Clovis Tennis Club (CTC) is a vital part of the Fresno/ Clovis and surrounding communities. They can be credited for introducing thousands of people to tennis. Many new players began their tennis experience with close friends or family members, at the Clovis Tennis Club’s evening leagues. Clovis Tennis Club brings hundreds players into USTA League tennis each year as well as offering USTA junior and adult tournaments.
Clovis is a text book example of a successful Community Tennis Association that has partnered with local schools and both have reaped the benefit.s
A huge supporter of the high school/middle school students, teams and facilities, Clovis Tennis Club has partnered with Buchanan High School and sister middle school, Alta Sierra, to use and maintain their 18 courts. For the use of the facilities, Clovis Tennis Club, through member dues and fundraising, budgets each year to cover much of the costs of maintaining the courts. Including:
- Replacing nets, net straps and other school district equipment that members use.
- Funding supplemental court cleaning, particularly in late summer when school is out or before club sponsored tournaments.
- The club pays an energy surcharge each year to Clovis Unified for court lights.
- The club gives two $500 scholarships each year to high school tennis players who are graduating and going on to college. Scholarship winners this year went to Clovis High Steven Gilbert and Clovis West Minal Bhatia.
- The club allocates grant money to CUSD tennis programs. That money has paid for ball machines, windscreens, scorecards and other items.
The club supports junior tennis in the community through their volunteer hours and monetary assistance. They donate $500 each year to the region’s major boys’ and girls’ high school team tournaments (for a total donation of $1,000). Membership fees are used to support Clovis Unified tennis programs and junior tennis development, in general. This year CTC is helping with the Alta Sierra Junior Tennis League which will begin in September.
CTC is a well run club, with a thorough webiste, newsletter and member database. They have taken advantage of all the training offered to tennis associations by the USTA. The club has received much recognition including 3 Outstanding League Captains of 2008, 2006, 2005; 2005 Website of the Year Suzanne Emmett; 2003 Service to Tennis, Bill Schulz; and Organization of the Year, 1999, Leonard Salazar President.
Recognizing a community need beyond tennis, Clovis Tennis Club began supporting the local Fresno-Clovis CROP Hunger Walk in September of 2005 by holding a tennis tournament fund raiser to support the local walk held in October that same year. Tournament’s funds go to CROP Hunger Walk, the Fresno Community Food Bank and to local Junior Tennis within the Clovis School System. The first tournament saw about 50 people and has now grown to over 100 participants.
CROP began in 1947 under the wing of Church World Service (CWS). Its primary mission was to help Midwest farm families share their grain with hungry people in devastated areas of Europe and Asia following World War II. CROP is an acronym for Communities Reaching Out To People. The first walk was held October 17, 1969, in Bismarck, North Dakota and it raised $ 25,000. Now over 5 million people have taken part in CROP Walks and they are held each fall in about 2,000 Communities in the USA. Walkers walk approximately 3 miles in groups from service clubs, sports clubs, churches and other community organizations. All walkers are asked to raise funds prior to the walk within their various groups and then turn in their funds the day of the walk at the host site.
Hunger in the Central San Joaquin Valley is quite pronounced compared to other areas of the state. It has been estimated that 2 in 5 children go hungry here every day. For some children the only balanced meal they get is at schools that still provide meals. This is why the Clovis Tennis Club is committed to hunger education and to give back to the community with the tournament.
To learn more about CROP Hunger Walk and how to start or support one in your community, please feel free to go to the organization web site at: www.churchworldservice.org