Page 76 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2018

SPORTS & OUTDOORS 40 love
Keith Bannister,
Russell Howatt, Paul French, Steve Garman Below LEFT: Steve Garman, Paul French and the Costa Rican doubles team
World of Championships
TOURNAMENT
Diamondhead Tennis Pro Plays for Great Britain in World Tournament
story by Lynn Lofton photos courtesy Diamondhead Country Club
Diamondhead Tennis World
228.255.5030 dhtennisworld@cableone.net www.diamondheadms.org
Tennis is a way of life for Steven Garman, director of tennis at Diamondhead Country Club where he’s finishing his 20th year at the Hancock County facility.
Garman, a citizen of Great Britain who’s lived in the United States
40 years, recently had the honor of representing his home country in the World of Championships tournament in Miami, Florida, an event that’s played all over the world. He was
part of a team that included other Brits, Paul French, Keith Bannister and Russell Howatt in the senior division — age 60 and over. The team finished sixth out of 22 countries participating and lost 2-1 to the U.S. team in the quarter finals.
“The challenge was that I was playing for my country, not myself, and that made it a bit nerve wracking,” he said. “I overcame it by just playing and then I relaxed a little. It was enjoyable and like a United Nations there.”
Garman, 60, started playing tennis at age 10 and hopes to play well into
his 90s. “My family always played. I enjoy the competition and the great camaraderie, especially as I get in the older age group,” he says. “I tell everyone ‘keep playing till your last breath.’”
The tennis tradition continues
with Garman and wife Marianne’s children, Andrew, 24, and Abigail,
16, who began playing early. Andrew even works with his dad at the club where another Garman, Steven’s younger brother, Matt, also works, bringing the total to three Garmans at Diamondhead Country Club.
Steven Garman has the distinction of being a U.S. Professional Tennis Association Elite Pro, the highest certification an instructor can obtain. “You have to show that you can
play and run a club,” he said of the certification.
Playing tennis in college brought Garman to this country where he played in Savannah, Georgia. “I liked it and wandered farther South to the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” he said.
76 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • January 2018
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