When the Sedona Racquet Club closed its door several years ago, it left an empty hole in Sedona, particularly in the heart of the local tennis community.

“The tennis community was in disarray,” said Mel Levine, former treasurer of the U.S. Tennis Association Northern Arizona and current chairman of the Audit Committee for USTA Southwest. “Now we want to try to consolidate the community and try to get things back to normal.”

Sedona tennis players have been a part of the USTA Northern Arizona, but many feel that there needs to be a shift that will better benefit the Sedona community.

“Although I fully support USTA Northern Arizona, I felt that as it relates to Sedona and the surrounding area, that they were mainly focusing on young children,” Levine said. “And, in this regard, as relates to Sedona, I felt, as well as others in the community, that our needs were quite different. We decided to move in another direction.”

Levine is hoping to fully organize the Sedona Community Tennis Association, or SCTA, by the end of the year and has applied for a $2,000 grant from the USTA Southwest Region.

For the full story, please see the Friday, Sept. 28, issue of the Red Rock News.