Year round tennis in Tacoma?

September 20, 2018 8:55 am
It's hard to take in how huge this space is. There should be room for you. Photo: Morf Morford
It's hard to take in how huge this space is. There should be room for you. Photo: Morf Morford

United States Tennis Association Pacific Northwest (USTA PNW) opens the Galbraith Tennis Center, located at 1680 South Mildred Street in Tacoma, Wash. The new facility offers an experience and amenities that are considered industry best and fills a void left by the closure of indoor tennis courts in the area in previous years. Modern tenant improvements, court surfacing, and live stream court viewing are just a few of the attractions this facility provides. More information is available at the Galbraith Tennis Center website: https://pnwtenniscenters.com/tacoma/.

As the Pacific Northwest regional section of the national nonprofit governing body of the sport of tennis, USTA PNW is dedicated to growing the game of tennis by sustainably expanding tennis infrastructure and play opportunities to all. Galbraith Tennis Center is named in honor of local Tacoma tennis player Patrick Galbraith. Galbraith grew up playing tennis in Tacoma, became the top-ranked world tennis player, and has given back to the tennis community as a volunteer for decades.

“The Galbraith Tennis Center offers an amazing opportunity for the community of Tacoma to play tennis in the very same facility in which I grew up playing. I am so thrilled to be a part of USTA PNW’s effort to keep my hometown playing the sport I love so much.” – Patrick Galbraith, the namesake of the tennis center and former tennis world champion.

USTA PNW’s strategy for providing access includes RecTennis®, PNW’s recreational tennis program, tournaments and trainings, fundraising, scholarships and sliding scale entry, and now facilities management.

The Pacific Northwest is experiencing a groundswell of interest in tennis but there is currently only one indoor court for every 26,706 people. When factoring accessibility (public courts only), it’s one court for every 158,868 people. USTA PNW addresses this challenge with the Galbraith Tennis Center.

It's hard to take in how huge this space is. There should be room for you. Photo: Morf Morford
It’s hard to take in how huge this space is. There should be room for you. Photo: Morf Morford

Opening the Galbraith Tennis Center and Vancouver Tennis Center is part of the USTA PNW’s larger mission-based effort to build a sustainable future for tennis in the Pacific Northwest by fostering community spaces in which everyone, regardless of age, economic status and ability levels can play tennis together. More court space allows USTA PNW to welcome and recruit more players in order to continue growing the game of tennis. By offering a best-in-class on court and off court experience, along with robust programming, and need based scholarships these rejuvenated tennis centers will naturally generate more access opportunities to a wider population and will keep both facilities fiscally sound.

USTA PNW General Manager, Facilities Operations and Services, Patrick Dreves sums it up like this: “We don’t need 100 people playing 1,000 hours of tennis; we need 1,000 people playing 100 hours of tennis.”

About USTA PNW: Established in 1904, the United States Tennis Association Pacific Northwest (USTA PNW) is a 501c3 non-profit organization and one of 17 sections of the United States Tennis Association, the national governing body of the sport of tennis. Based in Beaverton, Ore., USTA PNW’s mission is to promote and develop the growth of tennis in the Pacific Northwest by providing access to tennis for all. For more information, visit www.ustapnw.com.

– United States Tennis Association Pacific Northwest

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Tennis in Tacoma? Now?

By Morf Morford
Tacoma Daily Index

Like most people around here, tennis is not the first word I associate with Tacoma.

Some call Tacoma T-Town – and the “T” does not stand for tennis – at least not yet.

If the United States Tennis Association Pacific Northwest (USTA PNW) has anything to say about it, Tacoma just might become T-Town in more ways than one.

The tennis center is quietly open now, but you are likely to see a few signs of transition. Photo: Morf Morford
The tennis center is quietly open now, but you are likely to see a few signs of transition. Photo: Morf Morford

I associate tennis with long, lingering summer days and if there is anything I need in the middle of a dark and dreary winter day, it is the reminder that once upon a time, in some mythical time and place, summer did indeed exist.

Tennis is my pulse-raising, visceral reminder that winter is not forever.

If, like me, it has been a few neolithic eons since you have played tennis, I encourage you to check it out.

They had their “soft” opening in early September, but stay tuned for their grand opening on Saturday, October 13.

The Galbraith Tennis Center, (1680 South Mildred Street) might be a vast open space, but it is cleverly hidden behind James Center – directly across Mildred from Tacoma Community College.