For those of you currently living in the Charlotte area or moving to the Charlotte region and looking to get involved with tennis, the Lake Norman area (just to the north of Charlotte) has a very active tennis organization with plenty of opportunities to play at different levels and in different formats. The Lake Norman tennis association also sends many different teams to the state tournament as well which is a testament to the competitive and fun nature.
Personally, I’ve been very active for the past couple of years playing everything from 4.0 men’s, 8.5 men’s, and even a mixed doubles league recently and have found that this area fields a great core group of fun and personable individuals with a true love for the game. As a matter of fact, I’m constantly struggling to remember names due to how many new people I meet almost on a weekly basis.
If leagues aren’t your thing, there is also the Lake Norman Compass Draw which is an ongoing singles tennis tournament in which you play a different opponent every 2 weeks. It’s set up in a bracket format (like the NCAA basketball tourney for instance) which adds a little excitement to it and is posted online as well enabling you to check out other scores and results any time you’d like. It has a seeding draw and then the final draw and the winner gets a nice gift certificate and bragging rights until the next time around.
If you’re looking for something a little more casual, you can try the Lake Norman tennis ladder. With this, it’s a fight to get to the top and stay on top. But more importantly, you can always go down the list and find someone to play with at pretty much any given time.
If you’re wondering where you could live and still be within decent proximity to most of the tennis courts and leagues here, I would suggest Huntersville, Cornelius, Mooresville, North Charlotte, Denver, and Concord. If you’re looking to move to the central or southern parts of Mecklenburg County, it would be a little more of a hike but still worth it. I believe that Charlotte has a good tennis association as well though. I’m just not as familiar with it.
Also, another good thing about the Lake Norman tennis leagues is the fact that you get to play on a good variety of courts from hard to soft. Typically, we’ll play at Jetton Park, Skybrook, The Point (in Mooresville), Holbrook Park, the Club at Westport (in Denver which is west of the lake), etc. You don’t necessarily have to be a member at a given club in order to be able to play there which is nice.
If you’re looking to move to the area, feel free to call or email me with any questions or just go straight to the Lake Norman tennis association website. I’ll see you on the courts!