The Greenville Area Community Tennis Association (GACTA) is set to serve tennis enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels with a number of tennis leagues throughout spring at the Greenville YMCA.

GACTA member and Fort Dale Academy tennis coach Elizabeth Matthews said that the organization was established with a singular goal in mind.

“The purpose of the league is to try to promote tennis in the Greenville area for people of all ages, from beginners up to advanced,” Matthews said.

Spring tennis leagues are in full swing, including Quickstart leagues for ages 4-10 and beginner leagues for all ages.

Quickstart is a variant of tennis that is offered to beginners and younger players that uses specialized equipment to aid in learning the fundamentals of the sport.

It involves small children playing on smaller courts and hitting over shorter nets, all while using smaller rackets that are easier to hold and hitting larger-than-standard tennis balls, which are easier to connect with.

The Quickstart Beginner League will be held for the next two Fridays from 4 p.m. until 5 p.m. for GACTA members.

The second major spring event, Monday Night Doubles, is a bit less restrictive in that all GACTA members are invited.

Monday Night Doubles was created to give all club members the convenience of a friendly sparring match with similarly skilled opponents.

Last year’s Monday Night Doubles schedule continued well into November, so club members are given roughly half a year to improve their skills in friendly pickup matches.

“The great thing about tennis is that you can play it for most of your life, from the time you’re a small child until you’re 80-something,” Matthews added.

“As a tennis coach, I’m just geared towards what goes on with high school tennis, but I also play tennis myself.  And this just gives people a way to have other people to play with, and to keep tennis going in our community.  If you want to play tennis and you’re a member, then every Monday night you can go play tennis.”

Matthews added that there are other more obvious benefits to regularly playing tennis, even if one isn’t an expert.

“It’s great because, really, you only need one other person to play,” Matthews said.

“It’s great exercise and you can play as long as you want.”

The only thing required is a racket and a little courage—and, of course, a GACTA membership.

Registration for individuals cost $15 per year, and $25 for families.

For more information, contact GACTA at greenville.tennis@gmail.com.