From court to character

Robert Allen Gibson believes in improving our world, one serve at a time.

Gibson, a local tennis coach, serves character education along with the fuzzy yellow balls he throws to his hundreds of students for practice hitting.

"Tennis builds character, and building our character can make the world a better place," he said.

Using tennis to give back to his community has been Gibson's mission since he was a teenager in upstate New York and just learning to play.

A tennis coach traded lessons for labor by hiring Gibson to pick up balls. Gibson turned to coaching while still in high school, giving lessons to his teammates.

At 50, he's completed a career with IBM that took him to California and brought him to Raleigh.

Today, he is part of the Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department team, teaching tennis at Lake Lynn Tennis Courts in Raleigh.

Jon Dewar of Raleigh knows firsthand the depth of Gibson's instructions. "What he teaches in tennis applies in life or in business," Dewar wrote in e-mail. "Following great advice, setting and monitoring short-term and long-term goals, along with discipline, practice, and recognition that your biggest enemy to achieving your goals might be yourself and the errors you make (might be) due to lack of practice and discipline."

Gibson is building professional-style tennis courts on his property near Cary, so his students can see how it feels to play on the same surface as Grand Slam champions.

Gibson's next project is a Tennispalooza Sept. 20 at the Lake Lynn Tennis Courts. Proceeds are to benefit Junior Achievement of Eastern North Carolina.