What's New
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I MARCH 2018 11
new tennis club open-ing
in Long Island
City will teach both
children and parents
the fundamentals of
the sport on the first tennis facility to
feature customized glass courts with
LED marking lines.
Court 16, located at 13-06 Queens
Plaza South, is the second tennis club
opened by Anthony Evrard, who also
owns a club in Brooklyn. Classes of-ficially
started on Feb. 26.
Evrard, a Belgian native, began play-ing
tennis when he was 5 years old.
The country has a strong tennis, soccer
and track and field culture and Evrard
competed and traveled extensively in
the junior tennis circuit until he was 16.
During that time, he also visited America
for competitions and decided he wanted
to come to the country for college.
“I came for the first time when I was
15 or 16 to play a tournament in Florida,”
he said. “I really fell in love with Ameri-can
culture, especially in the late 90s
when tennis in America was extremely
popular.”
Evrard then played Division 1 tennis
at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles,
California, on a full scholarship. Now, he
wants to share his love of tennis with
Queens families.
Classes at the 13,500-square-foot
facility are offered for children 2 1/2
years through 11 years old and teen-ager
tennis will cater to 12- through
15-year-olds. Though the programs are
catered to children, Evrard said he wants
to include parents on their children’s
tennis journeys. Adults with little or no
experience can join Court 16’s adult
classes or can sign up for Adult Tennis
Fitness, which features one hour of
“high-intensity, tennis-based drills and
exercises.”
“The core offering is for children but
what we’ve noticed is a lot of parents
wanted to get into the game,” he said.
“We’re creating a community around
tennis. The motivation is this idea of
creating amazing gatherings around
tennis and a second home for families.”
At Court 16, parents and children
can take classes at the same time in
an effort to “get parents motivated and
excited about learning at the same time
as their children.”
The club offers private lessons and
group lessons, mini tournaments, movie
nights, a summer camp and also offers
pickle ball, especially for companies in the
area who want to host corporate events.
Evrard opened his second club in Long Is-land
City to create opportunities for health-conscious
families who chose to call the
city home instead suburbia, he added.
In addition to its focus on families,
Evrard said the company is also focused
on innovation.
“One of the things were always look-ing
at when we build is what type of
innovations can we bring to the table
so it can enhance the curriculum we
have,” he added.
Court 16 is the first tennis club in
the country to feature customized glass
courts that use LED lights for marking
lines. This court configuration took about
three years to create and was done to
cater to different age groups.
The company imported two tons of
glass from Europe to create the five
courts. When the 3-year-olds play, the
court measures 30 feet. When the
6-year-olds play, the court is adjusted
to span 36 feet and for those 10 years
and older, the court will measure 60 feet.
The surface will also help reduce the
risk of injury and is the “safest surface
for children’s fast growing joints,” ac-cording
to a press release.
The space will also host events
throughout the year and families can pur-chase
tennis gear at Court 16’s retail shop.
“The tennis brand that we’ve created
and developed is a very creative endeavor,”
he said. “The programming is really at the
core of what we offer for members —
speaker series, partnering with people
to bring well-known athletes like tennis
player Jack Sock. Programming is very
essential in the membership offering.”
For more information, visit www.
court16.com.
Photos courtesy of Court 16
We’re creating a community
around tennis. The motivation is
this idea of creating amazing
gatherings around tennis and
a second home for families.
ANTHONY EVRARD
Owner
A
