Looking to build off of a strong local interest in tennis following the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games, local tennis enthusiasts are trying to cultivate a club within the city.
A prime example of the effort is the Thursday night tennis at their courts near Estevan Comprehensive High School.
“Everybody's invited to come out for free,” said Estevan Tennis Club president Arnold Betzema. “It's 6:30 till dark now. There's many nets and for somebody who wants to learn the game, we have somebody there to kind of give you a racket if you need a racket and give you some balls to play so people can get a feel for the game.”
The local tennis club has been trying this all summer to try to get people involved, and have further plans to have learn to play clinics in September. Betzema recently completed an instructor's course in Regina this summer, and the legacy from the Games has also included full memberships.
“There have been people that have been signing up, and they've been getting a key to the court... and more people are playing at the leisure centre,” Betzema said. “We've also been trying to run junior tennis and we'll have a program in the fall. We ran it inside in the spring at the gym at the Church of God.”
The Red Ball Tennis program is an introduction to help kids learn the game, he said. Building up the program through there will help get the sport regrowing, it's hoped.
“The Games committee was looking for somebody to man the tennis courts and look after the venue,” he recalled. “The tennis club helped come out and sponsor the kids that were playing for the (zone) team and we're building on that legacy. The courts have been refurbished and they're in really great shape. It's a sport that's pretty inexpensive to play.”
Membership in the club is $10/person or $20/family, which includes sleeves of balls – one for an individual membership and two for a family.
“That way we can keep a record of people who have made a commitment and we can try to plugin to different programming,” Betzema said.
The club also hosted a learn-to-play evening with adults earlier in the year.
“There have been some people working Wednesday nights with people at the Leisure Centre courts,” he said. “We're hoping to try to get that up and going later in the month and into September.
“We're trying to grow the sport and people are showing an interest.”
So if your kids have been watching the oodles of tennis on TV lately, from the major tournaments to the Rogers Cup, and they want to get involved a bit further, Betzema has some advice.
“Tennis is a sport that can be a lifelong recreational activity, but there is a good learning process if you wish to become competitive,” he said. “That's the whole part of paying somebody to coach here to get the kids on the road if they want to, and go to tournaments across the province and maybe eventually across the country.”
