Longtime tennis pro Paron giving back to the sport
Former Brock coach keeps busy in retirement by offering free lessons
Matthew Paron isn’t sitting idly by the telephone waiting for the last of four childhood dreams to come true.
Until the Montreal Canadiens call offering him a contract to play in the National Hockey League, the 46-year-old St. Catharines native says he is content keeping himself busy offering tennis lessons free of charge and restringing rackets at cost.
It’s the retired military police officer’s way of giving back to a sport that has given him so much. Tennis took Paron across Canada, to the United States and Australia in a 20year career as a pro.
He currently is teaching five different groups — about 10 people in all — at public courts, but there’s room on his schedule to take on more students. “I want to keep busy, and I want to help. If anyone wants to learn how to play tennis, I can do it,” Paron said. “It’s mainly about giving back to the sport.
“With this pandemic, and after the stuff I saw as a military police officer, I just want to give back.”
A pension from the Canadian Armed Forces allows him to offer free lessons.
He does charge people who can afford it for restringing rackets, but only to cover the cost of the string and grips.
“I either give them for free along with other tennis equipment I have or charge $5 to $8 per racket,” he said.
Paron began offering free lessons about six weeks ago, though he has been collecting rackets and tennis equipment for years.
They’re not collecting dust in his St. Catharines home, however.
On the weekend, he provided rackets to a husband and wife and their six- and eight-year-old children. He estimates he has given away more than 100 rackets in the past month.
“I’m down to my last 30 rackets. If anyone has any they would like to donate, just give me a call,” Paron said with a chuckle.
His lessons are taught at public courts, including Realty Park on Vine Street in St. Catharines.
“Those courts are really nice. Because of the COVID, they’ve opened them up to everybody,” he said.
COVID-19 has changed Paron’s approach to teaching. In addition to bringing along hand sanitizer, different sets of balls are provided on different days.
If he plays a match with an adult student, each player will use their own can of balls
“We’re only touching the ball with the racket,” he said.
Physical distancing had made teaching serves and smashes a “little bit more difficult,” but tennis is an ideal noncontact sport.
“Tennis is one of those sports that we can continue with no contact,” he said. “As long as you stay a safe distance apart, you’re not touching the tennis balls as much.
“Even playing doubles, you’re almost always more than six feet apart.”
Paron, who played on a semi-pro circuit, coached at many clubs in Australia and for a time travelled back and forth to Ottawa after leaving St. Catharines.
He taught tennis in the U.S. and was the head pro at the Yellowknife Tennis Club in the Northwest Territories
Paron travelled about 10 years before coming home to St. Catharines, where he started Tennis Advantage and began visiting elementary schools in Niagara.
“It was mainly a way to promote the sport and help people who probably have never played before,” he said.
Paron was 37 when he joined the armed forces. The decision, he said, was entirely pragmatic.
“With the tennis life, there is no pension — you own your own business — so I didn’t have a pension,” Paron added. “I didn’t have health care.
“Your body starts to wear and tear as the years get on.”
Paron, who began coaching with the St. Catharines Tennis Club before moving on to White Oaks Resort & Spa in Niagara-on-the-lake, learned when he started Tennis Advantage the value of knowing how to restring rackets.
A course he took and a racketstringer he bought about 25 years ago were among the best investments he made in the business.
“It was just so much cheaper for me, because I would be breaking strings every couple of days, and you were going to have to pay $40 to $50 every time you restring,” Paron recalled.
He shared his expertise in equipment maintenance with Brock University varsity teams in his seven years as one of their coaches.
“Same thing there. The athletes were breaking strings every couple of days,” Paron said.
Store-bought rackets come with plastic strings that don’t play very well.
“It’s recommended you cut the string and have them restrung, and the ball will kind of fly off the racket,” he said.
Paron mainly uses synthetic gut or polyester strings.
“Those are the main types of string that players like to use now, but obviously there are hundreds of different variations that will give you different spins and so forth,” he said.
Strings come in different sizes, as well. Thicker string, for instance, will last a little longer but will play a little harder. Thinner strings will give more feel.
“I have about 25 different types of string,” he said.
“It all depends on what best suits the player’s game.”
It takes him about 30 minutes to restring a racket.
“Some guys can actually get a racket restrung in 15 minutes,” he said. “It’s pretty rhythmic. I find it pretty relaxing.”
When he was a child, Paron had four dreams about what he wanted to accomplish in his life
“I dreamed of becoming a tennis pro/coach, police officer, in the army and my fourth dream, and I’m still waiting for this, I want to play for the Montreal Canadiens,” he said with a laugh.
“I’ve made three of the four dreams come true.”
People interested in receiving free lessons, donating rackets or having rackets restrung can contact Paron at 289-696-0841 or by email at tennis_advantage@hotmail.com.
“I want to keep busy, and I want to help. If anyone wants to learn how to play tennis, I can do it. It’s mainly about giving back to the sport.
MATTHEW PARON RETIRED, CANADIAN FORCES MP AND FORMER TENNIS PRO