Jan was born in Canton, China and immigrated to California with his parents when he was one year old.
I had the privilege of asking him a few questions about his life and career.
Q. What happened in high school after you got hooked on tennis?
A. I played on my high school tennis team, Santa Clara HS, on Bellamy Street, and competed well. Then I went to San Jose State and wanted to try out for that tennis team but the coach refused, saying that I was from a “bad high school.” But later I got a message saying that my coach didn’t have enough players and I “may as well try out.” He put me on a court against a great player with a national ranking and I beat him. I made the team, played many matches and tournaments in the Bay Area and did well.
Q. What did you want to do for a career at that time?
A. I wanted to be a PE teacher?
Q. Did that happen?
A. No, my dad thought that was too frivolous, so I became a science teacher. I taught chemistry, physics, meteorology and geology. But I was also a PE minor; my dad didn’t know that such a thing existed.
Q. What happened after college?
A. I was a substitute science teacher and taught tennis during the summer at Fairbrae Tennis Club. One of the men I coached was Don Logan, who became the mayor of Sunnyvale. In 1976 the job at Sunnyvale Tennis Center came up and I wasn’t going to apply because I thought I didn’t have enough experience but Don told me I should, so I did.
Q. How did you get the job?
A. There were over 300 applicants. We were all asked for a cashier’s check of $5,000 before we could be interviewed, to make sure that we were serious about the job. Only seven people fulfilled that requirement. I was interviewed by the mayor of the city, the vice-mayor, city manager, finance director, parks and recreation director, and some supervisors. Three applicants were chosen out of the seven and I was one of them. I thought I didn’t have a chance now. But I had to go to a city council meeting with the other two finalists and the members of the city council were asked to choose. They all looked to the mayor, Don Logan and said, ‘you’re the only one who plays tennis. What do you think?’ And he chose me.
Q. What was it like at Sunnyvale Tennis Center in those early years?
A. The first surprise was the idea of paying to play tennis. It was 1976 and everyone was accustomed to free tennis. The people were up in arms about the cost, which was $1.50 for a court. I said to them, ‘try it and if you don’t like it, I’ll personally give you your money back.’ I didn’t have to give money back to anyone.
Q. How many members were there?
A. From 1976-78 it was boom time for tennis. We filled all ten courts from 7am to 11pm every single day. We had parks and rec. classes that took 8 students per class and we had a waiting list of 62 people! I’d be frantic for tennis teachers and space to accommodate all the students, but as soon as I reduced the waiting list more names appeared. There were 12 parks and rec. teachers, one assistant and myself but it was impossible to keep up. During that time, Vic Braden, a well known professional tennis player had a tennis clinic program on Channel 9 and his favorite mantra was, ‘start classes on Saturday and you’ll be a champ by Thursday.’ He gave people the false idea that it would take a week or less to learn to play! People fell for it.
Q. How long did the boom last?
A. Just two years. People got frustrated and found that it wasn’t so easy, even when they used the new oversized, Prince racquet. I didn’t like the boom time because I didn’t have time to train teachers. Some of them were teenagers and often arrived late or didn’t show up at all. It was out of control. Back then, tennis was the 3rd most popular sport in the country, now it’s 26th. After things slowed down a bit there was more controlled growth and I had time to learn the business and train coaches. I made many mistakes at first, it was the school of hard knocks, but I decided I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. Progress became smoother after that.
Q. Who do you remember as a student?
A. Brian Garrow was one of my best students. He started with me when he was four years old. At that age most kids can concentrate for five or ten minutes and then need entertaining, but not Brian. One day when he was about seven years old and barely taller than the net I was hitting balls with him at Cupertino Swim and Racquet Club. I had this practice where I would count the number of hits he made back and forth to me with no faults. When we reached 50 the parents at the adjoining swim meet, who were there to support their own kids turned round and watched Brian. He kept going up to 150 hits, no mistakes, and by this time almost all the attention had transferred from the swim team to the tennis court. I felt this wasn’t a good thing for the swim team so I stopped the rally. But Brian could have gone on forever it seemed. He was such a hard worker, never wanted to stop practicing. He went on to join the USTA circuit and advanced to the semi-finals of the US Open Men’s Doubles in 1990.
Q. What do you like about the STC?
A. It’s like having a job where you’d hang around that place even if you didn’t get paid. And that’s where I work, so I’m getting the best of both worlds. I love to be around people who are having a good time. Our employees stay for a long time. One of my coaches started when I did in 1976 and will be there for a long time yet. He is a great teacher and friend. Another coach has been there almost as long. It’s a fun place to be.
Q. When did the Pro shop open?
A. In 1976. During the boom years of 1976-78 we’d put out a sign saying 10% off and before we opened there’d be a long line of customers. Now, just to get their attention it has to be 50% off.
Q. When did the café open?
A. It’s new, just built three years ago. I’ve always wanted a restaurant and though there was land available for one in the original plan, we never followed through on it, for many reasons.
Q. When did you decide to retire?
A. I wanted to retire five years ago. I felt the job needed someone younger and with more energy, but before I left I wanted to have sixteen courts instead of thirteen as we had then. Sixteen is a magic number because there are enough courts to run a bigger event and bigger tournaments. In fact we have run the Futures Tournament here for the last three years. It attracts young, top class players from all over the world. Robbie Ginepri won our Futures Tournament in 2001 and now he is playing in Grand Slam Tournaments.
Q. What are you going to do after you retire?
A. I want to write a book, fix up my house and do construction projects for others. I’ve got lots of tools and need an excuse to use them!
Q. Where did you meet your wife, Pearl?
A. I was going to a tennis tournament and my father asked me to entertain a friend of his because he was busy. I thought, oh no, I had visions of picking up a fifty year old lady and keeping her company at the tennis tournament. But when I got there out walks this girl who looks like she’s about fourteen! So we went to the tournament together and it went from there.
Q. What was Pearl’s first impression of you?
A. She looked at me and thought, is he old enough to drive? In fact I was eighteen or nineteen.
Q. Who is going to take over your job?
A. My best student, Brian Garrow, who has been here for four years learning the job. He is a superb coach, and able to bring his world class experience to our center. The center is lucky to have him.
Jan Young lives with his wife, Pearl in Sunnyvale. They have a son, named San who is in school in southern California studying for an MBA. I thank Jan for talking with me and I wish him all the best for his retirement.
