Public tennis courts pave way for high school play, with graduation to a sport for a lifetime
Public tennis facilities and high school tennis are two of the biggest drivers of participation for the sport in the United States. Often, these two pillars of the game go hand in hand as school teams compete and practice at their local park or public tennis center.
In celebration of National Parks & Recreation Month this July, USTA.com is highlighting some of the premier public locations around the country that play host to the high school level as part of a larger mission to grow the game among our nation’s youth.
From Mobile, Ala., to Lexington, S.C., and from Staten Island, N.Y., to Steamboat Springs, Colo., these facilities showcase how public programming can develop the next generation of tennis players and create lasting community impacts through a lifetime connection to the sport.
Park facility in Mobile grows ‘future of tennis’ by prioritizing high school teams
One of the world’s largest public tennis facilities, the Mobile Tennis Center and its 60 courts in Langham Park are operated by the city's parks and recreation department.
This National Parks & Recreation Month, the sprawling complex is hosting 16 days of events with the help of funding from USTA Southern. This programming includes popular cardio tennis classes and an exciting new initiative: social, red-ball tennis for adults. By hosting a consistent stream of events over the course of the month, rather than one big day, the center aims to promote consistent play and keep players invested in the game.
This model mirrors high school tennis, which requires a season-long commitment for players, often over the course of four years of competition. That’s just one of the reasons that the Mobile facility has established itself as a local cornerstone for the high school game.
High school tennis action at Alabama's Mobile Tennis Center. Photo courtesy of the Mobile Tennis Center.
"Pretty much every school in Mobile plays out of the Mobile Tennis Center," explained general manager Scott Novak. "We have 60 courts. If we had 90 courts, we could fill them all during the high school season."
In addition to countless matches and practices, the complex hosts two large high school tournaments each year, drawing 500 players each, as well as the Alabama state high school tournaments, with 750 players.
For the past 15 years, the Mobile Tennis Center has also hosted the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Championships. As part of this event, the roughly 600 college athletes that come into town complete a service project by visiting 12 elementary schools to teach tennis to students.
In a related but separate initiative, the facility received a USTA Southern grant for $12,000 to start in-depth, four-week programs as part of physical education classes in elementary schools—with plans to start Junior Team Tennis programs out of the schools in the fall.
Novak hopes many of these new young players stick with the sport and eventually make their way onto their high school teams, setting themselves up for a lifetime in the game.
"We just think high school tennis is really where tennis is," Novak said, explaining why his facility places such an emphasis on supporting local teams. "There's one group of junior players that keeps continually growing, and that's high school players. And we just think that's the foundation for the future of tennis."
Proof of this can be seen in the facility’s staff of teaching pros: Three of their current coaches came through the center’s junior programs and played high school tennis locally before landing their professional roles.
Fore more information on the Mobile Tennis Center, visit the facility's website.
South Carolina's Lexington County Tennis Complex. Photo courtesy of the Lexington County Tennis Complex.
Lexington’s city-run facility ‘dialed in’ on high school tennis
Part of the Lexington County Recreation & Aging Commission, the Lexington County Tennis Complex was built by the city 20 years ago. A hotspot for tennis in South Carolina, the facility hosts players of all ages and levels across its 20 courts, including one stadium court.
The popular center is also plugged into the high school game, with several schools—including American Leadership Academy, Lexington High School and AC Flora—frequently using the facility for practices and matches. The center also hosts preseason tournaments for local varsity and JV players to prepare them for competition.
"We're pretty dialed in here with the high schools and the coaches, making sure that as many people want to come and use the facility locally can come do that," said facility director Mike Wojtkowski.
In addition to the high school team activities, the facility also hosts clinics for JV players and a college showcase for student-athletes looking to take their game to the next level.
Schools tennis is far from the only activity on the schedule, with the USTA Junior Team Tennis, ITF junior events and USTA adult tournaments also on tap, showcasing the wide range of ages the Lexington facility serves.
"Tennis is obviously a lifetime sport," said Wojtkowski. “So if we can get that kid at 5 in a red-ball program and they end up playing their high school tennis here, and later they're playing here when they're 50—that's the ultimate success story.
"That's what our goal is. We just want to provide enough programing that everybody can enjoy the game and have fun."
