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University of South Carolina Upstate

Foundation serves up tennis lessons to Pasco youth

December 15, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

Since its October grand opening ceremony, the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis Center in Zephyrhills has garnered widespread recognition for its breadth of racquet sports and other amenities.

The 10-acre athletic complex, located off Simons Road, is owned by the City of Zephyrhills, but privately managed and operated. It boasts 11 tennis courts, eight pickleball courts and four padel courts. It also offers a mix of peak performance treatments in the way of a state-of-the-art fitness center, cryotherapy, salt room therapy and sports counseling.

Sarah Vande Berg Tennis Foundation program director Nick Walton, left, with foundation ambassador Isaac Mitchell. Teen ambassadors, including Mitchell, volunteer in the afterschool programs and represent the foundation at other community events. For their efforts, ambassadors receive training and private coaching privileges at the new tennis center. (Courtesy of Sarah Vande Berg Tennis Foundation)

These features, among others, set the facility up as a regional, national and even international racquet sports destination, with potential to host world-class tournaments and professional players on-site for training.

But, beyond the scope of drawing tourism and big-money events to East Pasco, the sports facility also is serving up outreach opportunities for community youth.

That’s being done through the facility’s 501c3 nonprofit partner organization, called the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis Foundation.

The foundation’s mission is “to provide tennis and education programming in Pasco County communities through character-building, physical activity, and mentoring.”

The foundation — and tennis center— is named in honor of the former Zephyrhills High School district champion who became a scholarship player on the University of South Carolina Upstate women’s tennis team.

Sarah Vande Berg, the daughter of Zephyrhills planning director Todd Vande Berg, died in an automobile accident at the age of 21 in October 2015.

Sarah Vande Berg Foundation program director Nick Walton and Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center CEO Pascal Collard provided updates about the nonprofit’s progress during a Zephyrhills City Council meeting last month.

Earlier this fall, the foundation launched a pair of free afterschool programs at both West Zephyrhills Elementary and Raymond B. Stewart Middle Schools. Programming had been set to begin at the schools in the spring, but was delayed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the new afterschool program, foundation coaches and volunteers are on-site at the schools twice a week for two hours each day, teaching introductory tennis fundamentals, nutrition habits and character education classes, for children in grades three through eight.

The Sarah Vande Berg Tennis Foundation recently launched a pair of free afterschool programs at both West Zephyrhills Elementary and Raymond B. Stewart Middle schools. Coaches and volunteers from the foundation are on-site at the schools twice a week for two hours each day, teaching introductory tennis fundamentals, nutrition habits and character education classes, for children in grades three through eight. The program assists youth of all skill levels and backgrounds, including many low-income and minority youth with limited access to organized sports.

The program assists youth of all skill levels and backgrounds, including many low-income and minority youth who have limited access to organized sports.

Most of the approximately 30 youth players from each respective school had never picked up a racquet prior to joining the program.

In a nutshell, here’s how the afterschool initiative works: All participants are incentivized from the first day to show up to all classes, listen to their coaches, follow instructions, and try their best to improve. Students who handle these objectives diligently for four consecutive weeks are rewarded with a brand-new racquet for them to take home and practice.

“We want to break down barriers to the sport of tennis and access to equitable education services,” Walton said of the program. “Our vision is for all students to have personal growth and positive relationships through tennis.”

The foundation also has sponsored a teen ambassador program geared toward eighth grade and high school students. These ambassadors help volunteer in the afterschool programs and represent the foundation at other community events. For their efforts, ambassadors receive training and private coaching privileges at the new tennis center.

“We’re definitely more than tennis,” said Walton. “What we’re creating is a community of young people who will grow together, on and off the court.”

That happens, he said, through positive role models and mentors, a heavy emphasis on education and growth through sport and physical well-being.

The foundation also offers a college scholarship program, awarding multiple scholarships each year to graduating Zephyrhills High School student-athletes. Scholarship selection criteria include academic performance, leadership qualities, volunteerism, community engagement and sports involvement.

Athletes from all sports are encouraged to apply, not just those who play tennis.

Six scholarships have been awarded over the past three years, according to the foundation’s website. The deadline to apply is April 30 each year.

Zephyrhills City Councilman Lance Smith called the foundation’s varied efforts “a great thing for the whole community.”

“I’m just really excited because we’re in those schools where we need to reach these kids,” said Smith. “Introducing them to a sport and teaching them about what they need to do to become good people, creating good character in them, so I couldn’t be happier to be involved with them.”

The Sarah Vande Berg Tennis Foundation has methodically built up its base since design plans and construction for the multimillion dollar tennis center were en route a few years ago.
The foundation’s first major fundraiser was held in October 2018, at Arbor Green in New Tampa.

That tennis clinic and event gala was headlined by International Tennis Hall of Fame coach Nick Bolletti, renowned for grooming 10 world No. 1 players, including Andre Agassi, Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova and Dade City’s Jim Courier, among many others.

The gala helped raise more than $10,000, used to purchase tennis rackets and to subsidize tennis camps for youth.

Total donations have since reached $30,500, according to the foundation’s website. Supporting partners include the United States Tennis Foundation, Wilson Sporting Goods, Duke Energy and Zephyrhills Water.

The foundation mirrors a similar outreach program called Down The Line and Beyond, which Collard spearheaded while he was tennis director at The Merion Cricket Club, a private club in Haverford, Pennsylvania.

