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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, July 27, 2003

Hawai'i 'Godfather' to be honored at Kailua Men's Night Doubles

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

SAM CALDWELL

As he eases toward his 74th birthday, Sam Caldwell is as inauspicious as ever at Kailua Racquet Club, where the main draw of the 33rd annual Men's Night Doubles begins tonight.

It is how the man generally considered the current "Godfather" of Hawai'i tennis likes it. But his impact on the game is in dramatic contrast to his low-key presence. That's why Night Doubles, the state's most popular tennis tournament, will honor him this year.

"He's the guy — the person overseeing, the all-knowing, the godfather," says Punahou Director of Tennis Bernard Gusman.

Caldwell started in the sport barefoot on Lana'i's gravel courts in the '30s and has always been more of a "hacker" than a "hammer." Yet most Hawai'i players of the last few decades have called him "Uncle Sam" most of their lives.

Kailua Racquet Club Men's Night Doubles

WHEN: Main DrawiTonight through Saturday. (Friday is a rain date). Matches at 6 p.m. and 7:30 until Thursday's semifinals, which start at 6 p.m. and 7:15. Best-of-five championship at 6 p.m. Saturday.

ADMISSION: Free

PURSE: $7,500 (winners split $2,400)

WHERE: 629 Oneawa St.

PARKING: Free at Church of Nazarene across the street

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS: Erik Vervloet and Brendon Curry, who are seeded first.
Caldwell has been president of the Punahou Tennis Club pretty much ever since he returned to Honolulu — for the last time — in 1962. He was born at Kapiolani Maternity Hospital and has lived in Wahiawa, Honolulu, California, Lana'i, Connecticut —where he graduated from prep school and attended Yale — Kansas, Schofield, Shafter and on the Big Island.

Tennis was a constant, but Caldwell did not truly find his niche until daughters Kristin and Linden became competitive.

"I realized that tournaments could be run more efficiently than most were, and with closer attention to the rules," Caldwell recalled. "So I got involved in officiating."

That was some three decades ago. With Keith Johnson, who would move on to become chief referee at the U.S. Open, Caldwell helped form the Hawai'i Tennis Umpires Association.

Not coincidentally, a spate of professional events in Hawai'i followed.

The Hawai'i Leis played World Team Tennis matches, introducing legends like John Newcombe, Ilie Nastase and Margaret Court to the sub-standard lighting of Blaisdell Arena and McKinley High School.

The men's pro tour, with its most famous umpire-baiters, followed. Gladys Heldman brought the women's tour. The Hawai'i Grand Prix circuit started, and satellite events began to lay over here.

"The days at the Royal Lahaina and Wailea with the ATP events, and the Hawai'i Leis, are probably the most memorable," Caldwell said. "Having the opportunity to work with such players as Jimmy Connors, Ilie Nastase, John McEnroe, John Newcombe, Owen Davidson, and many others bring back fond memories."

When Caldwell wasn't officiating, which was rare between all the international and local events, he was training new referees or initiating tournaments.

"He was a wonderful volunteer and never said no to any tennis requests," said City and County tennis specialist, and officiating colleague, Don Andrews.

Eventually, Caldwell became the Hawai'i Pacific Sectional Delegate to the U.S. Tennis Association and a member of the USTA Officials and Rules Committees. When his sight and hearing began to fade, he jumped off the umpire's chair and into refereeing events such as Night Doubles, Dillingham, Aloha Airlines Juniors and Junior Nationals.

In either position, Caldwell is rarely questioned. People here know he is a voice of reason and fairness. Outsiders realize it almost immediately. He is a Hawai'i tennis historian, an official with a gift for simple explanation and a respected proponent of the game.

"Sam always sticks to the rules and lives by the rules and won't favor anything," says Paul Leong, who, as a tennis player and administrator, has known Caldwell more than 30 years. "Sam is right down the middle of a black and white road."

In a sport that can be painfully political, Caldwell, once a lobbyist for the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association, usually offers an objective perspective. During one of the sport's most controversial times in the late '90s, he got involved with the founding of the non-profit Hawai'i Pacific Tennis Foundation. He is now president. In May, the foundation obtained the bid to operate and manage the tennis complex at Central O'ahu Regional Park.

Caldwell will remain largely in the background still, mingling with the tennis people whose friendship he treasures and trying to avoid the "politics involved that got in the way of good administration of tennis in Hawai'i."

SHORT LOBS: Defending champions Erik Vervloet, Director of Tennis at Hilton Waikoloa, and Brendon Curry, a South African who used to be ranked among the Top 200 in the world in doubles, play in one of the four opening-round matches tonight. ... Dennis Lajola, 14, plays his first-round match tomorrow night with partner Channon Alcon. They are seeded eighth. Lajola is coming off a quarterfinal showing at the Fila Cup-Open Des Jeunes Stade Francais-Paris. He was playing with the Boys 14 National High Performance team. ... Second-seeded Ikaika Jobe and Brad Lum-Tucker — last year's runners-up — and third-seeded Ryan Ideta and Erik Sandblom are in the bottom half of the draw with Lajola and Alcon. ... Ideta, UH-Hilo's assistant coach, is this year's winner of the 2002 Peter Isaak Sportsmanship Award. Ideta and Kendall Char — who won five Night Doubles titles with Isaak — share the tournament record with six championships apiece. ... KRC's Women's Night Doubles tournament is scheduled for November. ... A portion of this year's Men's Doubles proceeds will go to the Mike MacKinnon Fund to benefit junior players.