Bob Scott, a name widely remembered in the Oxford community for his dedication to the growth of tennis, continues to be honored at Talawanda High School more than a dozen years after his passing.
Today, a plaque hangs along court one as a reminder to the Brave tennis team of Scott’s impact on their sport. It represents more than just a name on a plaque: it represents a family man, an innovator, and a team player.
Scott was born in Massillon, Ohio in 1933. He graduated from Miami University in 1956 with a degree in Spanish and later returned to his alma mater where he taught Spanish for four decades before retiring in 2000. Along with his wife Odette, Scott raised his two children, Ken Scott, and Monica Sherba in Oxford.
“He got very interested in tennis in the ’70s boom… my dad was about 36,” Monica said. “And he just fell in love with it. My brother Kenny kind of learned at the same time my dad did. So, I was kind of his first protege after that.”
Scott created a competitive yet enjoyable dynamic within the family Monica explained.
“He would just take me out every day, toss the balls, baskets of forehands, baskets of backhands, serving, you know just learning it all,” Monica said.
A childhood filled with tennis helped frame the way each of Scott’s children carried out their later lives. When Monica had her children, Matthew, and Carly, the two were often out in the driveway taking reps from their grandfather during their toddler years.
“He was insistent, in a fun way,” Matthew said. “He just loved tennis so much so he would always try to get me to go hit a basket of balls ever since I was about four years old.”
By the time Scott’s grandchildren were in high school at Talawanda, he never missed a match. He was able to see Matthew clinch league titles and receive a division II scholarship to play at the University of Charleston in West Virginia.
Scott’s support for tennis extended well beyond his immediate family. During the 1970s, Scott helped found the Oxford Western Tennis Association (OWTA.) He also helped organize community tournaments, conducted clinics for kids and helped raise funds to support Talawanda’s high school tennis program.
“He taught a lot of kids tennis in Oxford… he would help anyone who was friends with me or friends with my brother,” Monica said. “There were many people when he passed away that came to say how important it was that he helped them with their tennis.”
At the time of Scott’s death in 2011, the remaining OWTA founding members closed the organization’s bank account and made a $3,000 donation to the Talawanda tennis program. Around the same time, court one at high school was renamed the “Bob Scott Court.”
As the Brave boys tennis team embarks on its 2024 spring season, head coach Nate Silverstein harnesses the Bob Scott Court as a symbol of what tennis epitomizes: teamwork, passion, and commitment. The court serves not just as a physical space for tennis but as a symbol of the enduring impact one individual can have on a community and the sport they love.
