Falling in Love With Tennis at Gulf Harbour

"Who knew our life was going to change so much for the better?"

Susan and Pete Knapper came to Gulf Harbour looking for a house. What they found was a community of close friends and a sport neither of them had ever played before.

Tennis wasn't part of the plan, but it became one of the biggest parts of their life at the club.

A House on the Water

The Knappers looked at homes across Naples and Bonita Springs before Gulf Harbour ended the search. Having friends nearby made staying close a priority, but the property on the Caloosahatchee settled it.

Still, they weren’t sure if club membership was right for them. Having flexibility to decide later was important, "because we didn't know at that point that our life was going to be here."

They ended up signing up, on their own, within two months of moving in and landed on the waitlist. After officially joining in the spring, they spent their first summer away.

When they returned that winter, the timing was perfect for the club's January "Tennis 1-2-3" introductory class.

Susan also had a nudge from the women already on the courts, who told her to get a head start before Pete did. "I heard that the guys pick it up so quickly, and I didn't want to be caught with no idea what I was doing," she says. "So I got a jump on it."

She took the first level twice before moving into the second, and Pete followed a few months later.

Learning the Tennis Language

Neither Knapper had played before, and Susan describes the early lessons as learning a new language.

"Not knowing anything, not knowing how to keep score, not knowing how to hold a racket, backhand, forehand," she recalls. "I didn't know the language at all, and the pros would say it so quickly."

Rather than fall behind, she set a modest bar for each session. "If I pick up on one word each time I'm with a pro, then that's the goal," she says.

She kept returning to the ball machine between lessons to build muscle memory. Pete took a lighter touch on formal instruction, working with the pros just twice over two seasons.

Both credit the club's four USPTA-certified pros with meeting them at their level rather than pushing a single approach.

Ball Machine to Championship Captain

As Susan's game developed, she moved from clinics into team play. Her first season included eight brand-new players on her roster. "Our first year, we came in second place," she says. "This year, we won the championship."

Pete settled into a rhythm of his own, playing three days a week, splitting his time between a weekly clinic, a weekly match, and time in the gym. "I'm a three-day-a-week guy," he says, "and I'm just as welcome as the folks that are playing every day."

Susan eventually found a regular doubles partner, giving her a shared learning experience. "I've had the same partner for two years," she says. "We'd go every week, and the pro would place us so he could see exactly where the weakness was between the two of us."

Both Knappers found a place to land within Gulf Harbour’s league system, which includes rated teams with weekly clinics, matches for players chasing improvement, and more flexible formats like live ball for those who don’t want a weekly commitment.

A Second Family

The Knappers started playing tennis to stay active in retirement. It became the center of their social life.

Their closest friendships, including connections to a shared church community, trace back to the tennis courts. As Pete puts it, "Win or lose, at the end of the day, I have my beer and everybody's talking and having a good time. It’s a great group of guys."

"It's a full package," Susan says. "You get injured, and they still take care of you. They drop off meals."

Both Susan and Pete point to the size of the program itself as part of what makes it work. "Gulf Harbour has the largest number of tennis players in Lee County," Susan says. "That's a lot of sisterhood out there."

For anyone weighing whether to start tennis without prior experience, "We started this at 60, and it's fun," Susan says. "You don't need experience to belong here."