Bill Simons
You could call it the secret sauce of American tennis. Or maybe it’s simply the biggest factor in our game that no one quite focuses on.
Every summer, hundreds of thousands of kids head out – to discover the sport, to bond, to belong, or simply to refine their skills. They scatter across the map: on college campuses, gracious clubs or hardscrabble rec departments, where eager children fill many a court.
And one group has long dominated the field: Nike Sports.
There’s a Billie Jean King connection (isn’t there always). Back in 1975, the All American Tennis Camp that Billie Jean and Dennis Van der Meer were running in Tahoe was floundering big time. Enter young Charlie Hoeveler, an entrepreneurial force who saw a lane others didn’t. He took over the mountain camp and turned it into a true juggernaut.
Over the years, his company – then called US Sports Development – partnered with Adidas, then Nike, and opened camps across the country. Hoeveler’s formula took hold. Eventually it wasn’t only tennis. Soccer, basketball, volleyball, running – everything became grist for their considerable mill.
Hoeveler was a marketing wizard. In his own way, he touched as many young players as anyone in the game. Step into almost any tennis locker room in America and you’re bound to bump into a Nike Sports alum – someone with a story, a memory, a moment that stuck.
But all things pass. Now, Charlie has handed the wand to his son Justin, a former Northwestern player. The San Anselmo resident carries forward not just a business, but an enduring influence on American sport – one summer, one kid, one court at a time.
If anything, the role of camp may be more vital now than ever.
Kids’ lives are changing, and have been for some time. Club sports and the professionalization of youth athletics have created opportunities and sustained coaching careers. But they’ve also changed childhood in ways we’re now beginning to understand.
Parents are putting a ton of pressure on their children. Kids feel it from all directions – to play, perform, produce. “And you don’t have that at summer camp,” said Justin.
You go to camp – tennis camp – and you’re out there three, four, five hours a day, hitting balls, being with friends, making friends. There are no standings, no stats hovering over you. It’s just about playing the game.
“That’s how we differentiate ourselves,” he noted. “The focus is on fun. Because kids quit a sport when it’s not fun. And we all know tennis is a pressure-filled endeavor for anyone who’s crazy enough to pursue it. If you can build a foundation around fun and experience – not results, not winning – you’re going to keep players in the game longer.”
It sounds simple. In today’s world, it’s not.
For many kids, camp is the first time away from home. The first time stepping into a new social world. The first-day jitters. The tentative introductions. And then, over the course of a week, something shifts.
They make friends. They find their footing. They grow.
“You leave feeling like a different person,” Justin said.
That may be the real product.
Nike Tennis Camps have quite a footprint. They host north of 15,000 players a year and have hosted two million over 50 years. Across sports, their footprint stretches to virtually every corner of the country, often anchored by college campuses – places like Stanford, Oklahoma, Cal and Florida State – where kids get a taste of something bigger.
“You’re forming connections with great college coaches,” Justin said. “You’re experiencing what that level looks like.”
Not that these camps are pipelines to the ATP Tour. “They’re not for the elite elite,” he said. “They’re for the player who might want to make the varsity team, who has aspirations to maybe play in college.”
Which, in its way, is the point. This is not about producing the next top-10 player. It’s about keeping the game vibrant.
There’s a sense of continuity.
Justin himself grew up in the system – Tahoe, Santa Cruz, Stanford – moving from camp to camp, forming friendships that resurfaced summer after summer. Davis Cup-style team competitions. Doubles matches that mattered, at least for a week.
“You remember those connections,” he said.
Kids return year after year, often as much for the friendships as for the forehands. Now, they stay in touch digitally, but the foundation is still laid on court.
The enterprise has grown far beyond summer camps.
Justin helped launch Youth Enrichment Brands, a broader platform that includes US Sports Camps, School of Rock, SafeSplash and i9 Sports – an array of programs that stretch from courts to classrooms to concert stages.
Different domains. Same idea.
“At the end of the day,” Justin observed, “we represent fun, confidence-building, and skill development.”
But tennis camps are still the beating heart.
If Justin could change tennis?
More team tennis. More doubles that matter. More visibility for the electric energy of college tennis. Maybe even have fewer machines calling lines – bring back a bit of human drama.
Of course, Justin briefly muses on the 800-pound gorilla in the room: how to produce the next great American champion. But then he pivoted, and told us what gives him the most satisfaction. “It’s giving kids the summer experience.”
From college facilities in Malibu to ancient schools outside London that trace their roots to the 13th century, the renewal continues each season.
Steadily. Not producing headlines or chasing rankings – giving kids something simpler, and perhaps more lasting:
A game.
A week.
A friend.
A beginning.