Austin, Texas (August 24, 2022) — The USTA today announced that the Polo Tennis & Fitness Club in Austin, Texas, is one of 33 winners in the USTA’s annual Outstanding Facility Awards program, which recognizes excellence in the construction and/or renovation of tennis facilities throughout the country.
The Polo Tennis & Fitness Club features 10 outdoor tennis courts, three new dedicated pickleball courts, and three new Padel courts. This is now the only club in Austin, TX with clinics open to the public in three racquet sports. The courts are complemented by their newly renovated, two-story fitness center, full-service pro shop, and resort-style pool. Polo also offers High-Performance scholarships for low-income players and provides housing for international players. At Polo, junior players who started playing with the club at 4 years old have graduated with Division 1 college tennis scholarships. In May 2022, the Polo Tennis & Fitness Club graduated seven high school seniors from its High-Performance Junior Academy program who all received collegiate tennis scholarships.
“Great tennis facilities like the Polo Tennis & Fitness Club help us to grow the game at the grassroots level, and we are proud to recognize them for their ongoing impact on the sport of tennis,” said Craig Morris, Chief Executive, Community Tennis, USTA. “Polo Tennis & Fitness Club has embraced many of our tennis initiatives and kept the sport at the forefront of its community each year.”
“This award is a testament to our entire team’s effort in elevating the experience for our members and guests,” said Dan Carozza, Director of Racquets and Club Manager. “Our owners have shown steadfast commitment to add value and amenities by adding state of the art pickleball and padel facilities, and our program directors have made a huge impact on players of all ages and abilities.” “We take great pride in winning this award from the USTA, and know how special this is given the hundreds of quality nominations there were in the private club space,” said Joe Stevens, Co-Owner of Polo Tennis and Fitness Club. “As an ownership group we invested in new racquet facilities this year to help grow the sport, offer new amenities to our members, and bring new players to our facility.”
To be considered for an award, facilities must be under the jurisdiction of a park and recreation department, an educational institution, a nonprofit corporation or be a private or commercially-owned-and-operated facility that offers both USTA and public programming designed to help grow tennis.
Facilities were judged on the following criteria: overall layout and adaptation to site; excellence of court surface and lights; ease of maintenance; accommodations for players, spectators and press/officials; aesthetics; graphics (including the use of signs and landscaping); amenities such as casual seating for spectators, food services and social areas; and the facilities’ participation in USTA programs.
Nominated facilities were voted on in the following categories: Public Courts that are either small tennis centers with 2-10 courts or large tennis centers with 11 or more courts; Private Facilities that support the USTA and other “growth of the game” programs open to the public; and Educational Institutions such as colleges, universities, public and private grade schools, middle schools, or high schools. For more information on Polo Tennis and Fitness Club, please visit: www.polotennisclub.com
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