By Drew Meyer, Men’s League Vice President
On the ATP and WTA tours, players have nutritionists, ice baths, and specialized recovery shakes. In the ALTA Men’s League, we have a captain named Doug who brings a party-size tray of Chick-fil-A nuggets and a cooler of beer that’s been sitting in the back of his truck since last year’s UGA/GT tailgate — and we appreciate it.
As the spring season plays out, the courts are buzzing, the onslaught of pollen is inevitable, and the competitive fire is lit. But let’s be honest with ourselves. While playing tennis is the reason we haul our bags to the park, the “Sixth Line,” also known as the post-match food and drink spread, is why we stay.
Home court advantage
When playing an ALTA match, the home court advantage isn’t just about knowing which way the wind blows at Blackburn Park or which cracks in the asphalt to avoid at your local neighborhood HOA court. Instead, it’s about the culinary psychological warfare. We’ve all walked up to an opponent’s facility, smelled a Big Green Egg firing up, and immediately lost our competitive edge. It’s hard to maintain that killer instinct when you know there’s a pile of beef brisket and freshly cooked burgers waiting for you once the handshake is over.
The ALTA spread is a beautiful, chaotic equalizer. It’s the place where a guy who just spent two hours being pelted by your kick serve also sits down with you to discuss the best place on the beltline to grab an IPA. It’s where the tension of a Saturday morning battle quickly disappears over a slice of a shared Costco pizza. In what other sport do grown men battle it out like warriors in 90-percent humidity, then immediately pivot to exchanging tips on the best way to bypass the Connector during the Monday morning rush hour?
The social fabric of the sideline
But the Sixth Line shouldn’t just be for the guys on the scorecard. If we want this league to thrive for another 50 years, we need to remember that the sideline is just as important as the baseline.
Too often, we treat our matches like a private club. We show up, we play, we eat, we go home. But the magic of ALTA, and the thing that makes Atlanta the tennis capital of the world, is the community. This year, I’m challenging every captain and player to “plus-one” your Saturday mornings.
Invite the neighbor who’s been thinking about picking up a racquet. Bring your kids so they can see that exercise doesn’t have to stop after high school. Tell your friends who “don’t really play” to come for the atmosphere (and the lemon pepper wings). The more people we have sitting in those rickety old bleachers and camping chairs, cheering for a cross-court winner or laughing at a framed overhead at Ashford Park that nearly hits a passing MARTA train, the stronger our community becomes.
Expanding the menu
When we invite our friends and family to the courts, we aren’t just showing off our occasionally questionable backhands; we’re inviting them into a support system. We’re showing them that in Atlanta, tennis is the ultimate social lubricant. It’s a way to meet the guy three neighborhoods over who happens to be a contractor, an attorney, or a potential best friend.
So, as you prep your gear for the next home match, put as much thought into the “Pub Sub” run as you do into your string tension. Make sure there’s enough for the spectators. Let’s make the sidelines so loud and the food so good that the people walking their dogs past the courts can’t help but stop and ask, “How do I get in on this?”
Because at the end of the day, the scores and standings might be recorded on the ALTA website, but the stories are told around the folding tables and beer coolers. Let’s make sure we need a bigger table each season!
