Profiles by Ross Forman
TERRY MAR
Age: 37
Height: 6'1'
Weight: 180 pounds
Body fat: Nine percent
Hometown: Waikiki, HI
Has Previously Lived In: New Zealand, Australia and Chicago.
Status: Partner is Dean Calistro, 40. The two have been partners for four years.
Ethnicity: Chinese, Samoan, East Indian and Scottish.
Is a: Nursing student at Kapiolani Community College.
Gay Games sport: tennis. Will play singles and doubles, teaming with Will Blanco of San Francisco. Calistro also will compete in tennis at the Games.
Who's better, Mar or Calistro: 'I am,' Mar said quietly and laughing.
Enjoys: Watching and playing sports.
Favorite team: San Antonio Spurs
Favorite athlete: Manu Ginobili. 'He's under-sized and a fighter on the floor, just like how I am on the ( tennis ) court.'
Adjectives that describe your tennis game: tenacious and competitive.
The Quote: 'I always try to succeed, so I don't do things half-heartedly.'
Favorite TV shows: Commander In Chief, Will & Grace, Lost.
It's a Fact: Loves to cook and previously attended a culinary school. His cooking specialty is spicy Indian food. 'I like to concoct new recipes from existing ones.'
Chicago ties: Was the lead auditor at the Radisson Schaumburg in 2000-2001.
On Chicago: 'I love the variety of food there.'
Favorite Chicago restaurant: Morton's Steakhouse.
He lives about 4,200 miles away, but Terry Mar certainly will have a home ( tennis ) court advantage when he takes to singles and doubles action this summer in Gay Games VII.
Mar spent the winters of 2000 and 2001 working in Schaumburg, yet now has seemingly year-round summers. He lives in Hawaii, minutes by foot from the pristine water of fabled Waikiki Beach.
'At least when I'm competing, it won't be in a totally new environment,' Mar said. 'This will be my first Gay Games and I'm absolutely excited. Just to be in a city with other athletes who enjoy playing sports will be great. Sure, I'm a little nervous, but more excited than nervous. There will be a lot of good competition, no doubt, but, I'd still love to win ( a gold medal ) . Regardless, I just want to do my best.'
Mar will compete in A-Division, which is the second-best of the five tiers for tennis. He is an aggressive player, a baseline player who can attack the net, where his size certainly helps him cover a lot of ground. His serve also is solid.
He's a right-handed player with a single-handed backhand.
'Competing against gay athletes from around the world, and just being in an environment such as this will be a hell of a lot of fun,' said Mar, who plays in several gay tournaments annually, such as events held in San Diego, Seattle, Chicago and Honolulu.
'I'm excited with anticipation for the Games. I've seen videos of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and I've always wanted to be one of the athletes walking into a stadium for an Opening Ceremony. That will be a lot of fun.'
Mar started playing tennis at age 5 and continued until he was 11. He then dropped the sport because his brothers had then entered high school and thus he didn't have his regular partners.
He returned to tennis about 20 years later, largely due to his real-life partner: Dean Calistro.
Mar said he long has preferred to play singles, but teaming with Will Blanco of San Francisco on the court has been 'special,' especially considering he had never even seen Blanco play when they teamed together for the first time this past July for a tournament in Seattle … and they lost in the finals.
'I think we have a better chance of winning the doubles title ( at the Games ) than I do of winning the singles title,' Mar said. 'Our on-court chemistry is great. Will's a lefty; I'm a righty. We don't speak that much on the court, but there's just this feeling.'
So how'd you hook-up with Blanco, so to speak?
'He wanted to play with me, but we never got together. I called him before the Seattle tournament, to see if he was still interested,' Mar said. 'I think what we did in Seattle was a great accomplishment for people who have never played together.'
Mar said he plans to take the summer off from school and spend six weeks training for the Games, specifically his endurance. 'I also want to perfect my strokes, so they became totally second-nature,' he said.
After all, Mar has never won a tournament; he lost in tournament semifinals in Hawaii in 2003 and in Seattle in 2005 as well as the quarterfinals in Chicago in 2005. 'My time has finally come, hopefully,' he said. 'I will be ready for the Games.'
Mar is a sports junkie who also has played field hockey, basketball, rugby and, uh, lawn bowling, a popular commonwealth sport. 'I enjoy learning new sports and the challenges that go with them,' he said. 'It's exciting to be playing in a world event such as the Gay Games as opposed to just an American event.'
