Community Spotlight – The Perrys
During the Friday semifinals of the Pac-12 Championships at The Ojai last month, both winning teams that day UCLA and USC had two special fans rooting on their respective schools.
Norm Perry played for the Bruins in the early 1960s, and his wife Reggie attended USC.
“We are equal opportunity fans,” said Norm, who was captain of the 1960 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship team and also won another in 1961 along with teammates Larry Nagler and Allen Fox. “Both coaches are great guys and we support them both.”
Next year, the Perrys will celebrate 50 years of doing tennis business in Southern California as NJP Sports, Inc., in Glendale has sold tennis nets, wind screens and other sporting equipment since 1969.
The Perrys not only love supporting their beloved Bruins and Trojans but have also worked tirelessly to support tennis on a truly grassroots level in the Glendale area. They provide some funding, as well as nets and wind screens and other equipment for Ron Zambrano and his NJTL site at Scholl Canyon Golf & Tennis Club in Glendale.
“We support Ron with whatever he needs,” Norm said of Zambrano, who has coached St. Francis High School and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy tennis teams since 1993. “He’s a great guy and we are happy to help him with nets, or wind screens and also provide a donation at the end of the year.”
Added Reggie: “Ron is fantastic. He now has 50 kids each summer and once the kids are older and leave for school they always come back and visit over the summer.”
Reggie said that NJP Sports also helps support the Glendale Community College Foundation and works closely with recently retired Glendale coach Bob MacKay. “We helped them resurface the courts, and with nets and wind screens,” she said.
Norm, who turns 80 this month, always enjoys his trips to The Ojai, a place he first experienced as a youth growing up next to the UCLA campus.
“I remember playing Ojai for the first time when I was 12 years old and my partner was Stan Singer,” Bob said. “Ironically we played [legendary coaches] Dick Gould and Tom Chivington.”
To learn more about the Perrys tennis nets and wind screen business NJP Sports, go to: