This February, Impact Activities will be hitting its three-year mark since the city of Coronado awarded it the contract in 2021 to manage the tennis program. The agreement was for three years with two five-year renewal options. Impact was initially met with some resistance from the local community as there were concerns about changes to court fees, league costs, and tennis professionals. Community meetings were held to discuss the issues and city leaders listened and came up with clear directions to try to solve everyone’s concerns. The city council ultimately voted to hire Impact Activities and retain the fees for court use.
It’s been a busy three years. Impact Activities has introduced various programs for all ages and abilities, from youth summer camps and drop-in clinics to private lessons. Additionally, the growth of pickleball caused a battle for court space, for which the city council worked to appease both tennis players and pickleball players. In May 2022 the council approved converting two of the Cays courts into eight pickleball courts while retaining three for tennis.
Impact hired three pickleball professionals in addition to their eight tennis pros. To meet the ever-growing popularity of pickleball, folks can take private lessons or group classes, as well as sign up for open plays. For the first time Impact will be hosting a two-day pickleball tournament for men and women, The St. Patrick’s Day Pickleball Classic. For more information, contact Tammy Carney, Tournament Director, at [email protected], or register on swishtournaments.com. The pro shop, managed by Moises Orozco, has also added more items geared towards pickleball players. Out of all the new items being sold, the highest demand is for pickleball balls. “Pickleball players are particular about the type of balls they use on the court,” explained Joel Myers, Director of Tennis for Impact Activities.
Pickleball and tennis players have found a peaceful coexistence under Impact’s management. Various activities for both sports are in full swing. As the company approaches its third-year anniversary in Coronado, Myers is focusing on projects that are near and dear to his heart, one of which is youth tennis programs. And he plans on adding more verified UTR (universal tennis rating) match play – one is scheduled for Feb. 10.
“The goal is to keep the future generation interested in tennis, have fun, and prepare them to become competitive as they grow older,” explained Myers. Meanwhile, on top of the current monthly offerings there will be free kids’ tennis clinics. One is coming up on Feb. 10 for ages 7-17. The Tennis/Golf/Beach Summer Camp for 8-13 year olds will once again be offered in the summer.
Myers also hopes to hold more college level tournaments, like the one held in November 2023. Torero Tennis Classic was hosted by the San Diego Tennis program and the last matches were played at the Coronado Tennis Center. Division 1 college players from University of San Diego, Georgia, Washington, and Pepperdine University competed in singles and doubles.
In keeping with technology advances, an app, Impact Activities CA, was introduced so that users can schedule lessons, reserve courts, sign up for open plays, and look up programs being offered. There’s a lot going on at the tennis center. The hard part is balancing the many programs offered with the courts available. For more information, visit impactactivities.com and download the Impact Activities CA app.
