The Professional Tennis Registry recently awarded Auburn’s Yarbrough Tennis Center the Public Tennis Facility of the Year.
“We basically received this award for growing tennis,” said Travis DeBardelaben, Yarbrough Tennis Center director. “In doing our service to the local community and holding a lot of events, as well as working with the University, we have been bringing in local people as well as a lot of people from outside the area.”
The registry gives their award not only based on the events held at the center, but also on the support of the crowds that come for each event and the growth of community tennis programs.
“(The registry) recognized that we were growing locally in our programs,” DeBardelaben said. “I think the first year we had 13,000 or 14,000, and we’ve grown since then. Last year, we had about 55,000 people come through.”
These numbers not only include the players in each event, but also the parents, families and friends who come in support.
Locally, the Auburn Community Tennis Association helps promote events for the Auburn area and hosts them at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The ACTA’s goal is to promote, develop and enhance tennis at all levels in the Auburn area by providing programs, events and services, according Sandy Krietemeyer, ACTA president.
“We promote the [United States Tennis Association] as well as recreational tennis to bring more people in at different levels of play,” Krietemeyer said. “We have an event on the first Friday of every month called Friday Night Mixers. It’s $5 and people come in and play at different levels of round robin play.”
The ACTA also hosts many other events in addition to playing tennis, such as carnival nights for junior team tennis, cookouts and a viewing party for the U.S. Open.
“It’s a real draw to have different types of events that people want to come out and see, including people that come out to see the University teams play,” said Rebecca Richardson, parks and recreation director.
The Yarbrough center hosts several events each year for all ages and levels of tennis play. This year there are 16 main events planned, with an estimated economic impact of $2-$5 million expected to be coming into the Auburn community for local vendors, hotels, food and shops downtown, according to DeBardelaben.
“We are recognized nationally now,” DeBardelaben said. “In the past, we have hosted the SEC Championships for both men and women, a women’s pro tournament and national junior tournaments.”
The Yarbrough Tennis Center is also the location of tennis play for the Auburn University men’s and women’s teams.
“We have mixers, fundraisers and many events,” DeBardelaben said. “We also have (Auburn) University and they have matches there routinely. It’s just a cutting-edge kind of situation that is two in one and has worked out very well.”
Though the University tennis teams have court priority for their matches, when available, the courts are open to Yarbrough Tennis Center’s events and the public’s use.
“It’s kind of a unique concept,” Richardson said. “We were selected for our facility and the concept of the facility, building it as a partnership with Auburn athletics, and thereby being able to provide additional things to the public.”
The center has 34 courts including hard court, indoor and clay, which allows for a range of possible events that can be held at the facility.
DeBardelaben said he hopes to host more college tournaments or even a professional tournament.
“The one thing about breaking in for hosting a regional for NCAA is that you have to be in the top 16,” DeBardelaben said. “Our facility is definitely able to host, but our Auburn team(s) need a higher rank in order to do that. We will also be looking at trying to host a men’s pro tournament in the future and we have hosted a regional event every year for the past few years.”
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