Tennis has evolved into a game of long baseline rallies. Hawai'i's Tennis Weekend remains a burst of quick volleys.

The 19th annual Tennis Weekend is Oct. 15 and 16 at Ala Moana. This year's production of tennis overload includes the usual slammed schedule of on-court clinics, major names in the game, exhibits and the annual banquet Saturday night.

It also features a tribute to the 25th anniversary of USA League Tennis, the most popular tennis program in the world, and the inaugural Hawai'i Tennis Hall of Fame induction.

The late Shigeto "Shigesh" Wakida, Maui's beloved tennis teacher, and Jim Osborne, the finest player to come out of Hawai'i, are the first inductees. The hall will initially be in the U.S. Tennis Association/Hawai'i Pacific Section office. Ultimately the plan is to move it to the University of Hawai'i tennis complex clubhouse, which has yet to be built.

Kahiau, formerly the Hawai'i Tennis Patrons Association, will underwrite the cost and make the selections. There will be two inductees annually, one a player with "outstanding competitive achievements with considerations to sportsmanship and character," and the other a "non-player" from among volunteers, officials, coaches, media and others who have "made outstanding contributions to tennis."

Those are ideal descriptions of Osborne and Wakida.

Osborne, the 1962 and '63 state high school singles champion for Punahou, went on to play for the victorious U.S. Davis Cup team in 1968, and won an exhibition bronze medal at the Olympics the same year.

"Oz" played on the professional tour from 1968 to '72 and was ranked in the top 10. He had wins over Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, John Newcombe, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Ilie Nastase and Jimmy Connors. Later, he was the top-ranked player nationally in 35-and-older singles and doubles. He also won a national 50-older Grass Court Doubles Championship.

Osborne is a 1969 graduate of the University of Utah, where he was a three-time All-American and earned a place in the Athletic Hall of Fame. He retired as Brigham Young's men's tennis coach in 2003, after 15 years. He coached four All-Americans at BYU, and led the Cougars to a conference championship in 2001. During his tenure, 14 Cougars were named Academic All-American and nearly 100 percent graduated.

Wakida, the "Tennis Samurai of Lahaina," died in 2001 at the age of 85. He held court for thousands of children on the public courts that now bear his name and helped many move beyond Lahaina to successful academic and professional careers.

"Ten years after high school," Wakida used to say, "is when you see what success really is."

His athletic career started early. His team won the 120-pound Barefoot Football League on Maui in 1937 and he started in tennis a decade later, in the midst of a 40-plus year career at Pioneer Mill. He first played with the ends of an orange crate.

Wakida was self-taught and is remembered most for hitting balls to kids for hours on end from a shopping cart. Wife Sumie, a nurse at Maui Memorial, was known as a "live ball hopper" for her willingness to fill that basket for nearly 50 years.

Any child old enough to hold a racquet could join in. The cost was $30 a year, for those who could afford it. Wakida also taught tourists and used the money to pay travel costs for his juniors.

Two of his success stories are Jean Okada, who played in the 1997 U.S. Open and was ranked as high as 25th in college, and Ryan Ideta, who reached No. 36 while playing for LSU and went on to play on tour and win six Kailua Racquet Club Men's Night Doubles championships.

The celebration of the 25th anniversary of league tennis is also a glimpse at the tremendous growth of the USTA. There were 13,000 participants in the inaugural year (1980). It grew to 50,000, from all 17 USTA sections, in 1993. It is now at 572,000, with several different recreational levels and seniors.

All those players are required to be USTA members. They account for nearly 60 percent of the USTA's adult membership.

This year's clinicians and speakers are:

Stan Smith: An All-American for USC, he graduated with a finance degree and went on to help the U.S. to seven Davis Cup victories in 11 years, compiling a 22-2 record. Three of those wins came against Romania in the wild 1972 final in Bucharest. Smith won 39 singles and 61 doubles titles in his pro career and was ranked No. 1 in 1971 and '72 after winning the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. He was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. He served as director of coaching for the USTA Player Development Program from 1988 to 1995 and was coach of the 2000 Olympic men's tennis team.

Jose Higueras: Represented Spain in the Davis Cup and won 15 pro tournaments to attain a top 10 ranking before going into coaching. Helped develop Michael Chang and Jim Courier and also worked with Pete Sampras, Carlos Moya, Sergi Bruguera, Todd Martin, Jennifer Capriati, and Chanda Ruben. Higueras, special advisor to USTA Player Development, has been part of the USTA staff since 1988. His primary responsibility is coaching players through the USTA Touring Pro Program. He won the ATP Tour Sportsmanship Award in 1984

Joe Dinoffer: Has conducted clinics and exhibitions in more than 50 countries, logging over 30,000 hours of instruction in English, Spanish, and German. He is a Master Professional in both the Professional Tennis Registry and the U.S. Professional Tennis Association, a distinction awarded to only a handful. Dinoffer is author and editor of 16 books, 29 videotapes and more than 70 digital audiocassettes, and has 15 shows airing on the Tennis Channel, with 11 more due. He is founder and president of Oncourt Offcourt, Inc., a company exclusively serving the needs of tennis, fitness, and physical education coaches with innovative training aids and educational tools.

Dan Santorum: CEO and Executive Director of Professional Tennis Registry. Represents the organization at industry conventions, trade shows, tennis teacher conferences and tennis teacher workshops. Santorum has conducted 340 PTR workshops on six continents in 43 countries and 163 cities. Under his tenure, PTR has more than quadrupled in size, from 2,500 members in 68 countries to more than 11,500 members in 123 countries.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.