Taking a Closer Look at High School Tennis

Summary

Scott Gerber, creator of Ohio Tennis Zone (OTZ), joins Lisa Stone to discuss the value and mechanics of high school tennis, using Ohio as a case study. Scott built OTZ over 12 years as a one-man operation, providing statistical analytics, player profiles, team records, photo galleries, and college tracking for Ohio’s approximately 400 high school tennis programs. The conversation makes a strong case for high school tennis participation — even for elite junior players — covering Ohio’s rule changes (now allowing concurrent tournament play and on-court coaching), the team format (3 singles + 2 doubles played simultaneously), and how OTZ data helps with college recruiting, team strategy, and player recognition across all positions.

Guest Background

Scott Gerber is based in Columbus, Ohio and worked in the technology field at CompuServe (predecessor to the internet, later acquired by AOL) in product development and marketing. His two children played junior and high school tennis — his son Kyle went on to play at Case Western Reserve University. After his daughter finished playing, Scott channeled his technical skills into building Ohio Tennis Zone, which he has self-programmed and maintained for approximately 12 years. The site has roughly 10,000 users statewide (32,000 sessions via Google Analytics) and covers about 200 of Ohio’s ~400 tennis programs, with approximately 100 as members.

Key Topics

• Ohio High School Tennis Format: 3 singles + 2 doubles matches played simultaneously (requires 7 players). Win by taking 3 of 5 courts. Every position matters equally — third singles or second doubles can win the match.
• Ohio Rule Improvements: Ohio recently relaxed rules to allow players to compete in outside tournaments during the high school season (previously prohibited). Coaching is now allowed on court (like college), as long as it doesn’t slow the match.
• OTZ Analytics Platform: Court-by-court win percentages, cross-team rankings by position, player profile pages with photos and results, links to TennisRecruiting.net profiles, college commitment tracking, end-of-season reports for banquets. Teams self-enter data.
• College Recruiting Tool: Since high school scores don’t enter TennisRecruiting.net or UTR, OTZ provides an effective way for players to share high school performance with college coaches. Tracks 120-130 Ohio kids playing college tennis with links to college rosters.
• Case for High School Tennis: Ohio State men’s team (3rd nationally) has two players who played all four years of high school tennis. Lisa’s Ohio State women’s team (8th nationally) also has high school tennis alumni. Maya Bowles — nearly 10 UTR, won three consecutive state titles while balancing high school and club tennis. Playing high school tennis is the right decision “99% of the time.”
• Player-Coach Communication: The player (not the parent) should approach the high school coach to discuss balancing competitive tennis with team commitments. Most coaches are agreeable to flexible arrangements.
• Platform Tennis / Racket Sports Gateway: Scott notes tennis is a gateway to other racket sports (he plays platform tennis). Tennis skills compound as a lifelong investment.
• Recognition Across All Positions: OTZ recognizes players on every court position — not just the top player. This celebrates the depth of the team and gives more kids visibility.
• Alumni Tracking: New beta feature linking former high school players to their LinkedIn profiles, tracking their post-tennis careers.
• Mason High School as Model: Located near the Lindner Family Tennis Center (Western Southern Open venue). Parents and kids volunteer at the Cincinnati Open. 19-0 record. Multiple blue chip and five-star recruits.

Actionable Advice for Families

1. Play high school tennis — for 99% of players, it’s the right call. Even blue chip players benefit from the team experience, camaraderie, and recognition.
2. Have the player (not the parent) talk to the high school coach about balancing competitive tennis with team commitments.
3. Research your state’s specific rules — every high school athletic association has different regulations around outside competition, coaching, and training during the season.
4. Use platforms like OTZ to supplement college recruiting — high school results don’t automatically feed into TennisRecruiting.net or UTR, so proactive data sharing matters.
5. Consider creating something similar in your state — Scott is willing to consult with anyone interested in building a high school tennis data platform.
6. High school tennis is a break from the grind — kids wake up in their own bed, play local, enjoy team camaraderie, and get school recognition without the $700-per-tournament travel cycle.

INTENNSE Relevance

• Data Platform Model: Ohio Tennis Zone is a one-person, self-programmed analytics platform serving ~10,000 users across a state’s high school tennis ecosystem. This is a case study in lightweight tennis data infrastructure — relevant to INTENNSE’s sports technology thesis.
• High School Tennis Data Gap: High school results don’t flow into UTR or TennisRecruiting.net — a structural gap in the tennis data ecosystem that both OTZ and UTR’s state association agreements (covered in Chase Hodges episode) are attempting to address.
• College Recruiting Pipeline: The episode reinforces that high school tennis is a viable path to college tennis, with specific data points (Ohio State roster composition, Maya Bowles’ trajectory).
• Alumni Career Tracking: Scott’s new LinkedIn-linked alumni feature is an early example of tracking the post-tennis career pipeline — a long-term value proposition for the sport.
• Platform Tennis / Multi-Sport Crossover: The framing of tennis as a gateway to other racket sports aligns with the broader racket sports ecosystem INTENNSE monitors.
• Community-Built Infrastructure: OTZ demonstrates that meaningful tennis infrastructure can be built by passionate individuals outside of governing bodies — a recurring pattern in the sport.

Notable Quotes

“Playing high school tennis is the right situation for you, I think probably 99% of the time. We have on the Ohio State men’s team, third in the nation, two players that played high school tennis all four years.”

“Every court counts the same. So you can have the third singles player win it all for you or second dubs. And the number one player is just cheering for the number three. It just gets everybody involved.”

“Tennis is really, in Ohio, you can really become a team member without a great deal of expensive coaching or traveling. You find a wall, you look at a few videos on YouTube, maybe you get a buddy to take a video of you with a phone, and you can get pretty close to making a tennis team.”