LEWISTON – Bates College tennis coach Paul Gastonguay sat back on a raised chair. A large coffee dangled from his fingertips as he looked out over the Wallach Tennis Complex at Bates. Helpers – members of his team and others who took a short-term class with him – scurried around on the pavement below, watering a placing flower pots, hanging signs and moving chairs.

“This is my first one, actually,” Gastonguay said of his coffee. “I don’t know why I even bother anymore, though. It doesn’t do anything for me.”

Gastonguay, who coaches both the men and women at Bates, also sits on the Northeast seeding committee and on the NCAA tennis committee. This time of year, he’s pretty busy, anyway.

This year, though, Gastonguay is even busier. For the second time in four years, Lewiston and Bates College will host the Division III men’s national tennis championships.

“We’ve done it before and it was a tremendous success the last time,” Gastonguay said.

How they got it … again

This time, though, Bates wasn’t selected along traditional guidelines nor in a traditional manner.

“A couple of years ago, the NCAA decided they wanted to do a joint championship with the women and the men,” Gastonguay said. “And to make it a special event, the National Tennis Center in New York was selected.”

Due to ongoing improvements to that facility, the NCAA learned last summer that the facility would not be able to host both the men and the women. In July, Gastonguay, a member of the NCAA tennis committee, sat with the rest of the members and brainstormed for last-minute ideas.

“Three other guys and the director of championships looked across the table and said, ‘So Paul, what would you think about hosting again?'” Gastonguay said. “I went back to our AD, Kevin McHugh, and asked him if it was OK.”

McHugh toyed with the idea, asking Gastonguay if he was trying to get back at him already, in his first year on the job. Ultimately, after a bit of ribbing and a serious look at the situation, they agreed to host the tournament.

“They knew it was a great championship the last time it was here, and it’s still being talked about,” Gastonguay said. “We have a great staff, and Bates knows how to put on big events like this. It’s a credit to the staff and to the college, and to the community, which does a great job at supporting this.”

New touches

Part of the involvement the community will have with this year’s tournament, aside from turning out to watch the event, is a new touch the host committee has added to this year’s event: ball kids.

“We’re going to have twelve to fourteen kids trained for the tournament, and we’re going to have them on the Saturday and Sunday of the individual tournament, so that’s a nice added touch,” Gastonguay said.

In addition to the help with the balls, Gastonguay has added a few things to the welcome bags, which themselves are quality backpacks stuffed with goodies.

Also this year, the tournament will be carried live by radiotennis.com.

“It’s never been done for a Division III championship,” Gastonguay said. “We contacted them in the fall, and asked them what they’d think about doing it. The NCAA stepped up with some student enhancement funding. It’s a nice touch. We do live Web scoring … but to actually have someone commentating and talking about the excitement going on, along with those scores, it’s going to be a neat thing.”

Local flavor

The last time Bates hosted the event, singles specialist Will Boe-Weigard represented the school in the singles draw. This year, the Bates junior-sophomore doubles tandem of Ben Stein and Amrit Rupasinghe will carry the school’s colors in the 16-team doubles draw. Stein is also the first alternate from the Northeast region for the 32-man singles draw.

Still, the Bates men’s team just missed qualifying for the tournament, which has been whittles down to eight teams that will battle it out over three days this week.

“We play in what is easily the toughest conference in the country for Division III tennis,” Gastonguay said. “We had three teams in NESCAC in the top twenty-five in the country who didn’t get into the tournament, and they take forty-one. That’s just the way it happens.”

The courts at Lewiston High School will be open for practice for all tournament participants this week, and in the event of rain, the matches will be played indoors at the Raquet and Fitness Center in Portland.

The team competition begins Tuesday and runs through Thursday, with the championship match scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday.

The singles and doubles tournaments begin Friday, and end Sunday with the singles championship match at Noon and the doubles championship match at 4 p.m.

SUNDAY,

MAY 11

Teams arrive

MONDAY,

MAY 12

8 am – 5 pm

Team practices scheduled at Wallach Tennis Center and Lewiston H.S. (Please call Carol Carpentier at 207-786-6341 to schedule your practice time.)

6:30-8 pm

Opening Banquet at Perry Atrium

8 pm

Coaches/Head Referee NCAA Meeting

TUESDAY,

MAY 13

9 am

Team Quarterfinals –

Emory (17-6) vs. Kenyon (25-1)

12 pm

Team Quarterfinals –

Middlebury (17-5) vs. UMW (22-6)

3 pm

Team Quarterfinals –

Claremont (25-7) vs. Williams (17-3)

6 pm

Team Quarterfinals –

Washington U. (18-4) vs.

Gustavus Adolphus (30-5)

WEDNESDAY,

MAY 14

10 am

Team Semifinals -Emory/Kenyon winner vs. Middlebury-UMW winner

2 pm

Team Semifinals – Claremont/Williams winner vs. Washington/Gustavus Adolphus winner

THURSDAY,

MAY 15

10 am

Team Third-Place Match

2 pm

Team Championship Match

6:30-8 pm

Awards Banquet at New Dining Commons (business casual attire)

8 pm

Coaches – NCAA/ITA meeting

FRIDAY,

MAY 16

9 am

Singles – Round of 32

1 pm

Singles – Round of 16

4 pm

Doubles – Round of 16

SATURDAY,

MAY 17

9 am

Singles – Quarterfinals

12 pm

Singles – Semifinals

3 pm

Doubles – Quarterfinals

SUNDAY,

MAY 18

12 pm

Singles – Finals

2 pm

Doubles – Semifinals

4 pm

Doubles – Finals