USTA Pacific Northwest Striving to Increase Tennis Accessibility In Four-State Region — Sport Oregon Voices

Organization focused on more indoor courts, programming outdoor courts and providing need-based scholarships to improve access to play

As the governing body for the sport of tennis across four states throughout our region, the United States Tennis Association Pacific Northwest promotes and develops the growth of tennis in the Pacific Northwest. Its mission is to inspire heathier people and communities through the growth of the sport.

These days, a large part of the non-profit organization’s work in the Pacific Northwest is focused on increasing accessibility to the sport, breaking down barriers to play such as cost and access to facilities. Recent reports indicate that the Northwest is the fastest growing region for tennis (among 17 regions in the country), growing at nearly three times the national rate over a five-year period. This presents unique challenges and opportunities for an already underserved sport in this part of the country, particularly as it relates to availability and access to indoor and outdoor courts.

The USTA Pacific Northwest currently services 1.4 million tennis players across four states, including Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Northern Idaho. But Warren says there are an additional 1.3 million people who want to play but don’t have suitable access.

Further, a recent longevity study conducted by the Copenhagen City Heart Study and published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings concluded that regularly participating in tennis was linked to 9.7 added years of life, the biggest impact of any sport considered in the study.

“We believe that tennis is a vehicle that transforms lives and promotes health and wellness,” said Matthew Warren, the CEO and Executive Director of the USTA Pacific Northwest. “So, we really believe it’s incumbent upon us to provide tennis play opportunities to others.”

There are several factors involved with the barriers to play the sport of tennis in the region. First off, weather plays a big part in the limited access to outdoor courts in the area. Most years, access to outdoor courts is relegated to just a few reliable months.

In terms of indoor courts, once again there are not enough facilities to meet demand, and the cost of indoor court rentals oftentimes prices out interested participants.

“It really becomes an accessibility issue,” Warren said, “not only in terms of just trying to get onto an indoor court – which is really difficult – but also the expense involved and being able to rent or secure an indoor court to play on is very high as well.”

To address these obstacles, the USTA Pacific Northwest is working to increase the number of indoor courts, partnering with public entities to program existing outdoor courts and providing need-based scholarships that allow more people to play indoor tennis.

According to Warren, data shows that the median household income of people who play indoor tennis is $186,000 per year. Conversely, the median household income of those who play on outdoor courts is $58,000 annually. Further, he says there are a total of 585 indoor tennis courts to serve a population base of over 12 million people in the four states serviced by the organization. This amounts to one indoor court for every 21,000 people, more than twice the national average.  Unfortunately, the ratio worsens when you factor in the fact that of the 585 indoor courts, only 76 truly are open to the general public. 

With these figures top of mind, Warren says the organization has ambitious and focused plans to further increase the number of indoor courts in the four-state region to help service the increasing demand by building new and converting existing outdoor venues for year-round play availability.

“We are aggressively raising capital and developing public-private partnerships to build more indoor courts to meet the demand,” he said, indicating that specific plans are in the works and will be rolled out in the near future.  

The organization already operates two indoor facilities in Washington – one in Vancouver and one in Tacoma – that are open to the public. Warren says that play opportunities at the two facilities have grown significantly over the last few years and have gone a long way to providing more opportunities in those two cities. But more needs to be done. 

The USTA Pacific Northwest also has stepped up to help make existing outdoor courts more accessible and focused. The organization has partnered with public park districts to help fill the programmatic void by providing staff, quality control, equipment and need-based scholarships at 250 sites throughout the four-state region. Warren says this amounts to a staff of over 450 people that help provide play opportunities in those states.

In Oregon, the organization’s outreach includes staffing, programs and services at several outdoor courts in public parks, including the areas of Portland, Beaverton, Tigard, Eugene and Ashland. They are looking to grow the footprint. 

The USTA Pacific Northwest believes tennis promotes life-long fitness and wellness, instills leadership and sportsmanship, teaches teamwork and life skills, and builds stronger families and healthier communities. It’s with these benefits in mind that it is driven to make the sport of tennis available to everyone. 

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