Avery Says Fatherhood Boosts His Commitment
Cites 'dad strength'; cleared for weekend and weekday play through preseason, disputing report he stepped back
Sign-up sheet shows six new sessions — one more than days until due date
League says no rule governs preseason paternity availability
By Anita Bath·Staff Reporter
Kyle Avery at net Saturday, the second of six sessions he has added to the sheet since Monday.
“Nobody asked him to prove anything. He volunteered.”
ROWAYTON, Conn., Sept. 30 —Kyle Avery, captain of Rowayton E and awaiting the birth of his first child, told the paper Wednesday that he holds full medical clearance to play Saturdays and Sundays in addition to his regular weekday sessions through the preseason, calling the arrangement, credited to newfound "dad strength," the best season of his career before a single match has been played.
The comment followed a letter to the paper from a reader reporting that Mr. Avery was stepping back from the E captaincy through the preseason with his first child due, and that teammates were privately questioning his commitment to the role. The paper reached Mr. Avery before running anything.
"I'm as committed as ever and feel even stronger thanks to dad strength," Mr. Avery said. "This will be my best season yet, with clearance to play Saturdays and Sundays as needed in addition to weekday sessions."
The sign-up sheet posted in the hut shows Mr. Avery has added himself to six additional preseason sessions since Monday, more than any other man on the eight rosters and, by the club's count, one more session than there are days remaining before his due date.
A member of the club's paddle committee, granted anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss a captain's fitness for duty, said the sessions themselves were not in dispute so much as the reasoning behind adding them. "Nobody asked him to prove anything," the committee member said. "He volunteered."
According to a person familiar with the clearance, Mr. Avery's obstetrician approved him for platform tennis specifically, and did not extend the clearance to lifting the child, a distinction Mr. Avery said Wednesday he intends to sort out closer to the delivery date.
The league office, asked whether any rule governs a captain's availability during a preseason paternity absence, said no such bylaw exists and that it had no plans to draft one. A spokesman for the office added that the question had never come up in the league's history, "mostly because nobody's ever asked for more court time on the way in."
Mr. Avery said he expects to be at the courts through the delivery and immediately after, and that his wife has been supportive of the schedule. The sign-up sheet, as of Wednesday evening, had no line for a seventh session, though there was room to add one.
