Tennis Champions bring community together

The Advantage Goes to City Park, Washington Park, Greenway Park and Berekely Park

With tennis participation increasing over 6 million players since 2019, the sport’s popularity is creating a heavy demand on tennis courts, especially in the public parks where a majority of all tennis takes place. Enter Tennis Champions, a United States Tennis Association (USTA) Colorado District advocacy initiative to increase awareness and inform both tennis enthusiasts as well as local decision makers of the situation, to be involved with problem solving and to generally amplify the voice for tennis.

With nearly half (46%) of the Denver-Metro’s USTA league play taking place on public park courts, and the Denver-Metro area being the #1 or #2 largest area of league participation in the country the past 10 years, partnering with Denver Parks and Recreation (DPR) to launch a pilot program of the Tennis Champions campaign in 2023 was a natural starting point for the project.  

Tennis Champions throughout Denver embraced their passion for tennis and new advocacy role by participating in the Home Court Advantage, a small capital improvement initiative sponsored by the joint partnership between USTA Colorado and DPR through the summer last year. Nominations came in from 26 of the 33 different Denver public park tennis court locations, and due to supplemental funding from community partners, four winning sites are receiving improvements this spring.

Contributions from Washington Park Tennis Club, City Park Racquet Club and Colorado High School Activities Association, in combination with committed funding from USTA Colorado, nearly tripled the  facility improvement budget that DPR had for these sites.  New windscreens are being installed around the perimeter of the tennis courts at both City Park and Washington Park, making these popular tennis courts even more attractive. Greenway Park and Berkeley Park are both receiving new sturdy scoreboards on each court that make it easier for players and spectators to keep score. 

As the 2024 tennis season kicks off, and league registration in the Denver-metro area is exceeding anywhere else in the country, the community is coming together to recognize the Home Court Advantage improvements on Saturday, April 13 at 12pm at the City Park tennis courts. All are invited to join the celebration!