St. Pete Tennis Center Aces Its Mission

ST. PETERSBURG – It's a typically stifling hot Friday morning on the southern edge of downtown St. Petersburg, hours before the daily afternoon rains have cooled things down. Jackie Keller, unlike most who are trying to stay cool and relax, is a beehive of activity and is about to venture out into the unforgiving sun.

That's what she likes to do.

Keller oversees the youth programs at the St. Petersburg Tennis Center; it is a thriving hub for tennis that just a few shorts years ago was targeted for demolition.

What once was a dilapidated building with fences falling down is now one of the better tennis centers in the Tampa Bay area teeming with activity, highlighted by a youth program sponsored by both former tennis great and local resident Jim Courier, the current U.S. team's Davis Cup coach, and the United States Tennis Association.

Partially thanks to local tennis enthusiasts, partially thanks to former St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker and many thanks to the Pennies for Pinellas, the St. Petersburg Tennis Center was saved, restored, and thriving.

The St. Petersburg Tennis Center, though a public facility that offers memberships, has more courts than any other local tennis center including country clubs, per the website stpetetennis.com. The 16 clay courts at the St. Petersburg Tennis Center alone are more courts than many centers have of any type of court surface.

The city once managed the tennis center, but now it is operated by the St. Petersburg Tennis Foundation, which leases the property. Foundation members raised the money to transform the center into the standout facility it is today.

At the heart of the center is the youth program. During the school months, the program has 300 members of various backgrounds, all with a love of tennis. Currently the center has a summer camp of about 30 campers ranging in age from 7- to 17-years old.

Only a handful of scholarship students – whom Courier helps to sponsor – hang out at the center during the summer.

"He is our mentor," Keller said of Courier with a great deal of pride. When the center was fighting for survival, Courier was coaxed there by a friend who was leading the charge to keep the facility. Courier was introduced to the scholarship program and he jumped in with gusto.

There is a court named in honor of Courier, a Dade City native, who will pop in from time to time often unannounced to help out with the youngsters. Courier is so involved; the junior program at the center is known as "Courier's Kids" and includes a splinter program called "First Serve," which teaches both academics and life’s skills 

"He's fabulous," said Keller, a former high school instructor at Canterbury School, said.

The summer camp isn't just about tennis. In the mornings, though, it's all about tennis. The campers learn and work on the fundamentals of the game from the time they show up until lunch.

In the afternoons, due to the heat and the frequent thunderstorms, the campers are often kept inside with indoor activities, such as ping-pong.

"We don't want them to get burned out [on tennis]," Keller joked about the indoor fun and games offered to the campers.