As a former state high school champion and Collegiate Tennis Player, I am so excited to celebrate National Tennis Month. Tennis brings so many health benefits to so many people, but also, can teach our youth many of the skills they need to succeed and compete in life.

As tennis participation surges in the U.S., players and tennis organizations across the country are encouraged to promote May as National Tennis Month—a time to get out on the court and experience the fun, competition and long-term health benefits of the lifetime sport.

Tennis Facts
Tennis participation in the United States increased by 22 percent in 2020, fueled by the ability to be socially distanced and play outdoors through the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Nearly seven million Americans were new to the game or returned as players during 2020, a staggering increase. Tennis participation in the nine-state USTA Southern Section rose 31.1 percent from 2019 to 2020.
• Nearly 22 million people played the sport last year, according to the recently released Physical Activity Council’s Participation (PAC) report (attached), which surveyed more than 120 different sports and activities.
• Racquet sales in the entry-level category also increased nearly 40 percent, showing beginners were being introduced to the sport.
• The health benefits of playing tennis were recognized in numerous studies, including adding 9.7 years of life for tennis players over sedentary people. Notably, people who played badminton were the next highest over sedentary people at 6.2 years. Definitely illustrates the Power of Tennis!
• When playing singles, the average tennis player takes 146 steps per minute, according to verywellfi.com
• Tennis is the ideal social distancing sport, which puts it in a great position to continue to grow and allow people to stay active and social in a healthy and safe manner.

Tennis in our Local Area:

• 100% of facilities reopened after only a short closure due to the pandemic. This was key to the well-being of so many people in our area providing physical, mental and social benefits.
• Participation numbers of people in our beginner programs skyrocketed. Nearly 270 people in 2020 (mostly September to November). So far in 2021, we have introduced nearly 170 adults and about 130 juniors with connection/next step programs after the initial introductory (Try Tennis) classes.
• League tennis has rebounded to 95 to 97% of our registrations in 2019 which was our biggest year ever.
• Junior league tennis restarted (ages 17 and under) in Fall 2020 and again Spring 2021.
• Tennis participation can be hard to measure – league tennis and programs can give good numbers, but that doesn’t include walk up play and organized groups. We do know that the national trend of new players, returning players and frequency of play is up in our area thanks to the great public facilities.
• WWTA has been able to restart nearly all of our outreach programs or programs that we support through area Park & Recreation Departments. We expect to be back to all of our programs soon. Some of our outreach programs are tennis for intellectually disabled, wheelchair tennis, youth outreach, tennis for breast cancer survivors and more.
• 70% of all tennis happens at public parks – and that is true for our area as well.

by