Robert (Bob) Cordova Sr.
It’s impossible to think about tennis in the Bismarck-Mandan community without thinking of Robert (Bob) Cordova Sr. A true gentleman, sportsman, and teacher, Bob has played, coached, and promoted tennis in the community for several decades. Bob coached tennis teams at Bismarck High, Bismarck State College, and the University of Mary, and he has given private lessons to hundreds of young players. As a community member, he created the Bismarck-Mandan Tennis Association in 1972 and was the tournament director for the Jackie Dockter Memorial Tennis Tournament for over 15 years He is a member of the North Dakota Tennis Hall of Fame and remains an active supporter of tennis in every way.
Bob Cordova, JoAnn Cordova, Cec Dockter, and Jerry Dockter pose in front of the Jackie Dockter Memorial at Tom O’Leary Tennis Courts.
Bob grew up in Trinidad, Colorado in the 1940s and 1950s, and it wasn’t tennis, initially, that captured his attention, but baseball. With a baseball-playing and umpiring father, a sandlot in the neighborhood, and organized youth leagues from elementary school to high school, there were plenty of opportunities for Bob to play.
After high school, and after a brief stint in the U.S. Army, Bob moved to North Dakota in 1959 as a telegraph operator for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Eight years later, at age 26, Bob enrolled at Bismarck Junior College (BJC) and found himself pitching for the BJC baseball team. It was in these college years that Bob tried intramural tennis for the first time. “Never having played tennis before,” Bob said, “I lost my first match 6-0, 6-1. I was hooked.” He began finding pick-up tennis matches against local high school players after practice.
The 1968 Bismarck Junior College baseball team
Bob continued his education at Mary College, and after graduating, he kept busy with adult baseball leagues and worked hard to recruit local players to play against, but the competition opportunities were not as plentiful as they had been for him growing up, and it became increasingly difficult to organize games. Enter tennis. “I could have stayed with baseball and then softball,” Bob said, “but I think that I switched to tennis because it was more of a personal challenge. And I did not need seventeen other players to play a game.”
Bob prepares to serve
Before too long, coaching came calling. Bob was working as an English teacher and Debate coach at Bismarck High School (BHS), and Dick Karlgaard, a friend from Bob’s adult baseball days, was the BHS athletic director. Thanks to some good timing and a bit of persuasion, Karlgaard hired Bob as Head Tennis Coach. Once again, he was hooked. Decades of practices, lessons, and matches later, and after coaching every age and ability, several ideas became clear about tennis players: some play to be with their friends; some play to compete; and some play for exercise. But all, Bob says, “play because they love the game.”
Anyone involved in tennis so actively and consistently is certain to involve their family in the game, and Bob is no different. He, his wife JoAnn, and their six children frequently found their way to tennis events, and several of Bob and JoAnn’s grandchildren have become tennis players, too. It’s one thing to watch and support one’s children and grandchildren in their endeavors, Bob notes, but “to be able to play with them and experience all that goes with the game is a special experience.”
The Cordova Family
Now in his eighties, Bob still finds time to teach the occasional lesson and involve himself in committees like the North Dakota Tennis Association. He is proud to be a part of the caring tennis community of Bismarck-Mandan and is equally proud to have been a part of so many players’ and teams’ successes, even though, he says, “those teams and individuals could have and would have done ‘just fine’ without me.”
His advice for current and future tennis players is simple but not easy: learn the basics, and prepare to deal with disappointment while playing. Tennis is a game of mistakes, after all! What’s not a mistake, however, is the dedication, hospitality, and warmth Bob has brought to the tennis community for over 50 years. We are lucky to know him, and it is a privilege to display a banner featuring his and JoAnn’s name in our facility.
Bob and JoAnn: Social Doubles Champions!