For more information on the Lexington County Tennis Complex, visit the the facility's website or the Lexington County Recreation & Aging Commission website.
A full-circle journey at Staten Island’s Walker Park
Twenty years ago, Joseph Taranto spent countless hours playing tennis at Walker Park, the home base of his high school team in the New York City borough of Staten Island. Then, just as they do now, the Curtis Warriors held their practices and matches at the picturesque locale.
Today, Taranto is the Staten Island borough director for City Parks Foundation (CPF), a non-profit that provides free tennis camps and lessons to kids at public parks throughout New York City. Fittingly, Walker Park is one of the program’s primary sites.
On the very same courts where he learned the game, Taranto now gives back to the sport by coaching kids from ages 6 to 17 every summer. With 11 years in his role, Taranto’s full-circle journey is a prime example of someone who caught the tennis bug in high school and stayed with the sport for life.
Looking back on his high school days—which set him up to star on the men’s team at the College of Staten Island—Taranto recalled the benefits of calling Walker Park home.
The Charles Kasper Tennis Courts in Staten Island's Walker Park. Photo courtesy of Joseph Taranto.
"One of the best things about it was that the city always kept the courts in great condition," he said. "Whereas we went to other schools and sometimes the courts were in shambles—because that's not the school's first priority, to fix the tennis courts. At Walker Park, you knew you were getting a legitimate tennis court. If you would go to play at other schools, it could be on asphalt or concrete.
"The park, for the most part, was probably the best courts we played on every year."
Now Taranto works to instill a love for tennis in a new generation of players at the park. CPF’s summer program includes instruction and participation in a number of tournaments organized by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. An annual highlight is a marquee event in Manhattan’s Central Park, where many new players are given their first introduction to competitive play.
While many young campers are beginners, Taranto estimates that 90% of the high school-aged participants play for their schools. Many of the younger kids also have ambitions to make their high school teams, spurred on by their improvements and interactions with older players at camp.
A proud product of the schools tennis pipeline, Taranto now takes even more pride in growing the game for future generations.
For more information City Parks Foundation tennis, visit the organization's official website.
Steamboat Springs High School girls' tennis. Photo courtesy of the Steamboat Springs Tennis & Pickleball Complex.
Caring community supports high school tennis in mountain town of Steamboat Springs
The partnership between the Steamboat Tennis and Pickleball Complex (STPC) and the Steamboat Tennis Association (STA), both non-profits, keeps tennis thriving in a Colorado mountain town. Recently named a USTA Premier Facility, the tennis center is owned by the city of Steamboat Springs and operated by Court Sports 4 Life (CS4L).
The girls’ and boys’ tennis teams at Steamboat Springs High School practice and play home matches at STPC, with the center’s teaching pros serving as coaches. The STA also supports the high school’s teams, often providing food for home matches and covering lodging expenses for away games. (Because of their location in a mountain town, the teams often travel to cities like Vail, Grand Junction and Denver to compete.)
"It really is a partnership to make the high school players feel really engaged in the community, and the community cares that they do well," explained Meg Tully, executive director at STPC. "We're vested in their success."
Recently, that success has included several players qualifying for the state tournament—a big accomplishment for a small town.
As part of their mission to grow the game in Steamboat Springs, STPC and the STA work with 2,000 kids annually, ranging from new to competitive players. STPC visits local schools each fall and spring, bringing pop-up nets and balls to grade schools and middle schools for programming with large groups in school gyms.
The STA focuses on underserved youth, using tennis as a mechanism to build leaders. Players introduced to the game by the STA often funnel into STPC’s “ROGY” tennis program, which moves participants through a sequence of red, orange, green and yellow balls as their skills improve.
But the progression does not end there. Many of these children end up playing high school and even college tennis, Tully explained, before continuing to hit the courts as adults.
"They're the future of the sport," Tully said. “If we don't constantly have a pipeline of young people in the sport, we're not really doing the sport justice."
For more information on youth tennis programs at the Steamboat Tennis and Pickleball Complex, contact Jason Scicchitano, director of tennis, by email at jason@steamboattennisandpickleball.com.
Read More: 'Public park kid' Jimmy Connors reflects on how they shaped him and his tennis
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