JOURNAL SPORTS
In 2018, when Jeffrey Goodman, Todd Killen and Rick Holland decided to bring back The City Tennis Tournament after it had gone dormant for almost 10 years, they knew to be successful they needed to tell the history of the storied tournament.
“There was a generation or two who either never got to experience The City or only experienced it when it was on its last legs,” explains Goodman. “We knew to make it important again we had to explain what it had been for all those years for so many of us.”
This year The City turns 100 with the first tournament played in 1923 at Princess Park and won by Burford McGuffin. The City this year began Monday and runs through Sunday at Bossier Tennis Center and features 24 different events including a new Husband/Wife division.
Since relaunching the tournament in 2018, The City has won numerous accolades including being voted “Adult Tournament of the Year” by USTA Southern and the Louisiana Tennis Association.
You don’t have to play to enjoy the tournament. Get out to Bossier Tennis Center and help celebrate a century of the sport!
Hall of Fame ceremony set for 12:30 Sunday
One of the key events this year is The City Hall of Fame ceremony honoring Andy Lloyd, Julia Sippel and Jean Hundley. The City team will conduct a formal presentation and the three honorees will be on hand to say a few words at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday before the Women and Men’s Open Singles Finals.
To see the video tributes, go to https://youtu.be/sara5kZWK8g (Julia Sippel and Jean Hundley) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7DGLcsGca0 (Andy Lloyd).
Like last year’s City, this year’s City is for the entire tennis community — from people that have never played in a tournament before to current and former collegiate players and everything in between. A City Champion will be crowned in 24 different divisions, a claim that each division winner will be able to make all year long. More than $8,000 will be given away to the winners.
Goodman adds, “There will be great competition in 24 different events, and it will be a week-long celebration of this sport that we all love.”
Here’s what you need to know if you come:
The tournament will run through Sunday. All matches will be at Bossier Tennis Center. It will be family-friendly and there is no admission to the public. Matches will begin Monday-Friday at 5 p.m. and last until about 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matches will begin at 8 a.m. and last until 5 or 6 p.m.
For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page, The City Championships.
For additional information, please contact Jeffrey Goodman at 323/841-3529 or jgoodman@ymcanwla.org via email.
