Rolla hosts clinic, Red Ball Tennis tournament as part of National Tennis Month
For the second straight year, the City of Rolla played host to a weekend of tennis festivities as part of an ongoing effort to strengthen the sport’s participation in the area.
Rolla held clinics, games and social play for children for two hours on May 4. The city followed that up with a Red Ball Tennis tournament on May 5. The two fun-filled days took place at Ber Juan Park in conjunction with National Tennis Month, which occurs in May annually in the U.S. All participants received prizes including USTA towels and drawstring bags.
“We’re hoping to kind of kick-start and continue to rejuvenate tennis,” said Floyd Jernigan, parks & recreation director for the City of Rolla. “We have a very excellent high school program in Rolla—boys and girls—that has been good for a number of years with some really outstanding coaches both currently and in the past.
“This is tied in with that so we can grow the game and build more adult players in town. At the same time, continue to work with our high school to help grow their group of players as well. It just all came together. It’s a good fit and a good time to do this. The high school season is winding down. It just made a good flow-through.”
Rolla High School tennis coach Cody Martin helped lead instruction both days. Alywn Mushonga, USTA Missouri and USTA St. Louis tennis service representative, helped run the clinic as well as the Red Ball Tennis tourney. Both Martin and Mushonga played an integral role last year, too, which was Rolla’s first time holding the weekend of tennis.
This year on May 4, kids attended and participated in a tennis clinic. The event was free of charge and coordinated by Andrew Smith—parks & recreation supervisor for the City of Rolla—who attended both days of festivities. In addition to technical instruction provided by coaches, participants were guided through drills and doubles games to hone their skills.
The following day Mushonga helped run a round-robin Red Ball Tennis tournament, the first of its kind in the City of Rolla. The event took place at the six-court Ber Juan Park. Multiple members of the Missouri University of Science and Technology club tennis team participated, with S&T student Curtis Martin winning the tournament.
Players gather around Alywn Mushonga for their court assignments before the Red Ball Tennis tourney.
Two players compete against each other at Rolla's Ber Juan Park in a Red Ball Tennis match.
- Players gather around Alywn Mushonga for their court assignments before the Red Ball Tennis tourney.
- Two players compete against each other at Rolla's Ber Juan Park in a Red Ball Tennis match.
“It was a good event,” Mushonga said. “People were really excited about the Red Ball Tennis tournament. They were asking if we could come back in the fall for another Red Ball Tennis tournament.”
With the input of Mushonga and Leslie Echols—USTA Missouri executive director—the City of Rolla elected to run the Red Ball Tennis tourney versus a more traditional tennis option. Red Ball Tennis features a larger ball, shorter racquets and a smaller court for an easier path to entry for beginning players.
“Red Ball Tennis helps entry-level and intermediate players perfect their game,” Jernigan said. “The ball doesn’t quite have the same bounces. It’s larger and softer. You’re not having to do quite as much front and back and side to side—that’s still involved, but it’s a little more forgiving. … This will make it a little bit easier for working on your skills. And the court size is smaller, too, so that will help.”
The City of Rolla received a National Tennis Month grant from the USTA Missouri Valley to assist in making the weekend a success. The City of Rolla also declared May as National Tennis Month in a proclamation.
Jernigan hopes the activities centered on tennis act as a springboard to continue to grow the sport in the community, particularly as it pertains to junior programming. Jernigan noted Rolla would like to play host to a USTA junior tournament in the near future.
“This was just a really good opportunity for both tennis players and non-tennis players to come out,” Jernigan said. “It was an opportunity to get some exercise, which is always a good thing. We always like to have that in Rolla Parks & Rec, and provide people an opportunity to do a variety of things in our parks system. We see it as another excellent outreach to tie all these things together.”
Check out USTA Missouri stories on Rolla’s involvement in growing the sport of tennis by clicking here and here.
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