The Philadelphia-area nonprofit has grown to serve more than 1,600 underprivileged youths from ages 7 to 17, and facilitates positive character and education development through tennis lessons.

Some of those youths even went on to earn collegiate tennis scholarships as a result of their development in the program.

“None of them would’ve played tennis — none— without the foundation. We are going to do the same thing over here (in Zephyrhills),” Collard said in a prior interview with The Laker/Lutz News.

For more information, visit SVBTennisFoundation.com.

Published December 16, 2020

Tennis center secures management

October 18, 2017 By Kevin Weiss

Plans to serve up more tennis opportunities for Zephryhills residents — while also creating a regional asset — have moved yet another step forward.

The Zephyrhills City Council on Oct. 9 unanimously approved a 20-year contract with Tennis P.R.O. Florida, LLC, to operate and mange the proposed Zephyrhills Tennis Center.

Tennis P.R.O. is owned by Pascal Collard, shown here. Collard was the director of tennis at Saddlebrook Tennis Academy in Wesley Chapel from 2003 to 2006. He most recently served as the tennis director at The Merion Cricket Club, a private club in Haverford, Pennsylvania. (Kevin Weiss)

Tennis P.R.O. is owned by Pascal Collard, who was the director of tennis at Saddlebrook Tennis Academy in Wesley Chapel from 2003 to 2006.

Most recently, he was tennis director at The Merion Cricket Club, a private club in Haverford, Pennsylvania.

Under the agreement, Tennis P.R.O. will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the facility, which will include providing lessons and running concessions. The firm also will handle memberships and fundraising.

Moreover, Collard’s company will pay $300,000 upfront for capital improvements to the facility — covered court, hitting walls, indoor and outdoor playground and so on.

The agreement also calls for the proposed facility to be open at least 80 hours per week, as weather permits.

“I’m very excited about starting as soon as possible,” Collard told council members.

“I’m already working on the marketing, trying to find out what can we do to make it a big success. We want the community to be involved. We’re also going to have a foundation, where we’re going to try to do a lot of outreach programs,” he said.

Council members unanimously agreed in May to enter negotiations with Tennis P.R.O. LLC, to operate and manage the proposed tennis facility. The firm was selected over Management Partners and Net Results.

The planned $2.19 million complex will include eight clay and two hard surface courts, two sheltered courts, two mini-courts and several pickleball courts, built to U.S Tennis Association (USTA) professional standards.

It also will feature a pro shop, a multifunctional community room, and two office spaces. A second floor, if added, will include an observation deck overlooking the courts with concessions and a lounge for players.

This rendering of the Zephyrhills Tennis Center shows 10 courts (eight clay, two hard surface), two sheltered courts, two mini-courts and several pickleball courts, built to U.S Tennis Association (USTA) professional standards.
The tennis center is also expected to feature a pro shop, a community room, and two office spaces. The project could break ground as soon as March.
(File)

The complex will be located on 4.7 acres of donated land at The District at Abbott’s Square, a new real estate development situated north of Dean Dairy Road and west of Simons Road.

Officials say the project could break ground as soon as March, with construction estimated at 12 to 16 months.

Once complete, it will be renamed Sarah Vande Berg Memorial Tennis Center, after the former Zephyrhills High School district champion who became a scholarship player on the University of South Carolina Upstate women’s tennis team. Vande Berg, the daughter of the Zephyrhills planning director Todd Vande Berg, died in an automobile accident at the age of 21 in October 2015.

City Manager Steve Spina said the city will receive no revenues in the first three years of the complex opening, to help Tennis P.R.O. recoup its upfront costs. For the remainder of the agreement, however, the firm will pay rent to the city based on a percentage of its profits.

Spina said the public-private partnership resembles the one Zephyrhills has with the East Pasco Family YMCA, in which the city owns the building property, but outsources programming and facility management.

Meanwhile, recreation impact fees from The District at Abbott’s Square and other developments will be used to finance most of the facility’s construction costs, city officials say. The city also is looking into additional funding from USTA grants, Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program (FRDAP) grants, Penny for Pasco, and partnerships with Pasco County Parks and Recreation, and Pasco County Tourism.

Memberships, or hourly court rental fees, will be required to access the tennis facility, though Zephyrhills residents will see a price break compared to non-residents.

And, while those figures haven’t yet been configured, they are expected to mirror other clay-court tennis centers in nearby communities.

The eight-court Cindy Hummel Tennis Center, in Auburndale, has yearly memberships ranging from $75 to $171, for unlimited court access. Elsewhere, the 10-court Plant City Tennis Center offers individual annual passes for $350, and family annual passes for $700. Hourly court fees range from $1 to $7 at both facilities.

“If you go to Plant City, if you go Auburndale, if you go to Tampa — to have clay courts you have to have fees,” Spina said.

Aside from serving east Pasco residents, officials believe the new tennis complex could become a draw for college and USTA-sanctioned events.

“We think this is more than a local tennis club; we think it will be a regional asset,” Spina told the council.

“This is a feather in our cap,” said Alan Knight, council president.

“I’m excited about it,” said Lance Smith, council vice president. “I think it’s going to bring some people in here, and we don’t really have any idea how big this is going to be. …I think it’s going to be a great success. I’m looking forward to seeing it come along.”

Published Oct. 18, 2017

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