Pelham Racquet Club hosts USTA state championship

Published 1:48 pm Wednesday, May 5, 2021

By Nathan Howell

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By NATHAN HOWELL | Staff Writer

PELHAM – More than 500 players competing on many teams came out to the Pelham Racquet Club between April 30 and May 2 to compete in the United States Tennis Association’s Alabama Championship for ages 55 and older.

Players compete in local leagues prior to these games and if they do well they will move on to sectional tournaments and eventually to a national championship that takes place later this year.

PRC Director Chaney Mills said that their facility had been chosen to host the tournaments since the early 2000’s, and that she was grateful to show off one of the city’s facilities for such a prestigious event.

“We love bringing attention to the city with events like these,” Mills said. “We are more than happy to open our doors to the USTA and host this for them. We get to showcase how special our club is, and bring in guests who will stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants and shop at our local businesses to bring in more revenue for the city.”

Player competed across the three days using what the USTA calls a ‘Round Robin’ format, or unlighted matches against randomly selected opponents in all levels of the competition.  Each team was required to have a minimum of six team members for this category to compete.

League National Championships are currently scheduled for this fall for the different age divisions. Players who advanced past this tournament have an opportunity to work their way up to that point and eventually claim the top prize.

The USTA is the largest organized tennis league in the nation and has more than 500,000 players competing in league games nationally. More than 13,000 of those players are from Alabama and worked their way up to this championship.

See more photos from this event at Shelbycountyphotos.com.

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