With shoe screeches and tennis grunts in effect at courts throughout the Mid-Atlantic, the summer league season is in full swing and championships are starting to take place. Quality competition is prolific at the local league level, so it is a significant accomplishment to advance to Regional and Section Championships with a team.  For many players not advancing however, it can be tough to have a league season come to an end, especially when you don’t want the fun or the play to be over.

That’s why USTA Mid-Atlantic and the Roanoke Valley Tennis Association are introducing Second Serve, a highly social team competition that has the look of a league championship with teams from all over the Mid-Atlantic competing, but in a fun, low-pressure environment.

“It will be the perfect combination of tennis and fun away from home,” said Sue Lunsford, President of the Roanoke Valley Tennis Association. “We want to give teams that didn’t quite advance in their league an opportunity to play an extra weekend and allow participants to meet more opponents in a social environment and Second Serve should do that!”

USTA Mid-Atlantic teamed up with the Roanoke Valley Tennis Association to bring the new event to Roanoke, Va., and make it the home for Second Serve in 2018 and future years to come.  Proceeds from the event will go to support the growth of community tennis and local programs in the Roanoke Valley. The event is presented by VBR Sports.

The inaugural year of Second Serve will take place August 10 through 12 and welcomes women players from the Adult 18 & Over League with a NTRP of 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 not advancing to Section Championships.  Priority will be given to those teams not participating in a Regional Championship.  It is open to any Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. teams.

For those teams that fell just short of making it to a League Championship, this event will be an additional opportunity to play with friends and compete against players from across the Section. All matches will be level-based, which should make for fun, evenly skilled opponents. Competing in Second Serve will count toward your NTRP rating, however there is no advancement beyond the August weekend.

Second Serve aims to be a highly social team competition that encourages team-bonding on and off the court. While you’ll hit plenty of balls on court, the tournament allows for plenty of off court time for participants to visit the Roanoke Star or hike to the top of McAfee Knob.

“Between artsy museums, historic landmarks, scenic hikes, and popular local eateries, Roanoke is the perfect place for a weekend with the tennis girls,” Lunsford added. “A get-away style weekend with a team tournament setting is something we believe could put an exclamation point to the end of league players’ summers and we look forward to welcoming them here!”

Captains can express their interest in participating in Second Serve by completing an online form available HERE by July 11.  There is a $40 registration fee for each participating player.

More information about Second Serve is available here.

Image and text courtesy of USA Mid-Atlantic.