Some of the balls went to the small dog park next to the center for games of fetch. More went to the Sunnyvale Senior Center to be used as pads on the bottom of walkers. And the tubular cans went to local schools, where youngsters turned them into kaleidoscopes.

Using tennis as a means of bettering the Sunnyvale community has been a lifelong goal of Young's, and on Feb. 24 that service was honored by the city council with the naming of the stadium court at the facility as "Jan Young Stadium Court."

The center is holding a formal ceremony to rename the court on March 13.

A day after the council approved the renaming, Young officially retired, reducing his time at the center to some 15 hours a week. His former student Brian Garrow took over as licensee of the center, taking over managerial duties in the process, after spending the last three years being trained for the task.

"I learned to play from him and in the last three years have learned his philosophy on teaching and running the center," Garrow said.

Under Young's guidance, the Tennis Center grew from a 10-court facility the city thought would fail to a 16-court complex, with a pro shop, cafe and enough courts to host tennis tournaments for the 150 league teams that practice frequently at the club. As part of Young's philosophy, the center became a focus for fitness activities, social interactions and friendly competition for tennis players in Sunnyvale and the surrounding area.

"His vision has created a welcoming environment at the tennis center and has helped make the sport of tennis fun for this community and the players here," Garrow—a former professional tennis player—said.

Jean Hassoun, president of the Sunnyvale Tennis Club, says, "We look at tennis as more of a social thing than just a sport." She says, "What tennis is for us is a way to get the community communicating with each other."

While he said he is honored by the recognition, Young seems more comfortable doing odd handiwork than being recognized for his career at the center.

"Philosophically, it's very nice, but it's not a big deal to me, because fame is not a big deal for me," Young said. "I'd like to be remembered in every person's mind."

Young said he decided to retire because his drive to advance the center and improve on it had lessened over the years.

"As I was getting older, I didn't feel like I was doing my job well because I was having so much fun," Young said, adding that he wanted to find a replacement like Garrow, someone young and enthusiastic who would continue to improve the facility.

Young has seen the center through a number of changes, starting in 1976 when he took over as licensee and manager of the city-owned facility. He started charging for court usage, an idea many thought would push people away. Instead, the money went toward maintenance of the courts and hiring professional coaches, which led to a boom in Sunnyvale tennis until 1978, when progress slowed again.

The most recent series of changes came six years ago, when the city came to Young and asked him to get involved in bringing people back to the club, whose roster had dropped to just 140 members.

With the help of the Sunnyvale Tennis Club, which emphasized participation in the area's various leagues—including the Northern California branch of the United State Tennis Association and the Bay Area Tennis League—Young turned the center around. In addition to six new tennis courts, Young added a cafe to the facility, to offer unique lunches and snacks to players.

Now, the center supports up to 150 local tennis teams, and the staff of instructors work extra time coaching tennis teams at local schools to bring fresh players onto the courts. Young said he plans on staying involved at the facility.

Over the last few years, Young said he found more enjoyment in playing relaxing games with his close friends and fellow instructors. Hassoun, who Young coaches on Fridays, said Young is a great opponent because he offers a fun challenge.

"You never lose by much against Jan, because he always makes sure you don't lose by much, so you feel good about it," Hassoun said.

Young had another view on his kind playing methods.

"I like to make things kind of close," Young said with a grin sweeping across his face. "But I still like to win in the end."

Coaching is a big part of Young's interactions. Even after his retirement, he has continued coaching several longtime students, and still performs odd jobs around the center, like replacing broken shelves, or fixing old ball carts to donate to tennis groups without the money to buy their own.

And with all his successes, including playing Division I for San José State University, an exhibition match against tennis great Billie Jean King and hundreds of Sunnyvale tennis players, Young still stands in awe of a group of older women playing tennis on a clear March morning.

"I admire their ability to do that," he said, pointing to the group. "I'm dreaming that I can be on the tennis courts at 75."

The court-naming event is March 13 at 11 a.m. at the Sunnyvale Tennis Center, 755 S. Mathilda Ave. Presentations by USTA NorCal, the city of Sunnyvale and the Sunnyvale Tennis Club will be followed by the naming of the stadium court to the "Jan Young Stadium Court" and lunch.