Playing tennis in the Panhandle

It is challenging to have a high school tennis program in the Panhandle, but the Beaver Dusters have been serving it up for more than four decades.

Beaver doesn’t have country club kids in its high school program because there is no country club in Beaver. There are only four tennis courts at the high school for community use.

Then there is the wind. It is always blowing in the Panhandle. The Dusters must learn to play in it.

This is the first year that Beaver tennis coach Jinger Looper has ever canceled practice because of the wind. It was blowing more than 50 mph.

“I guess that is my threshold, 50,” she said.

Then there is the travel. The Dusters travel to Oklahoma City for one tournament each season, which requires an overnight stay.

The rest of the tennis schedule is three trips to Elk City.

The Dusters get up at 4:30 a.m. three times a year and drive three hours to Elk City to play in tournaments against larger schools.

Sometimes, the Dusters will schedule a match with neighboring Canadian, Texas, which is only 68 miles south in the other Panhandle.

Beaver is the smallest public high school in Oklahoma with a tennis program. Beaver High School has less than 100 kids but the Dusters qualify at least one player to the Class 4A state tennis tournament almost every year.

“We are Class A in everything else that we play,” Looper said.

Two years ago, Looper’s oldest daughter, Allex, was the state runner-up in No. 1 singles.

This year, the Dusters have qualified two singles players to the Class 4A state tournament at the Oklahoma City Tennis Center. Jinger Looper’s youngest daughter, Sydnee, is a freshman playing No. 1 singles.

Jinger Looper, who also coaches fast-pitch softball and basketball, said between 10 and 16 kids play tennis each year at Beaver High School.

“The reason I love tennis is because it gets kids that don’t play some of the other things,” she said.

“That gives them the opportunity to compete. A lot of our kids are not always great tennis players to start with but they are great athletes and they are able to adjust.”

Believe it or not, tennis is a popular sport in Beaver.

“These kids fall in love with tennis, which is what I want them to do,” Looper said. “It is a lifetime sport.”

And if the wind comes sweeping down the plains at the Oklahoma City Tennis Center this weekend? Advantage, Beaver.