Jacksonville, USTA Florida, XGLOsive Tennis Kick-off New Baymeadows Park

The City of Jacksonville, USTA Florida and XGLOsive Tennis teamed to christen the city’s newest public tennis facility on Nov. 18, 2017, hosting a glow-in-the-dark Lights Out Jacksonville — XGLOsive at Baymeadows Park event for juniors and adults.

Two adult sessions and a youth session took to the clay courts at 9A/Baymeadows Regional Park at the tennis center featuring six clay courts and four permanent pickleball courts.

“There is no other public park tennis in this sector,” said JaxParks Lead Tennis Professional Harrell Thomas. “Public tennis is good in Jacksonville, it’s healthy. We’re having a lot of USTA League teams, we just had a team win the 65 & Over USTA League nationals, we’re competitive in tennis with most cities.”

9A/Baymeadows Regional Park tennis  is the fourth staffed public facility in Jacksonville featuring six or more courts, joining Southside Tennis Complex (six hard court, six clay, four permanent 36-foot youth courts), Boone Park (14 clay, two hard), and the Clanzel T. Brown Tennis Center (seven hard, four permanent 36-foot youth courts).

Danny Becton, Jacksonville District 11 city councilman, has been a driving force over the last two years to bring tennis to the Southeast region of the city.

“This park has been out here for 15 years, but it had not been funded for more than just the basics,” said Becton, a self-described tennis fanatic. “One of my major priorities was getting this ‘Phase 3’ funded in my first year in office, and we were able to get the $1 million to fund this. We’ve been planning this for about two years.”

XGLOsive participants marveled at the six well-groomed courts and clubhouse, comparing the facility to a private club. The event attracted local residents from beginners to advanced, as well as one family passing through town on their way to South Florida and the Eddie Herr International Junior Championships.

“This is one of the finest facilities I’ve ever seen for tennis,” Becton said. “The residents in District 11 are excited about what we have here.”

The four staffed Jacksonville tennis centers are part of more than 150 city-owned public courts in Jacksonville.

For more info on JaxParks tennis go to www.coj.net/departments/parks,-recreation-and-community-services/recreation-and-community-programming/athletics/tennis. For additional info on XGLOsive Tennis go to www.XGLOsive.com.