One year after its creation, the Cranbrook Community Tennis Association is working to grow the sport in town.
Now the group is working to build on the past year's success, with an open house scheduled for Sunday, May 25, at the Mount Baker Tennis Courts. The Tennis Association's formation coincided with the refurbishing of the courts by Mount Baker School last year.
"We got a pretty good base for the first year," said Assocation member Neil Murphy. "We have a core group, and that's what we were after."
So now the Association is calling for Cranbrook residents to "give tennis a shot," and is inviting people of all ages — including seniors, children and beginners — to join up for a summer of tennis.
The open house will be held Sunday, May 25, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the courts on 2nd Street North by the high school. Come out, meet some new friends, have some fun and get started right away.
Murphy, who has been playing tennis for 60 years, said the club shows newcomers how to hit, how to return a volley — "and once they get the hang of it they stick around."
He added that tennis is especially good for seniors' health.
The rules and scoring can be a bit challenging and complex at first. But despite tennis's reputation as a difficult game to learn, it's actually quite easy to get playing right off the bat. Just rallying back and forth is easy to get the hang of.
The club sets up members playing schedules, matching players with others of their playing level — beginner with beginner, intermediate with intermediate, and so on.