As 2022 draws to a close, we, at the Prescott Area Tennis Association (PATA), would like to take a moment to thank our community for your support. The pandemic of the past couple years challenged our capacity to maintain our tournaments and events. We adapted though, and in 2022, we were able to provide a full slate of tennis programming. We even increased participation and added some new initiatives!
Key among our efforts was establishing a partnership with the The Boys and Girls
Club of Central Arizona. Over the summer, PATA volunteers provided 2.5 hours of tennis fun and activities per week with 45 youth, ages 6-12! We’ve continued this partnership with an 11 week fall program that is currently underway. And we are once again able to provide programs in the schools. We ran after school tennis for two 9 week sessions (spring and fall) at Granite Mountain Middle School and expanded this initiative by adding an 8 week session at Glassford Hill Middle School. Huge thanks to our wonderful volunteers! These youth programs have introduced tennis to dozens of children and their enthusiasm for the sport has been a delight to see.
Congratulations to our Northern Arizona Junior Tennis Teams on advancing to Nationals in Florida! This was a great opportunity for these youth but came at significant expense. Our supportive tennis community stepped up, responding to an emergency appeal to help cover the costs. PATA collected $3863 in designated donations and provided an additional $2000 from our own funds. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Another new venture with future aspirations was the addition of a wheelchair tennis clinic. During the same week as our annual Park of Fame event, PATA hosted 9 participants who attended the clinic free of charge. This event helped maintain the momentum of our successful fundraiser last year that paid for Andrew Bogdanov’s competition wheelchair. We are planning more wheelchair events in 2023, including tournament competition.
Our 2022 adult tournament field featured 98 participants in our flagship event, The Mile High Open. Big thanks to our named tournament sponsor, The Door and Window Store! Their generous donation has made many of our outreach efforts more feasible. We also increased our fundraising endeavors at the tournament by soliciting donations for a very successful silent auction.
We again ran two non-sanctioned adult tournaments in the spring and fall that drew participation from players throughout the state and beyond. The Spring Mixer, Park of Fame Clinic, and the Junior Summer Circuit rounded out our 2022 event schedule. These well-attended events provided opportunities for competition, fun, and time spent with family and friends.
League play in our area continues to experience high levels of participation. In 2022 PATA committed to supporting our local league teams through stipends. We provided a $50 check to each team participating in a USTA league. There were no restrictions on the funds, but it helped cover costs for court fees and tennis balls for several teams. Additionally, we provided a $150 check for teams who advanced to sectionals. A special note of thanks to all those willing to captain our 12 teams this past year, well done!
