Norma Jean Wingate, Head ATC, is not only the one to limp to when you’ve strained a muscle on the tennis court, but also the one to help you strategize for your next match, because she is an avid tennis player herself. 

“I started playing tennis when I was eight,” Wingate said. “I grew up a block away from the park in Cobb’s Creek. There were three hard courts and three clay courts,” along with instructors from the national junior tennis league (NJTL) that Wingate would play in every year. 

The program, now Legacy Youth Tennis and Education, is a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization that teaches kids to be better “athletes, model students, and active leaders in their communities,” according to their website (https://legacyyte.org/). Wingate said, “For like 20 bucks, they would teach you tennis and improve your game. I grew up doing it every summer, and I got better and better.”

Wingate’s favorite thing about the sport is the “sense of community” it continues to provide. Playing at the tennis courts along Allen’s Lane is where she met her wife, and former doubles partner, Sueli. “I have a great tennis family, and it’s grown from being at Cobb’s Creek. We’ve been to weddings and births and, you know, anniversaries. We check on each other.”

“The physical and mental release,” Wingate said, is a great benefit of the sport as well. “You can’t focus on anything but the tennis ball at that point in time. So whatever was bothering you, how bad your day was, doesn’t really matter, because you’re just focusing on hitting the ball.”

From playing as a child to now, she has stayed dedicated to the sport, actively playing in tennis clinics and participating in tournaments throughout the year. “My favorite is the PA Open,” she said, which is hosted at the Philadelphia Tennis Club, “literally right up here in the Mount Airy Germantown area.” The Sickle Cell Tennis Classic is another she and her wife have enjoyed. “It’s for a good cause, sickle cell awareness and research.” They compete annually as partners when allowed and previously won the 42nd and 44th Sickle Cell Tournament in 2019 and 2021 for women’s doubles. 

When she’s not playing tennis, she might also simply be watching it, especially at SCH, where she is around the courts as a standby in case of an emergency, and gets to watch the matches while doing so. “I love watching our kids play,” she said. “Leah [Thomas] has a step back forehand cross court that I wish I had.” 

For Wingate, Tennis has been more than an activity, but a connection to communities both in and outside of SCH. She has found family and friends that she has been able to grow and learn some tennis skills from, and has been able to share her love of Tennis with those at SCH. Whether she is playing, watching, or discussing the game, she’s never stopped loving it.