New York City, French Open Style at the JTT Championships
Nestled between the Hudson River and the West Side Highway at 96th Street, the Riverside Park tennis courts are hidden gems known to New York City tennis enthusiasts. They’ve been properly cared for and maintained by the City Parks Department since 1984, when a restoration process restored order to the once dilapidated courts. This past Saturday afternoon, Riverside Park hosted the Junior Team Tennis All-Star Tournament, a spirited battle between USTA Eastern Metro region players and their opponents from the USTA Eastern Long Island Region, in a round-robin format for Under-18, 14, 12 and 10 year-old Divisions. The Region's best and most well-behaved juniors took to the Park’s red clay courts for some New York City tennis, French Open style.
Such were the words of Pat Mosquera, who coaches eight of the Long Island juniors at Sportime Lynbrook.
“These kids compete throughout the season, and today, we brought the ones who really love tennis and enjoy playing the game. The kids love the clay … it’s New York City, French Open style.”
For the 60 juniors who played in the event, it was not about winning and losing but interacting and meeting new faces. They will see each other again at tournaments later this year and down the line. Some are players on their high school teams, like Jack McCarthy, who played doubles this year for Southside High School’s conference championship team in Nassau County and participated in the 18-and-Under Division on Saturday.
“The courts are real nice,” said McCarthy. “It’s fun to play team tennis with some of the other kids I know.”
The tennis courts of Riverside Park back up to the Hudson River. A boardwalk full of joggers, bikers and plenty of dogs added to the tennis viewing party.
Also in attendance on Saturday was Jill Fonte, executive director of USTA Eastern, who enjoys seeing the sport grow at the grassroots level.
“Our goal at the USTA is to promote and develop growth of the youth level," said Fonte. "It is because of events like this one that youth participation from ages 6-12 increased by almost 30 percent from 2012-2013. And we have an army of wonderful volunteers helping out.”
Among the volunteers for the event was Jackie Clark, USTA Eastern’s Metro Regional President. Along with other members of the Metro Board, Jackie helps run the JTT circuit on a volunteer basis. For 12 weeks in the summer on Saturday evenings, JTT players meet around the region and City, whether it be at the New York Sports Club in Brooklyn, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, and now at the Riverside Tennis Courts.
“As Metro Region president, I’m lucky to have amazing people working with me to make these events successful," said Clark. "We want to grow youth participation, and we love doing it.”
Another of those people is Mark McIntyre, executive director of the Riverside Clay Tennis Association (RCTA), a non-profit organization that maintains and operates the courts. Mark is also a former USTA Eastern Metro regional vice president, and he remains involved with the organization.
“When I heard they needed courts for the junior tournament, I offered the venue,” said McIntyre.
When the tennis ended at 7:00 p.m., a free concert set up adjacent to the courts provided live rhythm and blues from Steve Tarshish and his Instrumental Trio, as part of the park’s series of summer sunset concerts.
On what became a beautifully sunny Saturday evening, there could hardly be a better place to play tennis in New York City. The red clay, the Hudson River and free sandwiches from the organizers made it a day to remember for players, volunteers and supporters alike.
Credit all photos to Bennett Kelly
