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© Garrett Ellwood
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By Sue Levine, USTA.com
Indian Wells, Calif. - You know it’s “Casey’s Kats” on the court as soon as you see the outfits. Their visors are topped with a fistful of spiky fake hair. Those came from Wal-Mart. That’s kind of the tip-off that there will be no standard issue tennis whites for these Kats. Their tennis skirts are a Kat-like leopard print and were hand made especially for the team in Hawaii.
“Casey’s Kats” out of Tucson, Arizona, is representing the Southwest Section in the 3.5 Senior USTA League National Championship for the first time this year, and they are doing it in feline style.
Team captain Carol Bandy says she was walking around and spotted someone wearing a colorful tennis skirt she liked. She’s not shy, and with permission from the owner, she checked out the label. From the label she tracked down Tropical Tennis Wear from Kauai by Jude Mince. Carol found the website on and called up Jude.
It turns out Jude Mince was active in league tennis in Northern California, until her family retired to Kauai. She started making tennis skirts for herself in the colorful, tropical patterns found in Hawaii. When her friends started asking her to make them tennis skirts too, Jude’s hobby turned into a business. Jude still sews each skirt herself. She does tennis uniforms, and Carol ordered up enough of those leopard print skirts to outfit her team.
The line is catching on here in the mainland, too. Carol says she’s even seen Tropical Tennis Wear from Kauai on sale in Indian Wells Tennis Center.
If you’re interested in the getting the look, you can check out the website at tropicaltenniswear.com