Weil helps add more juice to The Ojai
Bob Buttitta
bbuttitta@vcstar.com, 805-437-0273
From the time he and his wife moved to Ojai in the late 1990s, Mark Weil was always active at the annual Ojai Tennis Tournament.
For many years he resisted the urge to get fully involved with the tournament so he could focus his efforts toward building up the Ojai-based tennis academy and boarding school that bears his name.
It took Weil longer than he had hoped to get the academy on solid ground, but when he did Weil felt the time was right to do his part to serve the tournament.
He joined the tournament's board of directors five years ago, and one of the tasks Weil got involved with right away was trying to restore the luster to the Men's Open and Women's Open events.
"We said let's pump up theses two great events, after all they are the signature events for the tournament," Weil said. "It was those events that brought the likes of Stan Smith, Jack Kramer, Bill Tilden, Billie Jean King and Tracy Austin to Ojai.
"Yes the Boys CIF is big and Pac-12 competition is huge, but the Men's and Women's Open events are two of the tournament's biggest jewels."
Weil and others on the committee felt the quality of play had dropped, especially in the Men's Division. Weil said the finals were not very compelling for several years.
"We asked players. 'Why don't more top guys come off the tour to play this event?' " Weil said. "We expected to hear prize money, but the answer was hotel rooms. Guys did not want to pay for housing because if they went out early, they lost money or at best broke even.
"So we offered hotel rooms and, bam, all of a sudden the last four years the Open has been lights out. We've had top players like Philip Bester, Clay Thompson, Deiton Baughman, Brandon Holt. All of a sudden players feel they can afford to come. The prize money is really nice and really huge thanks to Mike Taggert, but the hotel room was the linchpin."
In addition to helping with reinvigorating the Open Division, Weil has used his vast connections in tennis to help draw some big names of the past back to Ojai.
Each of the past four years the Ojai has invited a special honoree to be part of the event, including Smith and Austin. That led to a new annual fundraising campaign tied in with special events focused on the honoree.
"The year we honored Stan we raised like $20,000," Weil said. "That money helps the tournament pay for repairing and maintaining courts around the county to funding junior programs."
This year, for the first time part of the Ojai is being played at the new Weil Academy courts. The Pac-12 women are playing the majority of their matches at the new courts.
Mike Borders, president of the Ojai Tennis Tournament, said because the Pac-12 women switched to the team format this season, they may not have come back to Ojai this year without the Weil upgrade.
"Without the courts, there is a good chance they would have gone elsewhere to play," Borders said.
Weil is thrilled to see his new courts being used as part of the event. The new courts are tangible proof that the dream Weil had 20 years ago of having a successful tennis academy and boarding school was indeed viable.
"It took a lot longer than I thought," Weil said. "It was harder than I thought to bring awareness that a high quality tennis academy and boarding school were in Southern California.
"The first seven years we lost money. We were going further and further into debt and there were times when I wondered if I made a mistake. I knew I needed to do something to make us stand out and to grab the attention of parents and kids."
The solution was to fully emphasize the academy's mission of college preparation and placement.
"I felt like I could look a parent straight in the eye and say I can get your kid to college," Weil said. "I could not do that and say I can get him (or her) on the (ATP) Tour.
"I based the academy on something honest and real and attainable. If I can get a kid a college scholarship, they, especially parents, feel like they've hit the jackpot."
Weil took his message to players and parents around the world, going to places like Mexico, South America, Europe and China.
"I showed them at college they can go to a place where the coach cares and they can continue to improve, and walk away with a degree as well," Weil said. "The parents especially responded because they'd say all my kid wants to do is play tennis but we want him (or her) to get an education."
Weil showed players college was not the consolation prize but the jackpot. Having the best players in the Pac-12 come to town each spring helped show students how great college tennis could be.
Over the last 10 year the academy has prospered. This year, 70 Weil players are part of The Ojai field. Former Weil students now play at top-level colleges like Georgetown and Dartmouth.
Senior Madison Wolfe, who is playing in her fourth Ojai, is off to the University of Akron on a full scholarship. The Colorado native said the four years she's spent at Weil have her prepared for college.
"Being away from home made me grow up and made me stronger," Wolfe said. "I feel so ready for college. Living with kids from around the world and from other cultures I feel so much more well-rounded.
"Tenniswise, my improvement has skyrocketed. Mark and the other coaches did so much for me. To be successful here you have to sacrifice, but it's been worth it."
For Weil, seeing players like Wolfe have success on and off the court is rewarding.
"My students inspire me to do all I can to help them achieve their dreams because when I was their age once and I had the same goals. So being able to help them reach their goals is special," he said.