62 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • FEBRUARY 15, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Photo courtesy of Court 16
Court 16, a tennis club, will open in Long Island City on Feb. 26.
New tennis club in Long Island City will
off er classes for children and parents
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
A new tennis club opening in Long
Island City will teach both children and
parents the fundamentals of the sport on
the fi rst tennis facility to feature customized
glass courts with LED marking lines.
Court 16, located at 13-06 Queens Plaza
South, will be the second tennis club
opened by Anthony Evrard, who also
owns a club in Brooklyn.
Evrard, a Belgian native, began playing
tennis when he was 5 years old. Th e country
has a strong tennis, soccer and track
and fi eld 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 fi rst time when I was 15
or 16 to play a tournament in Florida,” he
said. “I really fell in love with American
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 off ered for children 2 1/2 years
through 11 years old and teenager tennis
will cater to 12- through 15-yearolds.
Th ough 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.”
“Th e core off ering
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. Th e motivation
is this idea of creating amazing
gatherings around tennis and a second
home for families.”
At Court 16, parents and children
will be able to take classes at the same
time in an eff ort to “get parents motivated
and excited about learning at the
same time as their children.”
Th e club will off er private lessons and
group lessons, mini tournaments, movie
nights, a summer camp and also off ers
pickle ball, especially for companies in
the area who want to host corporate
events. Evrard opened his second club
in Long Island 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 looking at when we
build is what type of innov
a t i o n s
can we bring to the table so it can enhance
the curriculum we have,” he added.
Court 16 is the fi rst tennis club in
the country to feature customized glass
courts that use LED lights for marking
lines. Th is court confi guration took about
three years to create and was done to cater
to diff erent age groups.
Th e company imported two tons of
glass from Europe to create the fi ve
courts. When the 3-year-olds play, the
court measures 30 feet. When the 6-yearolds
play, the court is adjusted to span 36
feet and for those 10 years and older, the
court will measure 60 feet.
Th e surface will also help reduce the
risk of injury and is the “safest surface for
children’s fast growing joints,” according
to a press release.
Th e space will also host events
throughout the year and families can
purchase tennis gear at Court 16’s
retail shop.
“Th e tennis brand that we’ve created
and developed is a very creative
endeavor,” he said. “Th e
programming is really at the
core of what we off er for members
— speaker series, partnering
with people to bring wellknown
athletes like tennis player
Jack Sock. Programming is
very essential in the membership
off ering.”
Court 16 will be open for the
next two weeks for trials and tours
and will offi cially open for the season
on Feb. 26.