movers | Joplin Pizza | Joplin Realtors | Joplin Restaurants | Joplin Storage | Joplin Tax Preparation | Joplin Travel | Joplin Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service 
|