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Network News Blast #98 from The Tennis Network of Greater Volusia County

Topic: Local College Tennis: Bethune-Cookman, Embry-Riddle, and Stetson
Hello tennis friends in Volusia & Flagler Counties.
Ever wondered how good local college players play tennis? Well, there is an easy way to find out. Go watch one of their games this spring. It is fun, free, and educational. Bethune-Cookman University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, as well as Stetson University in DeLand offer plenty of home matches over the next couple of weeks.

Bethune-Cookman University
Bethune-Cookman plays their home matches at City Island in Daytona Beach. The full schedule of their matches can be found here. In a nutshell: plenty of home matches from March 9 through mid April. March 10, March 22, and April 2, 8, and 9 might be particularly good days to watch, as both the women’s and men’s team play home matches on the same day at the same time. Admission is free. The women’s and men’s team are both coached by Trey Bogue (boguet@cookman.edu).

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Embry-Riddle plays their home matches at the Ambassador E. William Crotty Tennis Center off Clyde Morris Blvd. in Daytona Beach. Dave Paschal coaches both the women’s and men’s team. Dave can be reached david.paschal@erau.edu. The schedule for his teams is posted here or here on the website of the “Network” (www. Daytonatennis.com). The teams have a ton of women-men double headers: March 4,5,8,14,17,19,21,22 and 23. Admission is free.

Stetson University
The Mandy Stoll Tennis Center, located on the east side of the university’s campus in downtown DeLand, is home of the Stetson tennis program. Sasha Schmid (women; sschmid@stetson.edu) and Pierre Pilote (men; ppilote@stetson.edu) have been with Stetson’s tennis program for a decade or more and posted impressive records. On Feb. 26, and March 3, 5, 7, and 17 both teams play on the same day (but not at the same time). For the full schedule, click here. Admission is free.

In general, the teams of those young women and men from all schools are great assets not only to their tennis teams, but also to their communities at large. The players of Bethune-Cookman and Embry-Riddle and their coaches are wonderful supporters of the tennis scene on the east side of our county. For example, they regularly provide players to help with various junior tennis functions in the area, like Junior Team Tennis events at Florida Tennis Center. The players on all teams seem to come from all over the world, are fun to talk to, and their coaches are very approachable individuals, too (and readers of the “Blast”).

Dear tennis friends in Volusia/Flagler counties, now YOU can support those players by showing up at some of their home games. See you there. Happy Trails to y’all.

The “Network News Blast” is written on Sunday afternoons by Jan Buenner. Jan is a local tennis player, president of the “Tennis Network of Greater Volusia County,” on the GVTL board of directors, and owns the Trails Racquet Club in Ormond Beach. The opinions expressed are solely his own. If you have comments about today’s “Network News Blast,” or newsworthy tennis topics from your facility for the next “Blast,” or know someone who wants to be added to our mailing list, please contact Jan@Trailsracquetclub.com, or (386) 677-8081. We are always interested in hearing from you.

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