The Ida Stone Jones Community Tennis Center located on Edgemont Avenue has been honored as only one of twelve tennis facilities recognized as a 2017 United States Tennis Association Facility Award Winner. This announcement was recently made by the USTA.
Facilities that were constructed and/or renovated throughout the country were considered for the 36th Annual USTA Facility Awards program. In mid-October the award will be presented at the USTA meeting in Orlando, Florida.
USTA Chief Executive of Community Tennis and the USTA National Campus, Kurt Kamperman said, “Great tennis facilities like the Ida Stone Jones Community Tennis Center help us to grow the game at the grass-roots level, and we are proud to recognize them for their ongoing impact on the sport of tennis.”
To be considered for an award, facilities must be under the jurisdiction of a Parks and Recreation Department, an educational institution, a nonprofit corporation, or be a private or commercially owned and operated facility. The facility must offer both USTA and public programming designed to help grow tennis.
Terry Napier, Director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department said, “I really think this is pretty cool. We were only one of two our size in the entire country to receive this award. There were only a total of twelve in the country to receive it. I think it stands as a testament to the fact that public-private partnerships can be tremendously successful. The culmination of the city, the school system and community contributions made the tennis center the reality it is today.” Napier continued, “The Tennis Committee spearheaded by Nell Beiger kept the project on the top of everyone’s minds, kept it on time, and kept it funded. Now that is an accomplishment we can all be proud of.”
Facilities were judged on overall layout and adaptation to site, excellence of court surface and lights, ease of maintenance, accommodations for players, spectators and press/officials, aesthetics, and other criteria.
For more information on the award or the tennis center, contact Terry Napier at 423-989-5500 or email [email protected].
