60-COURT MOBILE TENNIS CENTER SELECTED FOR SITE
The Mobile (Ala.) Area Tennis Association (MATA) has been selected as the host of the 2023 and 2024 USTA Southern Junior Team Tennis Sectional Championships, USTA Southern Manager, Junior Team Tennis & Junior Circuits and Tournament Director Adam Dalton announced.
The 60-court Mobile Tennis Center was selected as the tournament site for both events. The dates scheduled are Sept. 2-4, 2023, and Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2024.
The bid was submitted by City of Mobile Director of Tennis Scott Novak on behalf of the MATA. The facility, the second largest in the country, usually hosts up to 20 junior, college and tennis events annually.
At least 55 teams with about 500 players from throughout Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee are expected to play each year. Typically, at least eight players — plus managers, coaches and parents — travel to the tournament, with some teams brining more than 12 individuals. The tournament expects to use 385 hotel rooms.
USTA Southern Junior Team Tennis Committee Chair Aaron Browning said, “We are excited that the Mobile Area Tennis Association will host the 2023-24 championships. The association has a long tradition and history of hosting very successful events, including state Junior Team Tennis and USTA League championships, section junior and USTA League tournaments, and national tournaments.”
Dalton said, “The Mobile Tennis Center is known as one of the most well-run facilities in the country thanks to the leadership of Scott & Lorraine Novak and the MATA.”
USTA’s junior team program supports coed teams in four age levels with more than 25,000 players in USTA Southern. The teams, which represent various clubs, parks, recreational departments and organizations, have finished at the top of their local leagues played in 10 and Under, 12 and Under, 14 and Under, and 18 and Under levels. Within each age level, teams are divided into two different skill levels: intermediate and advanced.