Annual recap and fundraising letter
Hello Prescott Tennis Players, Sponsors and Supporters,
This is our annual recap on all things tennis, schedule and plans for next year, and our request for your
financial support.
PATA’s mission is to promote and support tennis for everyone in the Prescott area and this year has seen some great gains and some great losses. PATA’S main goal is to grow tennis in the community, by providing tournaments, leagues, tennis-themed events, youth school programs, activities designed to
promote tennis and most importantly, expanding access to the game for everyone.
First, a huge thank you to everyone that contributed to the success of Prescott tennis this year including our sponsors:
To recap our year, one of the biggest changes has been our relationship with Yavapai College. Recently Yavapai College made a number of unilateral changes to their tennis program and the fees they charge. For the past few years, we have struggled to put on tournaments there and pay the associated rental fees. This year, the College instituted substantial fee increases for all patrons, pros, and PATA. The result of these changes led all the pros to leave the college and will prevent PATA from hosting tournaments at the college after our current grace period expires in June.
We have had several meetings with senior officials at the College, but have been unable to resolve our concerns and have left the College with an open invitation to discuss our concerns and those of the pros, as they have a beautiful facility and we would love to be able to utilize it, especially for tournaments that
bring so much to the community. We will keep you posted if there is a change in their position, but for now tournaments will be fully moved to the High School effective July 1, 2024.
The silver lining is that Prescott High School recently upgraded their facilities with 6 new lighted courts and a public reservation system with fees far more in line with community expectations. The pros have moved their teaching and clinics to the high school and we used the courts for the Mile High Tournament because of the significant turnout (though we will likely have to cap sign ups when we are no longer able to use the College Courts). High School court reservations can be made here by selecting courts. PATA also contributed funds to help build accessible ramps at the High School and the Courts are seeing significant daily use!
There are still some improvements that need to be made at the High School, including, more shade and seating along with improving wheelchair access. We are once again asking for your support and hoping you can dig a little deeper this year so we can pass on your deductible donations to expand facilities at the High School which has truly been welcoming and supportive of the tennis community in general. We have also applied for USTA Grants and are optimistic they will help as well. We will keep you the Prescott area posted, but really need the community to pitch in and make the High School an ideal destination, given all of their efforts to support us.
In other news, league play and tournaments are at an all time high! In 2023, Prescott featured 173 league participants across 12 teams. We also had numerous teams qualify for sectionals with all 4 of our 18+ making the trip to Albuquerque during the summer to represent our region.
Our 2023 Memorial Day in May had 92 entrants and 90 matches and the Mile High tournament in August doubled that with 164 entrants, which was our biggest tournament EVER!
The Spring Mixer hosted 32 total Players, and the Junior Summer Series had 141 participants across its 4 events! Both the Winter and Summer Flex leagues combined for nearly 100 total entrants for some local, social play!
PATA also sponsors lessons at local middle schools and the Boys and Girls Club through which we were able to introduce more than 50 local kids to tennis. We are looking for someone new to take over the program- please let us know if you are interested in working with the kiddos to help develop the next generation. We are also loaning equipment to Granite Mountain Middle School as the PE teacher will do a week long tennis unit with all of her PE classes.
Thanks to your support, we raised $5,766.99 for Andrew Bogdanov’s Road to the Paralympics! Andrew was able to make huge strides this year into the world of professional tennis by competing in BNP Paribas, US Open, and preparing for the Australian Open at the beginning of the year!
As a Board, we are pleased with the progress we’ve made toward our mission of promoting tennis for everyone. We have high hopes for enhancing all aspects of our service provision and expanding into new areas. We rely on our generous tennis community to help cover the many costs involved. Please donate today! Keep tennis vibrant in the Quad Cities area. PATA is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, and your donation will be tax deductible.
As to next year, we look forward to expanding access to the High School with easier access to side gates, benches and shade and we look forward to seeing you at the variety of events we have planned, including those listed below.
Lastly, we are always looking for volunteers to join our Board or assist with our events, so please feel free to reach out or attend a Board meeting to see how you can help! Please click the buttons below to either make a donation through PayPal or fill out a donation form. Thank you once again to all of our players, volunteers, pros, and participants. We are looking forward to a great 2024!
Respectfully,
The PATA Board
