Net gain: Old friends stay sharp with morning tennis

COEUR d’ALENE — Don Chisholm doesn’t know it (well, maybe he does), but his colleagues are talking about him.

They call him an inspiration. A role model. A delight to be around and an honor to know.

“Could you find another 93-year-old playing tennis and if you watch him, he’s really, really good,” Bob Palmer says. “He’s the best. He can hit that ball back. He’s such an example for me that I might be out here at 89.”

While Chisholm appreciates the accolades, there’s one problem.

“I’m not even close to 93,” he says, smiling as he approaches.

“What are you?” he is asked.

“I’m 92,” Chisholm says. That’s a huge difference.”

Chisholm laughs when asked just how good he is at tennis.

“This is the best I’ve ever played,” he says.

The banter bounces back and forth like the balls at the tennis courts at Lake City High School. It’s here that a group of older men, usually about 15 of them, meet for a few hours, three mornings a week, to play the game they enjoy.

As soon as the nets are set up in the spring until they come down in the fall, the friends gather for games, sets and matches. It keeps them young at heart, sound of mind, strong of body — and full of piss and vinegar.

“We call it seniors tennis because we’re all like 70 or older,” says Bob Palmer, who is 70 years old.

It is a seasoned bunch.

On this day, there’s also Gary Mamola, 78, Randy Pooley, the youngster at 68, David Wold, 81, and Mike Cheeley, also 81.

Off the court, it’s relaxed. On the court, a bit more serious: doubles only, no singles, rotating after each set. They serve and volley, hit forehands and backhands, and try their hands at lobs, too.

Some are tennis veterans. Others learned when they showed up at the high school courts.

Whether it’s a drizzly spring day, smoking-hot summer or frigid fall morning, a few are sure to show. Not even COVID-19 could keep them away.

“To have this group get together three times a week has been a wonderful thing,” Wold says.

Pooley enjoys the exercise.

“I’ve been playing with old guys my whole life," he says. "They keep getting older and I get older."

And somehow, they get better.

"The 80-year-olds are really good," Pooley says.

Some come and go with the seasons.

“I just came from Rancho, Mirage,” Chisholm says. “Ask me how it was? Hot as hell.”

Everyone laughs.

They say it’s the camaraderie and competition that keeps them coming out. And something else.

“It’s social interaction, that’s the word,” Gary Mamola says.

Wold said while the conversations have improved his mental status, not so with his tennis game.

All are welcome.

“If women want to play, we don’t care,” Cheeley says. “Red or yellow, black or white, they’re all precious here.”

There are no arguments over whether a ball is called in or out when it lands close to the line.

“We laugh it off when somebody makes a bad call,” Palmer says.

Chisholm disagrees.

“They don’t laugh when I make a bad call,” he says with a laugh.

While they’re a fun bunch, don’t ask them about pickleball. That turns smiles into serious stares. This is clearly a sour subject.

“All of us don’t want anything to do with pickleball,” Palmer says.

Cheeley jokes that they might eventually play pickleball — when they’re physically unable to play tennis.

“We hate pickleball,” another adds.

Not even the affable Chisholm is a pickleball fan, and doesn't plan to play it "until he gets old.”

Chisholm, his day done, chats as he walks off the court. He hit some solid shots, both backhand and forehand, and is happy with his court coverage.

“I just love the competition,” he says.

Mostly, though, he says it’s fun.

"Nobody is serious,” Chisholm says. “We just have a good time.”

While he does his best to stay active and likes hiking, he said there’s another key to longevity of life.

“Good genes. That’s how you do it.”