NorCal ATC Chair Mark Fairchilds is Dedicated to the Growth of Tournament Play

Mark Fairchilds can see it every time he’s on the courts at the Laguna Creek Racquet Club these days. 

“I think we have so many tennis players who are chomping at the bit for tournaments and leagues to start,” he said. “I think you can feel the excitement level.” 

The Director of Tennis at the Racquet Club, and now USTA NorCal’s Adult Tournament Committee Chair, Fairchild is more attuned than most to the buzz of tournament play returning. 

“I’m excited to be the tournament chairman and I love my committee and everything, but I know just as a player these people can’t wait to get back to normal,” he added. 

Part of that attunement comes from Fairchilds having spent years feeling that same buzz around tournaments as a successful player himself. 

It was during that time playing open tournaments in the United States and overseas that Fairchilds first started to get involved in the governance of the sport. 

“One of the tennis pros just said ‘why don’t you get involved?’,” he recalled. “I really liked the chance to help out and try to help NorCal become a better section.” 

One of the first projects Fairchilds helped along back then was to shepard more opportunities for players to turn pro in the NorCal section. 

And those years playing on the pro circuit have given Fairchilds a comprehensive idea of what makes a good tournament. 

“You see great tournaments, who runs great tournaments, and who doesn’t run great tournaments,” he explained. “And you see ideas of what to do to make people enjoy their tournament stay and enjoy the experience of playing in tournaments. I think it’s important that people enjoy the experience of playing in tournaments, especially when it’s their first event.” 

For Fairchilds, that’s a focus on great competition and that buzz he feels is in his players today. 

“If people really get excited about the tournament and the people running the tournament are excited about it, I think that’s an important part,” he said. “The other part is just how much fun it is being in the tournament. It’s a combination of ‘do you love the competition? Are there great people running the events? And, do you think everybody’s enjoying the competition?’”

Though Fairchilds was a successful pro himself and had a hand in expanding those opportunities in his first forays with USTA NorCal, now he sees the expanded competitive opportunities for more players, like NTRP Nationals, as the biggest boon for the sport. 

He points out that there’s no drop off in competitive desire no matter what level of tennis someone is playing and that the ability for players to play all over the country while helping their ranking with a chance to play in a national tournament is a significant step. 

“I’m really excited about that and I think a lot of our NTRP players are really excited about it,” Fairchilds said. 

In the meantime, Fairchilds wants to continue adapting tournaments to the changes he’s seen in tennis, adding that the social and team aspects of tennis are areas he sees players valuing more and more. 

“Tennis has become a much more social game in the last five, 10 years that people want a great competition, but they want to go do it with other people too,” he said.