For Pautsch it’s 25 and done

Next year Paul Pautsch won’t be running the Cancer Challenge Tennis Tournament, but he plans to play in it.

“Of course I say that every year,” he laughed, but this year he means it. This year, Pautsch organized his 25th Cancer Challenge tournament. That doesn’t even count the five years he organized for the Phillips Classic tournament, the predecessor to the Cancer Challenge.

Pautsch retired as the POA’s tennis pro in 2016, but he still spends time on the courts. He coaches the John Brown University tennis team and volunteers for the United States Tennis Association. He also spends six to eight hours on the Bella Vista court teaching. Two of the groups he teaches have been with him for more than 20 years.

“I don’t want them to quit tennis and they like to hit with me,” he explained.

Pautsch said he has known the POA’s new pro Jake Shoemake for years. They used to joke, he said, that Shoemake would replace him when he retired and it finally happened.

“He’ll move it to the next level,” he said about Shoemake and the

tennis program.

Meanwhile, the Cancer Challenge brought tennis players from all over the region to Bella Vista.

Jason Stanley of Rogers says the Bella Vista facility is the one of the area’s best kept secrets.

“It’s a great complex,” he said.

Bentonville resident Lisa Hufford agreed.

“It has good shade,” she said.

The tournament was a lot of fun, they agreed.

A charity tournament is more relaxed, Stanley said. He attended the wine and cheese social the night before adult play began and enjoyed that.

“It’s a good cause too,” he added.

For Bella Vista resident Linda Lloyd the Cancer Challenge is also a good way to meet other tennis players.

“It’s an opportunity to contribute to a charity where all the money stays local,” she said, “That’s important.”

Also the number of volunteers ensures that costs are kept low so the contributions are higher.

“It’s a good way to showcase Bella Vista,” she added.

Melissa Branam appreciates the chance to play in a tournament since she doesn’t play team tennis.

“It’s like a party for doing something good,” she said.

Lynn Atkins/The Weekly Vista Paul Pautsch (left) reads the team assignments for the Cancer Challenge adult tennis tournament. Pautsch retired as the POA tennis pro but continued to run the Cancer Challenge Tournament. Now after 25 years, he’s ready to step down and let the new POA pro Jake Shoemake take over the tournament.

Lynn Atkins/The Weekly Vista Cori Beth Cunnigham (left) and Linda Lloyd were partners for a round of Cancer Challenge Tennis at the Kingsdale complex last week.