Rebuilding Tennis: A Look Back at the Devastating Joplin Tornado

“It was something I had never seen before,” Starkweather said. “In Missouri, we lived through tornadoes before. This was completely different. It looked so much like a warzone. Trees were gone. You could see from one end of town to the other almost completely because all the buildings were down. All the houses were down.

“I’m a Joplin guy. I grew up here, went to school here, taught and coached here, was the athletic director here. So those landmarks where you know right where you’re at — you got turned around a little bit during that process. Is this where this was? It was just a really strange and bizarre feeling. It just takes your breath away. It really did. I just couldn’t believe it.”

One of those buildings and landmarks was Joplin High School, where sections of the property were ravaged. A school bus was thrown on top of the eviscerated garage. McWilliams remembers venturing to the high school and attempting to recover his computer, which contained seven years of lesson plans on it.

“It was just total devastation,” McWilliams said. “The gymnasium and cafeteria were totally destroyed. Just outside the cafeteria side were the four tennis courts that were destroyed as well. Those were courts we ran a lot of camps on and programs during the summer. We had some match play there during tournaments where we had overflow. We used them for gym. Those four courts played a special role for me personally.”

McWilliams attended nearby Columbus Unified High School in Kansas, an area where there wasn’t much tennis taking place. The Joplin boys’ tennis coach at the time allowed McWilliams and a friend of his from church to play on the four courts and invited McWilliams to partake in summer camps there, too.

That’s part of the reason McWilliams — who now lives and works in Arkansas — stayed in Joplin for additional years despite receiving an attractive job offer to leave. McWilliams wanted to make sure the tennis facilities were taken care of before he moved on.

So after the tornado hit, McWilliams got to work.

He wrote 32 grants for all Joplin elementary schools to receive tennis equipment for PE classes, ensuring every kid gets the opportunity to learn the sport. McWilliams contacted the USTA — which helped out with those grants — and a domino effect ensued.

USTA donated $100,000 to help rebuild Joplin High School and the tennis courts. The organization also held a huge community event in Joplin in the tornado’s aftermath to boost the morale of families affected by the natural disaster. Additionally, the USTA recruited the involvement of its members and other organizations to assist in relief efforts. Starkweather called USTA’s contributions “unbelievable.” Read more about the donation here. 

“$100,000 — that was a big deal,” Starkweather said. “The response from USTA to donate to Joplin schools was not expected at all. It was something we were extremely grateful for. Sean McWilliams was a huge, huge proponent of USTA. It was amazing. They provided equipment for us, too. We were in need, and the USTA was there to help.”

The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California hosted McWilliams and six of his players, with the athletes getting to participate as ball kids. A doctor living adjacent to Joplin High School donated property, which is where the newly constructed tennis facility now sits.

McWilliams noted Starkweather, the school board and several tennis families pitched in to make the tennis courts a reality. Though McWilliams never actually got to utilize the new courts — construction wrapped up in 2013 and McWilliams left Joplin in 2012 — he said coaching on them wasn’t his purpose anyway. Laying the foundation for future generations of Joplin coaches and players was.

“Joplin is filled with just great tennis families. People who care about the game and getting kids involved to live a better and healthier life,” McWilliams said. “Through all the devastation from the Joplin tornado, people did amazing deeds like the USTA in stepping up to help Joplin tennis and improve the situation.”

And that was Starkweather’s main takeaway, too. Through the loss of life and property on the darkest day in Joplin history, the city — with help from others — persevered.

“The people of Joplin were so resilient and bounced back,” Starkweather said. “They said ‘OK, it’s time to go to work.’ More importantly, it was the outreach and outpouring of other people. Not just our neighbors, but from everywhere around the country people came to help as well. It just reminded everyone the human spirit is still alive and well.”