Northeastern Ohio, including the Akron area, is full of good tennis players passionate about the game. This can be seen by the large number of indoor private tennis clubs around the Akron area in Medina, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow, Hudson, Aurora and Fairlawn. What is especially noteworthy this year is that many teams from our area have won regionals, districts and now some are playing at the national level.
This does not take into consideration that junior players often start here and move to Florida eventually to improve their craft.
Lauren Davis is a professional tennis player from NE Ohio in the top 100 on the WTA circuit. She grew up in Mayfield. Now she travels the world playing tennis, Not a bad gig.
So while Florida remains the Mecca of tennis in the US, NE Ohio is producing a lot of great players. We recently went to Miami to get some specialized training, and had a great time. Part of our time was at the Rick Macci academy and part in a private residence with specialist Brian Gordon.
Sports, and in particular tennis for us, has given vacations a purpose and the opportunity to meet people and have goals beyond laying on the beach or visiting tourist traps. We still go to the beach, but between tennis matches and training.
Whether you are a junior player, a high school player, a college player or part of the adult team tennis leagues, you can get a lot of value out of the sport if you enjoy it. There is the fitness aspect which is valuable. If you are limited in movement, try doubles which is less running.
In the greater Stow area there is no better place to play indoor tennis than Latuchie Tennis Center - open year round.
Then there is the competitive aspect. Don’t ask my why, but we humans like to compete. And tennis will give you competition that is fierce like combat.
If you are worried about the fact that Winter makes it hard to play year round, consider joining an indoor club where you can play under a roof and with heat. Junior memberships can be very affordable and it is a great way to stay active during the colder months. It is also convenient for rainy days.
Lastly, unless you live in a city where there is a lot of tennis, it is a great sport for kids who want to play on a varsity high school team but do not have one sport they are itching to play. Tennis in many smaller communities will be easier to make the team as long as the player has some experience. Often kids show up and try out for the team without any experience, so someone who has played in the summers during the middle school years goes out for the high school team, they have a good chance of being an athlete their freshman year.
