20th Anniversary Spotlight: The Coltons

 To celebrate another month of our 20th Anniversary, we sat down with the Colton Family to learn about their strong connection with the sport of tennis and our organization. Back in 2017, Josh and Tisha, and their two sons, Jacob (14) and Caleb (12,) joined the Fred Wells Tennis and Education Center thanks to Dan Swanson’s elite stringing, Clay Sollenberger’s passion to share tennis with youngsters, and Judy Long’s simple approach to get adult beginners hooked. This competitive family can’t seem to spend enough time on court, and they are still figuring out how to turn off the competition when playing together so that it doesn’t end in tears. Has anyone actually ever participated in a friendly family tennis match? Much easier said than done.

Q: Who started playing tennis first?
Josh: I grew up playing tennis, and I played for Breck in high school. On our first date, I told Tisha I played tennis and she had never played, but she thought it would be fun for us to play together. I knew that wouldn’t be much fun for me so we did a lot more outdoor activities. All these years later, she is obsessed and has become a very good tennis player.
Tisha: I didn’t start playing until the kids started playing when they were 5 or 6. I said I might as well be doing something while they were playing so I started lessons.
Jacob: We started with red ball when we were young.

Q: How did you hear about Fred Wells and do you remember your first time there?
Tisha: We heard there was a guy that was so good at stringing rackets so I brought Josh’s racket to Dan Swanson to be restrung. I ended up joining the beginner's clinics on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings with Judy in the summer of 2017. Judy then started a 2.5 league, and I remember getting killed in matches, but now I have moved up to the 3.5 league!
Josh: It was a lot closer for us and my nephew used to play there. The kids' program was more schedule friendly, and I started with the Saturday morning 4.0 drills.
Caleb: I remember Clay, David, and Nguyen as my first coaches.

Q: Do you have a favorite memory?
Josh: I remember watching Clay teach Caleb when he was 5 or so and he was running around with all the kids. And then Clay took time to focus on my kid, and I had that proud Dad feeling that he loved my kid. And then as the clinic went on, I realized he did that with all the kids and made all the parents feel that way.
Jacob: During a clinic, I peeked over on another court where the Futures group was and wanted to be in it. And there were 10-year old's using green dot. I thought wow that is such a big serve. Summer camps were also so fun, and we’d go outside a lot to play games like soccer or capture the flag.

Q: Favorite shot?
Jacob: Volleys. I play a lot of doubles. It used to be high heavy top spin shots when I played Caleb because he would go back to the fence and miss it.
Caleb: Topspin forehand. Thanks to my brother I learned to take the ball on the rise too.
Tisha: Forehand volleys and lobs. My opponents are always standing back when we play matches because they know what is coming.
Jacob was quick to let his mom know that, “No one likes a lobber.”

Q: What are the go-to family doubles teams?
Jacob and Tisha vs. Josh and Caleb

Q: And what is the head-to-head score?
Josh: That would require us to finish a set. We always try to make it fun and casual and then Jacob hits a winner, so it becomes competitive and ends with Caleb getting upset.

Q: How do you see tennis fitting into your life over the next 20 years?
Josh: I hope in 20 years we can get through a match as a family! I’d also like to spend time volunteering at Fred Wells and playing more tennis myself.
Tisha: I look forward to tennis being a big part of my retirement.
Jacob: Our high school team is going to be good for a while. We have so many young players and I think we can win state this year.

Josh Colton is a native Minnesotan, currently working as a physician for MN Gastroenterology. Tisha Colton was born and raised in the Philippines, but now calls Minnesota home. She works as a geriatrician for Health Partners. Jacob is in 9th grade and Caleb is in 6th grade. Both are students at St. Paul Academy. They are long time St. Paul residents who stay busy skiing, mountain biking, spending time at their cabin, and arguing about which movies to watch. Their family's favorite foods include Punch pizza, tofu and seafood boils. When they do pick a movie, they love spending couch time with their cats Sheddy and Dasher.

We have so many fond memories from the first 20 years! As we spotlight stories, we would love to hear from you, if you have a memory to share. Email Tessa Lyons, tessa@fwtec.org, with your experiences on or off the court.