CityView Magazine

sports Head Women's Team Coach Francie Barragan, Sara Altman, Laura Baker, Lindsie Bentham, Brittany Britt, Stacey Brooks, Stephanie Hunter, Lauryn Justice, Katherine Meindl, Hillary Petruska, Dana Powell, Rachel Purser, Kelli Shelton, Emily Talley. Student Assistant Coach Sibu Ntshalintshali A Love All BY KELLY TWEDELL Branch Racquet and Swim Club and The Sports Center, cer- tainly decreased the number of courts in town. Dark Branch had six soſt courts and eight hard courts, while the Sports Center had four soſt courts, neither of which are being used right now.But, there are still other facilities and leagues that allow competition at every level and encouragement for play- ers at every stage of the game. The largest tennis facilities in Fayetteville are at Highland t first glance tennis might seem like a forgot- ten sport in Fayetteville. Our city is rare in that we do not have a tennis center and there is a shortage of places for tennis lovers to play. The closing of Dark Country Club and Mazarick Park, though Arnette Park and Lake Rim Park also have courts. Highland's adult tennis programs include: Men's Night, Ladies' Progressive, Cardio Tennis and League Play. High- land can also allow 20 percent of the tennis league team mem- bers to play without being members of the Country Club. This oſten accommodates military spouses and other civilians to play and help to fill up the teams. Fayetteville players make a racquet For youth, the best bet is Highland Country Club's "Quick Start" program, the only one in our area for kids. On any given day, you can watch the beginning stages of the game taking shape with younger children. Their lessons start with an orange net on the ground, oblong across the court, to teach basic awareness of racquets and other beginning skills. "It's exciting to see kids being able to play tennis at a much younger age using the appropriate sized racquets, balls, net and scoring format adjusted to their size," said Kevin Cac- cia, the Director of Tennis at Highland Country Club, as he explained the idea behind the age 10 and under, Quick Start program. The Junior Tennis League at Highland allows kids to form teams and play against other kids of similar age and ability levels in the Fayetteville-Pinehurst area. The Assistant Tennis Pro, Mike See, is optimistic that Fay- etteville will come to a viable solution in forming a commu- nity tennis program for the public, taking advantage of avail- able courts in the area. She shared that Highland is one of the few facilities in the CityViewNC.com | 43 Photography by Byron Jones

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