San Diego Friars (1975–1978)
 |
|
| Sport | Team tennis |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1975 |
| Folded | November 8, 1978 |
| League | World TeamTennis |
| Division | Western |
| Team history |
San Diego Friars 1975–1978 |
| Colors |
Peruvian Brown, Black |
| Owner(s) | Frank Mariani |
| President | G. Allan Kingston |
| Head coach | Rod Laver |
| General manager | G. Allan Kingston |
| Championships | None |
| Division titles | 1978 |
| Playoff berths | 1977, 1978 |
Peruvian Brown, Black
The San Diego Friars were an expansion franchise of World Team Tennis (WTT) founded in 1975. The Friars qualified for the WTT playoffs twice in their four seasons and won the 1978 Western Division Championship. The team folded following the 1978 season.
The Friars were founded by aerospace engineer and real estate developer Frank Mariani as the first expansion franchise of WTT just before the start of the 1975 season, and played most of their home matches at the San Diego Sports Arena. Some home matches were played at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Friars played a 46-match WTT regular-season schedule in 1975. The league used neutral-site matches to cut down on travel and create events where fans could see multiple teams either with one admission or over the course of a few days. These special events were called WTT Spectaculars. Because of these and because of scheduling challenges created when the Houston E-Z Riders suspended operations just days before the season started, the 10 teams in the league did not play an equal number of matches. Seven of them played 44 matches, while the Friars, Boston Lobsters and Hawaii Leis each played 46 matches. The Friars were led by player-coach Dennis Ralston and also featured Anand Amritraj (Tamil: ஆனந்த் அம்ரித்ராஜ்), John Andrews, Brigitte Cuypers, Lesley Hunt and Janet Young. The Friars finished their inaugural season with 14 wins and 32 losses tied with the Leis for last place in the Western Division and the worst record in WTT.
The Friars' top choices in the 1975 draft were Linky Boshoff, Nancy Gunter, Janice Metcalf, Charles Pasarell, Kazuko Sawamatsu (Japanese: 沢松和子). They left player-coach Dennis Ralston unprotected, and he was selected by the Pittsburgh Triangles in the second round. On February 16, 1976, after securing permission to negotiate from the Phoenix Racquets, the Friars signed the legendary Rod Laver to a contract for an undisclosed amount and an undisclosed length but which reportedly made him the highest-paid player in WTT history. The Friars also signed Cliff Drysdale and named him their player-coach. Other players taking the court for the 1976 Friars were Ross Case, Terry Holladay and Betty Ann Grubb Stuart. The team hired Larry Willens as an assistant coach. The Friars struggled again in 1976, finishing with 13 wins and 31 losses, fourth place in the Western Division. Despite the team's poor performance, Laver was named WTT Male Rookie of the Year.
...
Wikipedia