Neal Hagberg, the new director of Tennis and Life Camp, stresses a philosophy for the camp reminiscent of the college’s own mission. The camp works to “encourage a deeper look at one’s sportsmanship and relationships with others, both on and off the court,” according to the mission statement that can be found on the camp’s website.

This past summer was the first in which Steve Wilkinson was not the director of Tennis and Life Camp. The torch has been passed to Hagberg, who has spent twenty years as assistant director. This summer the camp also changed from a private enterprise into a non-profit organization, something that Hagberg and Wilkinson both felt was the right thing to do. This allowed the camp to give out thirty scholarships to students who wouldn’t otherwise have been able to attend and attracted participants from places like Burma, Laos, Thailand and inner-city areas, as well as suburbs of the Twin Cities.

Tennis and Life Camp focuses on three core values that Wilkinson has dubbed the Triple Crowns; attitude, effort and sportsmanship. “They are the only things you can control,” Hagberg said. “You won’t always be the best you think you can be, but you can control your attitude.”

Tennis and Life camps have been offered for 35 years. Steve and Barb Wilkinson started the camp.

“[They] had a vision that if you can be your own judge on the court, you can apply that to your life,” Hagberg said.Tennis, unlike other sports, has a moral code which expects players to be their own referee.

The camp also stresses the importance of respecting your opponent. “If you are respectful of the opponent, the opponent may change too and later give you the benefit of the doubt. I’ve seen it happen many times,” Hagberg said. He also said that it is a good idea to “think about the sportsmanship you want to exhibit before the match so when you get into the heat of the moment, you’ll have already thought about it.”

“TLC [Tennis and Life Camp] always asks the question, ‘How can I best serve today?’ That’s a tennis metaphor that applies to life,” Hagberg said. “It seems to line up with the mission of the college.”

In the Life portion of the camp, participants engage in music, dialogues, sessions and concerts that seek to reinforce the Triple Crowns. First-year Political Science and Economics Major Brittany Searle has attended Tennis and Life camp in the past, and said that the Life portion of the camp is a point of emphasis.

“We do a lot of tennis stuff, but everything we do tennis-related is also related to life; everything we talk about is worked back into how we act as a person,” Searle said. “Everything we do there builds us as a person. [Wilkinson] really focused on the idea that not everything is about tennis, and it doesn’t matter how much ability you have, because everyone can achieve great things.”

While Wilkinson’s focus has been on the Tennis portion of the camps, Hagberg’s back-ground is in the life aspect of the camp. Hagberg grew up in Montevideo, Minn. and didn’t play tennis until he was 12 years old, when Jolly Carlson came to his town to teach tennis. He fell in love with the sport and would play tennis for six hours a day in the summer.

Sick of tennis by the time he arrived at college, Hagberg joined the football team. Hagberg, who attended Gustavus, said he regrets not taking the opportunity to be coached by Wilkinson. In Hagberg’s senior year at Gustavus, Wilkinson approached him about doing music for the Life portion of the camp. Hagberg wasn’t sure, but agreed to try it for two summers. He was struck by “how enthused the staff was”and how the camp “brought people together.” Hagberg held the position of assistant director for almost twenty years.

Hagberg was hesitant when Wilkinson recently asked him to take over the camp. “I knew I didn’t want to take it over myself as a private enterprise,” Hagberg said. It wasn’t until the idea of turning the camp into a non-profit came up that Hagberg seriously considered the offer.
“Steve was an incredible mentor. It’s hard to step away from your absolute dream and allow someone else to lead it—it’s like giving up your baby,” Hagberg said.

Although Wilkinson has the most wins in the history of men’s collegiate tennis, his legacy is in the Tennis and Life camps. Hagberg said he feels honored to be where he is right now. “To have lived something so long and have such a vision—I guess [Wilkinson] trusts me…He’s brilliant—I hope I do half the job he did. I’m so grateful,” Hagberg said.