The Bob Symon

St. Joseph has proven its ability to draw the best handball and tennis talent into the city each year for two tournaments which have taken on major proportions after humble beginnings. We are speaking of the Ameribanc Open Tennis Tournament and the Bob Symon Memorial Handball Tournament. Ironically, men named Gardner have had a lot to do with the growth of both.

With the world of tennis offering so many more opportunities than handball on a professional and amateur basis, the Ameribanc Open undoubtedly is better known to most followers of sports.

With Terry Gardner the Ameribanc tournament director, the annual summer event continues to grow in stature. The 1983 Ameribanc Open dates are July 3-10 at Noyes Courts. Names such as Vince Van Patten, Mike Cahill, Chip Hooper, Jimmy Arias, Eliot Teltscher divide their playing time around the world. Each took his turn at Noyes in the Ameribanc Open.

While tennis has a bigger profile around the world, handball is growing each year and the Bob Symon Memorial Handball Tournament, which had its beginnings in the early 1970s on the old YMCA courts, is proof of the growth. Mike Gardner, one of the city's top football players in high school and college, developed a love for the sport, and became one of the top players in the Midwest. Gardner, who now calls Kansas City home, has won the Bob Symon title several times. However, he's finding it tougher and tougher as the tournament continues to draw the interest of some of the nation's top handball enthusiasts.

Last year's tournament points to the growing interest of the nation's best and Gardner's difficulties. Approximately 60 athletes competed in the 1981 Symon tournament, with the championship trophies in the three divisions going to Tucson, Ariz., St. Louis, and Kansas City. Consolation trophies went back to San Antonio, Texas, St. Paul, Minn., and Kansas City.

In the early days of the tournament, a Kansas City or St. Louis entry was big news. Jon Symon, son of the late Bob Symon, set up the tournament in memory of his father, who was an avid handball player.

Jon Symon and Mike Gardner, who took third in the Open singles division last year, behing Frank Postillion of Tucson and Bill McGreevy Jr., of San Antonio, recently returned to St. Joseph for the annual fall reunion and business session of the St. Joseph Gymnastic Society held at Moila Country Club.

Both Jon Symon and Gardner now live in Kansas City and have given the Bob Symon tournament some big-city assistance by recruiting top talent from the Kansas City tournament held each December.

Jon Symon pointed to St. Joseph's central location as one major factor in the tournament's growth. He also told those in attendance at the business meeting, presided over by Bill Rosenthal, that the Kansas City tournament's position, just a month earlier, has aided greatly.

The 14th Bob Symon Handball Tournament dates have been set for January 7-9, 1983, at the St. Joseph YMCA, with many of last year's competitors expected to return. "It keeps growing in numbers and quality," Jon Symon noted. "The talent attracted here makes it tougher to win but more satisfying when you do," Gardner, ranked eighth nationally, offered.

Both principals of the winter classic noted the tournament has come a long way from the 1970s. But, what has the St. Joseph Gymnastic Society got to do with handball?

As far back as the 1930s when Bill Rosenthal was beginning to rack up handball titles which would add up to 22 on the local singles and doubles level, the sport had a strong following. Play then was at the old Turner Hall, on Charles Street, between Sixth and Seventh streets, where the new YMCA stands. The St. Joseph Gymnastic Society owned the building and featured gymnastics, handball and even basketball. On selling the building in the 1950s, the St. Joseph Gymnastic Society, with Rosenthal as president and Bob Symon one of the members, donated $21,000 for a handball court at the old YMCA. The Y, then under the direction of Fred Hoffman, built the other one in 1959. It was on those courts that the Bob Symon tourney was born. It's still the St. Joseph Gymnastic Society in name but handball is its only game.

While tennis is much bigger than handball around the world, it's interesting to note that handball competition on a local basis has gained big ground while tennis on a local adult playing level has dropped considerably.

Great growth from humbling beginnings - The Bob Symon Memorial Handball and Ameribanc Open Tennis, two tournaments in which St. Joseph can take pride.