At Fayetteville Athletic Club in Fayetteville, Ark., it doesn’t matter how old you are. If you have an interest in tennis, there’s an opportunity for you, whether you’re 3 years old, 18 or 30.
However, the club’s youth tennis offerings were recently reinforced with the expansion of its Junior Tennis Center. Altogether, the entire center now has 12 heated indoor courts and two outdoor courts for kids and adults of a wide range of ages.
According to Bill Maxwell, the director of tennis for Fayetteville Athletic Club, the club’s fee-based junior tennis program is an extremely important component of the facility. “It is a major attraction,” he said. “It is as important as adult tennis is.”
The Junior Tennis Center allows for seven different levels of play that appeal to a wide range of skill sets. This includes “QuickStart Tennis,” a program designed specifically for junior players that uses smaller courts, smaller racquets and lower-bouncing tennis balls. “It’s designed with the same concepts as little league baseball,” explained Maxwell.
Fayetteville Athletic Club has former tennis pros at its disposal as instructors. Some of their students have gone on to play tennis professionally or in college under scholarship. Maxwell credits the tennis program’s success to the different levels of play the club offers. “Our program sets kids up so they can thrive in an environment they can handle from the beginning,” he said.
Maxwell hopes the expansion of the Junior Tennis Center will draw in even more kids wishing to improve their tennis skills, or appeal to parents looking to get their kids involved in a great sport. “Tennis builds tons of life skills,” he said. “You have to have self discipline and accept both success and failure. Tennis is an activity that will get kids, or anyone, healthy.”
In addition to junior tennis programs, Fayetteville Athletic Club has other opportunities for kids to get involved with fitness, including a junior fitness center designed for children ages 8 to 12. Here, kids can work out in a safe environment after they go through a pre-teen orientation course. The club also offers group and personal training for youth.
However, according to Maxwell, the junior tennis program is still the club’s most diverse youth fitness offering, one he expects will continue to grow. The Junior Tennis Center expansion, “will allow us to grow tennis in the area,” he said.
By Rachel Zabonick
