City of Irvine Named PTR Public Facility of the Year

Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) will present its annual awards during the 2017 PTR International Tennis Symposium.  The event, which includes more than 40 educational presentations for tennis teachers and coaches, will be held February 15-18 at the Sonesta Resort on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

The City of Irvine has been named PTR Public Facility of the Year.  The City offers the only free public tennis courts in Orange County, California The City of Irvine offers free public tennis courts in Orange County, California.  It is one of the largest city run tennis program in the United States with a population under 250,000.  

(l-r) Ed Crofts, Manager Community Services; Victor Ranches and Steve Riggs, Program Coordinators; and Dan Santorum, PTR CEO

In 2017, the City’s 20 facilities boast 94 courts, all of which are lighted for night play.  That number jumps on the weekends to include 31 courts managed by the City at four high schools.  Currently, the City has 22 contracted teaching pros, all of whom are certified and most of whom are PTR.  An additional 45 teaching pros are expected to be on contract later this year, a number needed to accommodate the more than 18,600 program participants that generate more than $1.8 million in annual revenue, an amount that has doubled in less than a decade.  Income is derived from private and group lessons, camps, leagues and tournaments, and all tournaments are USTA sanctioned.  To attract a diverse student base, lessons are available in several languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Tagalog.  Longtime PTR Professional, Steve Riggs coordinates this large scale Tennis program, working with fellow PTR member, Victor Ranches.                                   

PTR is the largest global organization of tennis teaching professionals with more than 15,600 members in 127 countries.  It has the greatest percentage of multicultural and women members of any such organization.  PTR is dedicated to educating, certifying and servicing tennis teachers and coaches around the world in order to grow the game.