Sports
July 6, 2007- One Mann's journey stopped in El Dorado County
By Jerry Heinzer, Democrat staff writer
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TENNIS PRO Nathan Mann, left, in front of “Anna Supernova,” a ’79 Dodge
Xplorer van he uses as transportation to various tournaments on the ITF
circuit. See story “One …”
Democrat photo by Dan Burkhart |
SHINGLE
SPRINGS - There was probably 100 stories surrounding the Thompson's
Buick-Pontiac-GMC $15,000 Professional Tennis Tournament at the
Millennium Sports Club El Dorado in Shingle Springs that concluded
early this week, but none had quite the slant Nathan Mann's did.
But
much as one might find Nathan's individual saga both unusual and
interesting, he was probably upstaged by his 1979 Dodge Xplorer van,
his mode of transportation while he's on the pro circuit.
Nathan
is a personable 24-year-old native of Ohio who currently resides in
Charlotte, N.C. He's living the dream; young, handsome, care free and
out on the open road trying to make it in the competitive world of
professional tennis. He and his trainer, Rob Arnold, have traveled
around to various International Tennis Federation tournaments for the
past six months. In all Nathan has been on the road for eight and by
the looks of it, he's left a few broken hearts along the way.
“I'd
like to make it somewhere in tennis during my 20s and in my 30s I want
to run/own a tennis club. In college I wrote several papers on what it
would entail and look like,” said Nathan, who wants to combine tennis,
a coffee house and bagpipes in his business plan.
More on the bagpipes later.
He's
yet to cash in on singles play - the highest Nathan has advanced is to
the second round. At the Millennium Sports Club tournament, he lost his
first qualifying match to a player who ultimately made it into the main
draw. But Nathan is hardly your typical one-and-done, pack up and leave
type of player.
If
Nathan isn't winning the prize money, he has to earn some by other
means and for that he falls back on survival instincts for sustenance
while he's out on the pro tour. In fact Nathan claims he's never worked
for anyone else - with the exception of his dad - but himself.
One
decision he's made to stretch his dollars was to cut his overhead
expenses by using his van as his living quarters. The '79 Xplorer,
affectionately named “Anna Supernova,” replaced an earlier “Big Blue”
that Nathan sold in March in Harlingen, Texas. Anna came with 68,000
miles on her though there's suspicion it could have been 168K but
Nathan doesn't know. After he talks about Anna's history, the
speculation is 268K and a story that involves “driving all over the
country” leaves one wondering if it's actually 368K.
She has all
the amenities: a sink with running water, a stovetop with two burners,
microwave, fridge, inlaid floor, shag carpeting on the ceiling, an
eating area with table whose seats are also the beds, a propane power
system, a second battery and even an enclosed toilet - albeit small at
4-feet, 8-inches high, 2 feet wide and 28 inches deep - that doubles
for the laundry bin.
Where Big Blue had none of this and
averaged 10 miles to the gallon, Anna came with all the comforts of
home at 15 miles per. For more storage, Anna pulled a small, backpacker
wagon of supplies such as a racquet stringer, racquets, clothes, a
medicine ball, the bagpipe and tools for the van (Nathan is the
mechanic).
Increased
gas mileage helps but a positive cash flow was needed to get Nathan
from tournament site to tournament site. For that he used some
ingenuity to come up with FEEDtheVan.com, an interesting website that
sells advertising and gear such as “I fed the Van” shirts, hats, coffee
cups and stickers. Also, there's a mapped chart of his progress and a
blog that chronicles his travels.
The website also has videos
and pictures and a theme song with the lyrics “If you feel like
leaving, I'm not gonna make you stay ... you can run, you can hide but
you can't escape my van.” The site also boasts that it's “home of the
only bumper-sticker-advertisement-fueled van in the world.”
Until
his client base is stronger, Nathan supplement's that income by playing
bagpipe gigs, a skill he picked up several years ago. He plays for tips
and his take varies. On each stop of the tour, Nathan calls local
establishments seeking an opportunity to play. He authenticates his act
dressed in a full kilt.
“The first few times I performed in the
kilt, I had it on backwards because I thought the pleats went in the
back,” Nathan said. “If I lose on the court, I can still go do a gig at
the end of the day and do something successful.”
He's true to
his belief in “taking the business when it comes” by stringing racquets
on the side for 10 bucks a pop. While in Shingle Springs, Nathan and
Rob topped out at 50 racquets. Rob aspires to be a physical trainer and
trains Nathan when he's not cooking (chicken, hotdogs, mac and cheese),
cleaning, brewing coffee, driving or stringing racquets.
Nathan's
“Journey America Tour” began in North Carolina and has hit Florida,
Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and most recently, California. He's
bedded down on beaches, in parking lots, at racquet clubs and even on
couches through the national “Couchsurfing” program.
In Shingle
Springs, Nathan, Rob and Anna were holed up in the parking lot of the
Gold Country Baptist Church, across from the Millennium SportsClub, and
were allowed to utilize electricity, water and wireless Internet. While
here, Nathan played several gigs, one in Lotus and the other in Coloma,
and enjoyed the hospitality of several families that prompted him to
write in his journal, “I don't think I've felt so welcomed as I do here
anywhere else I've been.”
Using that sentiment, Nathan is bound to come back to the area should the ITF return to the Millennium - assuming Anna gets fed. |
