City Living/Be a Player

Be a Player

By Geoff Kohl

If you´re interested in living at one of Atlanta´s growing list of communities that offer swim and tennis facilities and are interested in playing league tennis with a neighborhood team, you need to keep a couple things in mind:

• You´re best advised to choose a community in one of the five central Atlanta counties: Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett. Home communities in adjacent counties can be ALTA-approved facilities (meaning that ALTA will schedule home and visiting matches there), only if the facilities are within 10 miles of a limited access highway. The rule is devised to keep travel time down; the organization also uses computer placement to schedule matches for teams that are in the same region of Atlanta.
• Of course, you´ll need to be a member. ALTA dues are a reasonable $20 per year, which pays for the organizing ability of the association (you try organizing tennis play between teams in 10 counties and see where it gets you). Keep in mind that ALTA organizes team tennis play using a doubles format (they can help you find a team), and also creates tournaments where you can test your muster.
• You always have the option of going solo. K-Swiss has created its Ultimate Tennis leagues in Atlanta to organize singles play.
• Still can´t get enough? Get in touch with the Atlanta Community Tennis Association, a.k.a. USTA Atlanta, which performs similar duties to ALTA, but is part of the United States Tennis Association.
• USTA and ALTA play isn´t just for the home buying crowd either. Scores of Atlanta´s apartment communities (including ones from Post Properties, AMLI and Gables) offer courts and team play. Ask the leasing manager about tennis play—it´s always a good way to get to know people in your new city.
• Get trained. Many of the larger home and apartment communities have on-staff tennis directors, and organized teams at some of the smaller communities track down local pros for work-outs and game tips. Look for pros from the Georgia Professional Tennis Association (GPTA), the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) or the United States Professional Tennis Registry (USPTR). There are plenty of legitimate pros to go around, so make sure to get one with the credentials.