Pro Paul Pautsch discusses Bella Vista tennis history
Former POA tennis pro Paul Pautsch came to the Bella Vista Historical Museum to discuss the sport’s history in Bella Vista.
He oversaw tennis in Bella Vista for more than three decades, he explained, from 1987 to his retirement in 2016. In that time, Pautsch watched the sport grow and evolve and did what he could to push it along — though he maintains that it was the tennis community that made it work.
Bella Vista tennis players attended various social events, including games against Hot Springs, winter outings and potlucks.
“If it wouldn’t be for all you people, Bella Vista tennis wouldn’t be where it is today,” he said.
Pautsch also donated scrapbooks to the museum — which, he said, his wife asked him to dispose of — featuring news clippings and photos from Bella Vista tennis over the years.
The first tennis court in Bella Vista used to sit where the Veterans Wall of Honor is today, he said. It was originally dirt though, by the time he got to Bella Vista, it was paved and the first few tennis courts near Riordan Hall were together.
“So it’s always been a progression,” he said.
When he started, Pautsch explained, he ended up playing a great deal of tennis with many people, including Sam Walton. Somewhere in there, he explained, the idea for a charity tennis tournament was hatched and the Phillips Pro Celebrity Classic — a precursor to the Cancer Challenge — was born.
“We brought in celebrities from all over,” he said. “That has been a labor of love.”
In the early ’90s, he said, he started tennis camps, which branched out from teaching friends’ grandchildren to play tennis. It’s not uncommon now for those camps to have between 35 and 50 kids, he said, and he’s starting to see kids he taught bring their kids.
“It started out as maybe a babysitting service, but we had the ability … to really teach these kids tennis,” he said.
In 2007, he said, the tennis association got to work on a new tennis building by Riordan Hall, which is still in use today.
The structure was originally intended to house offices, though it has been configured purely as a tennis building.
“If you saw our old building, you’d know why we needed a new one,” he said. “In that old building, I would go into the men’s and women’s room every morning and make sure there were no snakes or spiders.”
It’s also noteworthy, he said, that the tennis building was the very first building the POA built — prior to that, all the POA buildings were donated by Cooper.
Even at 70, Pautsch said he loves to coach and is glad for the opportunity to have worked with tennis players of all ages.
One attendee, Harriet Hale, said she played tennis after moving to Bella Vista in 2002. She enjoyed the presentation, she said, and came out specifically to listen to Pautsch speak.
“He’s been a dear friend for many years,” she said.
City council member and historical society board member John Flynn said he suggested Pautsch speak at the museum and he enjoyed seeing photos and listening to the presentation — particularly seeing who played in Bella Vista during the Phillips Classic.
“Ron Labor and Pancho Gonzales playing on our courts. It doesn’t get much bigger than that,” he said.