EMPIRE TENNIS ACADEMY

2024 FALL NEWSLETTER

Hello to the Empire Tennis Academy family! Our Winter Semester is well underway and since our last newsletter, we have held several events that we wanted to highlight. Please scroll down to view images and recaps from several of the events we have hosted including the 2024 Trillium and Mocha Center Fundraiser, Parent Child Play Days, our 8th Annual Girls H.S. Doubles Invitational, Tennis Saves Fall Classic at The Harley School, the commencement of our Indoor Season events at locations all over Rochester, USTA Orange Ball tournaments, Adult and Junior Team Tennis recaps, and our Holiday Break event recaps. We hope you all enjoy, and thank you for making Empire such a special community.

Trillium Health and MOCHA Center Fundraiser 9/14/24

On Saturday 9/14/2024, Empire hosted a fundraising event for Trillium Health and The MOCHA Center. We organized a doubles round robin tournament as well as hosted a youth game play for kids ages 5-10. We wanted to thank all of the participants and volunteers who came out to support this fundraising event on a very hot and sunny afternoon. Also, thank you to Melt Food Truck and Catering for providing on-site delicious food.

Junior tennis players from the 9/14/24 Trillium Health Mocha Center Fundraiser at The Harley School

Adult participants from the 9/14/24 Trillium Health Mocha Center Fundraiser at The Harley School

Junior players in action working on backhands 9/14/24

U8 Parent/Child Playday

On Saturday 10/21/24, Empire hosted our Parent/Child Playday. Juniors paired up with their parents with a tremendous amount of fun-filled activities and games. It's wonderful to see the bonding, sportsmanship and wonderful energy that is shared with all of the families who joined us! We host these family events on a regular basis throughout the year and are looking forwards to our next one. Thank you to all the participants for making these events so special.

Halloween at Empire

It wouldn't be a Halloween at Empire without our adults showing some spirit dressing up in costume and Halloween attire. Best costumes go to Sierra Kovars dressed up as Shrek, Melissa Pheterson dressed up as Tennis Barbie and Coach Frank dressed in vintage Andre Agassi attire.

Empire's 8th Annual Girls H.S. Invitational

Abigail Mosher and Alix Ivy

On Saturday 11/2/24, Empire hosted it's 8th Annual Girls H.S. Invitational Doubles Tournament. This annual tournament is a great conclusion tournament for all of the girls who competed on their respective high school teams (whether they played singles or doubles). We had a total of 6 teams joining us. Congratulations to the doubles team of Alix Ivy and Abigail Mosher (Pittsford Mendon H.S.) who won the tournament defeating Hazel Jokl and Ava Youngblut (Honeyoe Falls- Lima H.S.) in the finals 4-3, 4-2. Congratulations to all of the girls for a great season and thank you all for joining us!

Group pic from 8th Annual Girls H.S. Doubles Invitational on 11/2/24

Tennis Saves Fall Classic Series

Players from Tennis Saves 10/5/2024 Fall Classic Series at The Harley School

In the months of September and October, Tennis Saves hosted their annual Fall Classic Series of Matchplay at The Harley School on Sundays. Each weekend, a total of 20 participants were able to play 2 matches against two various opponents. This year, we were able to host 114 participants who competed in a total of 114 matches over the various weekends we hosted the outdoor events (when we were not rained out). Thank you to all of the players who joined us on Sundays!

Matchplay at Mendon Racquet Club, Midtown, Salmon Creek and The Tennis Club of Rochester

Players from 11/23/24 UTR Matchplay Levels 4.0 - 7.0 @ Mendon Racquet Club

Since transitioning exclusively to our indoor season, we have branched out to organize and provide tennis events for adults and juniors at several locations all over the Greater Rochester Area. This is the first year we are collaborating with Mendon Racquet Club to have matchplay events on Saturdays. We also are hosting several team tennis events for both Juniors and Adults at both Midtown and The Tennis Club of Rochester on Fridays. We are grateful for all of our collaborations with other facilities to lead the way in providing continued opportunities for players to develop and compete.

Players from 12/14/2024 Junior Game N Play at Salmon Creek Country Club

Orange Ball and Green Ball Round Robins

Players from 11/9/24 USTA Orange Ball Round Robin • Winner Victor Vella

Empire is proud to be the leader in hosting USTA tournament round robins for players using the Orange progressions and are also hosting both UTR Round Robin Tournaments and UTR 2 in 2 Matchplay events for players playing on the Green progression ball. We are consistently hosting multiple events every month for developing juniors. These events allow players from both Empire Academy and also from outside of our program an outlet to compete and gain valuable matchplay experience. Congratulations to all of the participants and winners from our tournaments!

Players from 9/7/24 USTA Orange Ball Round Robin • Winner Ayaan Qureshi

Players from 12/7/24 USTA Orange Ball Round Robin • Winner Ayaan Qureshi

Players from 12/23/24 UTR Green Ball Round Robin at Empire • Winner Ayaan Garg

Victor Vella winner of 11/9/24

USTA Orange Ball Round Robin

George Jacobson winner of 12/21

USTA Orange Ball Round Robin

Adult Team Tennis

Empire and TCR players from 12/20/24 Holiday Mixer at The Tennis Club of Rochester

Empire Tennis Academy has fostered two teams of players to compete on a weekly basis against other teams from The Tennis Club of Rochester and Midtown Athletic Club. These events give the adults in our program an outlet to compete in both singles and doubles matches against players from outside of our program. We are glad to collaborate with the other local clubs and give our players many opportunities to continue to develop and gain valuable matchplay experience. Thank you to all of the adults for representing Empire. We are very proud of you all!

Empire and TCR players from 12/6 Adult Team Tennis event at The Tennis Club of Rochester

Team Empire at Midtown Athletic Club on 11/22/2024

Holiday Break Matchplay Events and Camps

With Christmas being held on a Wednesday this year, our regular programming had an extended break which allowed us to host a tremendous amount of matchplay events and camps. For UTR matchplay, we hosted a total of 158 participants over 17 events, including Junior and Adult Game n Plays as well as verified singles and doubles matchplay events for Adults and Juniors. We thank all of the participants who came out to continue playing tennis during the holiday break!

Players from Adult Game N Play on 12/26/2024

Players from UTR Singles Matchplay 2 in 2 on 12/21/24

Players from UTR Singles Matchplay 2 in 2 on 12/21/24

Thank you for Reading our 2024 Fall Newsletter!

Frank Solome

Empire Tennis Academy

Director of Marketing

Director of Adult Program

USPTA Professional

USPTA Pickleball Profesional

frank@empiretennisacademy.com