Tennis Anyone? Tennis Museum, That Is
By S J Strock

With only four tennis museums in the world, The Roland Garros; The Wimbeldon Tennis Museum; The Australian Tennis Museum and the International Tennis Hall of Fame Marianella Padron has found a mission for her passion – Tennis. After becoming an avid collector of tennis memorabilia, she has founded The Lawn Tennis Museum, and is now steadfastly seeking a home for this project in Parkland.

Hailing from Venezuela, living in the United States for more than thirty years, Marianella attended high school and then Florida Atlantic University as a team tennis player. Marianella Padron then became the assistant coach to Coach Mike Wheelen for FAU’s tennis team aiding in their climb to become one of the top ranked university teams. She continued her career within the tennis community working with some of the nation’s top seeded juniors, on Key Biscayne with the United States Tennis Associations Players Development professionals. Marianella has most recently taken a leave of absence from her position as tennis director for Ace Tennis Center to dedicate her complete energy and full attention to The Lawn Tennis Museum’s opening, in the hopes of seeing her dream become reality.

Just before Marianella started as a student at FAU, she thought it would be fun and interesting to decorate her dormitory room with a display of wood tennis racquets. She began searching thrift shops for these wooden relics and thus became her entrance into the world of tennis collectibles. Not too long after, a gift in the form of a published book by Jeanne Cherry, Tennis Antiques and Collectibles was bestowed upon her propelling her interest even further. Marianella recounts, “As I read this book, I realized how little I actually knew about tennis collectibles.” Her smile broadens as she continues, “It also helped me to realize how much more knowledge I was thirsting for.”

Marianella Padron considered herself a “baby collector”, an opinion which has certainly changed over the past few years. She now has over two thousand racquets, mostly wood with a collection of metal growing daily. Her tennis books number well over three hundred and she also has thousands of miscellaneous tennis memorabilia such as turn of the century skirt lifters and antique tape measures catalogued and ready to be shared. Marianella’s membership into the Society of Tennis Collectibles as well as her love for the game and its history has all but made her an expert on the subject.

As residents of Parkland for eight years, the Padrons feel that this area with its large tennis academies, private tennis clubs and a belief in high city standards would be most fitting for the home of The Tennis Lawn Museum. Marianella has found a large support through a city petition she has been circulating from corporations, tennis professionals as well as the general Parkland population. Meeting with city officials and securing a site for the museum will then allow Marianella to apply for funding grants so that she can accomplish her quest to open this unique, interesting and interactive museum in a city that she believes is worthy of the challenge. For more information please visit www.lawntennismuseum.com

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