Tallahassee Blog: ROGY Tennis ‘Tourn-Event’ Marks Largest in Florida

The Tallahassee City Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Affairs sponsored its fifth ROGY Tourn-Event of the year at Tom Brown on Sept. 18, attracting the most youth at such an event in the state of Florida with 57 participants.

The event was organized by the City’s ROGY Director, Lenin Mongerie, with the help of volunteers from Leon High School’s Key Club, parents, and local tennis coaches, Renee Howard and Elizabeth Atkinson.

ROGY, named for the color of the ball used, red, orange, green, or yellow, is a fun and unique way for youth players to gain experience on the court without feeling the intimidation of playing on a regular sized court. ROGY utilizes a modified format with modified scoring, allowing more youth the opportunity to gather on the court at one time for competitive play. ROGY events are held throughout the year in Tallahassee and typically feature age groups consisting of 6-8, 9-10, 11-12, and 13 and up. Events are organized based on age and not ability level.

Parents were gathered at the start of the event to stress to them the importance of showing support, providing encouragement, and teaching respect to all participants.

For this event, the scoring format for the orange and green ball was a four-game short set with the first to win four points winning the game, and the player winning two sets winning the match. The yellow ball used a six-game set with the first to four points winning the game, and the first winning two sets winning the match.

When the kids weren’t competing on the court, they participated in a number of games (e.g., sack races, obstacle course, board games, tug of war, etc.) in an effort to keep them engaged and offer fun off-court activities. Pizza and drinks were served to all participants at the conclusion of the event.

Lenin Mongerie, event director, commented “ROGY Events in Tallahassee have been a great hit for the kids in the area, especially those who take clinics and private lessons because they now have a chance to show off their talents in a fun and friendly atmosphere.”

The City is hosting another ROGY event at Tom Brown Park on Nov. 6. For more information, please contact Lenin at lmongerie@hotmail.com. You can also visit www.youthtennisflorida.com for the full schedule of ROGY events in Florida.