30-Love: Community Tennis Organizers Aim to Prevent This Boom From Becoming a Bubble

From individuals to organizations, weekend warriors to professional players, minute observations to big-picture ideas, tennis has been top of mind across the board over the past two years.

“I feel like this is the tennis boom part two,” says Trey Waltke, general manager of the Malibu Racquet Club in southern California. “Everyone is talking tennis. Everyone is playing. People are rediscovering how great tennis is.”

Tennis shouldn’t rest on its laurels; the first boom didn’t last forever. But this is as good of an opportunity to reflect on what the sport has gotten right, during a time when so much has gone wrong.

Over the next few weeks, we'll do just that, with a series of stories—30-Love—that highlights 30 things worth celebrating about the New American Tennis Boom. Look for past articles on the left side of each page.—Ed McGrogan

Over the last two years, tennis participation has leaped significantly in the United States. A study conducted by the Physical Activity Council (PAC) revealed that there were 495.1 million “tennis playing occasions” in 2020—27.8 percent more than in 2019. Another notable figure was that the amount of players ages 6 to 17 grew 36.6 percent, to 6.23 million.

“We haven’t seen an increase in participation like this since the ’70s,” said John Embree, CEO and Executive Director of the USPTA, America’s preeminent tennis teaching organization. Still, for those who remember the heady boom days of the 1970s and early ’80s, there remains a haunting reality: A major reason why people left tennis throughout the ’80s and ’90s was the sport’s absence of community. That dearth included everything from not being able to find enough playing partners, to a lack of relevant and accessible tennis activities.

Enter the community tennis organizer—not simply a ball-feeder, but an athletic evangelist, a pied piper always eager to create opportunities that connect players of all ages and skill levels. Todd Carlson, USTA National Manager, CTA, Public Parks, and Facility Development, believes that an effective community tennis organizer is “like being a host at a party, trying to get to know things about the guests.”

“Community tennis organizers ask questions: ‘How long have you been in town? Where do you live? How often do you play?’ Those answers help determine the many ways they can be involved with tennis,” says Carlson. “That can range from identifying local facilities and programs, to afterschool programs for kids, to lessons and more.”

WATCH: TENNIS.com Podcast: USTA CEO Mike Dowse on the tennis boom and US Open

An effective community tennis organizer has mastery of some basic but powerful people skills. Chris Dudley, who operates Querbes Tennis Center in Shreveport, La., prides himself on swiftly remembering names. Tim Palmer, an instructor based in Vero Beach, Fla., emphasizes fun—an example being an afterschool program he created called “Whack-It! Wednesday” that featured more than 50 elementary school-aged children rotating through ten courts, hitting balls for 90 minutes.

The USTA has also stepped into this world in a big way. Carlson estimates there are now more than 700 Community Tennis Associations (CTAs). Recently, a major feature offered at the CTAs has been “Tennis 101,” an introductory course—and a particularly vital one when you consider that, according to the PAC study, 11 million non-players plan to play tennis within the next year. The volunteers and staff members who run CTAs also have the chance to earn money through the USTA’s “Grow the Game” grants, a financial reward of up to $12 for each person who participates in Tennis 101.

What’s conveyed in so many of these comments is a newfound sense of urgency, an awareness that the prior boom was, to a certain degree, a lost opportunity and best not be repeated. But how to do that?

To help connect people with the game more, the USTA recently launched a pilot program called “Champions,” consisting of volunteer ambassadors who find ways to promote the game—be it posting fliers to promote a local event, extensive use of social media, drawing on local contacts, and other grassroots techniques. In the program’s first month, Carlson estimated that 500 people opted to become ambassadors.

“Every community is different,” said Dana Gill, president of LifeTime Tennis, a firm that operates many local facilities throughout Northern California. Some communities are heavily focused on fast-track juniors. Others are devoted to beginners. And then there’s the world of adult play, which Gill notes has recently taken on an exciting new dimension.

“Friday night tennis for people in their 20s and 30s has become more popular,” he said. “That group hadn’t participated before, and now they’re here and asking all sorts of questions.”

Juggling all these constituent demands is not so easy, particularly since scheduling has also become more important than ever.

“After you have obtained a reservation for a tennis court, you should know that playing time is limited to one hour and thirty minutes,” according to the reservation rules of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. “You must also arrive at the clubhouse 10 minutes before the start of your tennis reservation. If you fail to comply, you will be bumped down the list or possibly lifted off if eager opponents wait in the wings.”

It’s not personal—it’s just the tennis boom.

“People used to just show up, hang out, meet people and play,” said Gill. “But these days, life has become very regimented and scheduled. Walk-on play is a thing of the past. Times need to be set for various activities, from scheduling time on the ball machine to clinics, on-line reservations, lessons, league matches.”

As more people come to tennis, a major challenge is to find enough instructors and coaches. At Golden Gate Park, for example, Gill estimated there are 900 people on a waiting list for private and group lessons.