Love of tennis shared by Whitefish siblings

On any given day, as long as there isn’t snow on the ground, you’ll likely find the Frampton siblings out whacking yellow tennis balls around on their backyard court outside of Whitefish.

The three Frampton children, Luke, 8, Ryan, 11, and Maria, 12, have been bitten by the tennis bug. They’re on the court almost daily practicing to become better players.

Ask them what they enjoy most about tennis and the answer is clearly unanimous — playing in tournaments. Sure, they enjoy winning, but the real reasons they enjoy competing at cities across the West, and attending tennis camp, is not to win.

“We’re out there to have fun,” Maria said. “We get to be together as a family. We get to see friends and family wherever we go.”

Parents Sean and Diana Frampton are making sure their kids are working hard, but also enjoying themselves. The whole family travels together and they often stay with relatives as the children compete in the U.S. Tennis Association Intermountain region tournaments.

“Tennis has a high burnout rate at this age and we want to protect them,” Sean said. “That’s why we’ve changed the focus from just winning. We make it fun during tournaments. They get to eat poorly and stay up late.”

At home, Sean, who played tennis for the University of Montana, is often out hitting with the kids. Diana is there for everyone when they come for snacks and water.

In addition, the family has changed the definition of “win.” They consider winning to be achieved by playing to the best of their ability, even if that means losing the match.

“We’re playing for tomorrow,” explains Ryan. “If we play the ball given to us correctly, then that’s a win. It takes the pressure off.”

Both parents are happy when someone tells them they have nice, polite children — not just great tennis players.

“We try to have the attitude that you play for tomorrow’s trophy,” she said. “Great people before great tennis players is the most important thing.”

Out on the backyard court, the siblings volley with one another. They focus on making the best shots, but the smiles on their faces show their enjoyment.

“We’re out there to have fun,” Luke said. “When we’re playing with our brothers and sister it’s about having fun.”

The Frampton children do have their fair share of tennis trophies in their rooms. Luke has been accepted by the USTA player development program and camp as the association puts its focus on expanding the base of young tennis players in the country. Ryan and Maria don’t meet the age requirements of the program.

The Framptons also celebrate their other accomplishments too. All three participate in karate at the American Karate Acedemy, and Maria recently earned her black belt.

The boys have baseball trophies and Maria plays the violin.

In the boys room, the walls are decorated with wooden tennis rackets primarily collected by Ryan. He received many of them as gifts from relatives.

One tennis racquet holds a special honor — a Jack Kramer Autograph by Wilson Sporting Goods. The vintage racquet was personally owned by the late Jack Kramer, a tennis legend of the 1940s and 1950s and who was ranked No. 1 in the world for a number of years.

Jack Kramer’s son, John Kramer, lives in Whitefish and is a Frampton family friend. Ryan wrote a report about Jack and gave it to John, who in return he gave the racquet to the boy along with a note saying, “This is the only racquet I’ve ever given away.”

Tennis seems to be a first love for the siblings. All three started playing at a very young age by hitting balls against a backboard and now all have the goal of being professional players when they grow up.

Maria admits sometimes she doesn’t want to practice, but knowing that practicing will make her improve and ultimately enjoy playing more.

“I want to play this sport all my life, even if I just get to play it for fun,” she said.