Junior Tennis League Creates Opportunity for New and Experienced Players

Sometimes the best way to learn is to do, and that’s what Joe Arias, founder of the Suffolk County Junior Tennis League, teaches in his camps every year.

Arias, who grew up in Brooklyn playing on the New York Junior Tennis League and now resides in Smithtown, started the camp in 1997.

“The objective is to get kids to play against kids on the school tennis courts throughout the county,” Arias said.

Camps are spread across the county in Mount Sinai, Riverhead, Port Jefferson, Hauppauge, Northport and East Islip.

Marian Larson of Miller Place has had her children in the program for years. Her son got involved in the summer league when he was seven years old.

“My son went on to work for the league during his summers in high school and now as an 18-year-old, will be playing college tennis this fall,” Larson said. “Joe Arias has been extremely encouraging and supportive of my son and his continually positive attitude is infectious.”

The camp provides competition experiences for kids ages 4-18, introductory programs for new players and competition programs for players who are experienced at all levels. It averages about 800 kids every year, according to Arias. The Quick Start tennis division, which is for children 10 and under, sees over 500 this year. Arias is one of 27 specialists in the country in the unique program.

“The kids get to learn just like little league baseball, basketball, all the other sports,” Arias said. “We scale it down to different sized courts, different balls and formats. It’s a big initiative with the USTA and the International Tennis Federation so we can train our players to have more skills and they learn more interactively.”

The camp promotes playing on school tennis teams and runs the boys' varsity tennis awards dinner and lends assistance to the girls'. They have a staff of about 30-40 people every year and also run a training camp on the weekends called the competition squad.

Another initiative is the free family tennis membership, which encourages families to play tennis together.

“We use the quick start balls and focus on playing tennis rather than just learning tennis,” he said. “It’s a great message and a great pastime for families, especially in this economy. We have a lot of tennis courts in the districts and I do what I can to help support the school programs as much as possible.”

Summer camps began on July 11 and registration is still ongoing.

“Joe takes the time to show and tell you about the game of tennis,” said Joanne Errico of Miller Place. “He is not a pro that just hits the ball back and forth, he explains and makes you visualize every aspect of the game while giving you encouragement. Joe goes that extra step with his knowledge of the game, and seems to connect with the children.”