ABOUT
The St. Nicholas Tennis Club (SNTC) started as far back as 1935. At that time, there were about 25 members and the site was at 141st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, right behind the St. James Church. It had only one court and was known as “the hole”. Since it was located behind a Church, it was agreed that it would not used on Sundays.
In the mid-40’s, the church took over the site and built a community center. From there we went to “Crotona Park”. The club became inactive for awhile, but in the 1960s, it came alive again. Just as we do today, inter-club activities were frequent. We traveled to Atlantic City, Philadelphia and New Jersey to play other clubs and they traveled to the Bronx to play SNTC.
Over the years, SNTC has grown with over 150 members, of which 75% are active. We still have inter-club tennis parties with such clubs as Rochdale Tennis Club, Haffen Park Sports Association. During the spring and summer months we have tennis tournaments, both open and closed. Our closed tournament (members only) includes a big picnic on the first day of the tournament and is a big hit. We also have a summer singles ladder that includes men and women on the same ladder. It runs from May to September with a big playoff finale. We cap off our season’s end by having our annual tennis party in October at New Rochelle Racquet Club. And, that’s not all, we continue throughout the winter with our winter tennis activity indoors.
Since Crotona Park is our home base we are very much involved in the revitalization of Crotona Park. SNTC is a member of “The Friends of Crotona Park” which is a group of residents, businesses, organizations and concerned citizens working with the Partnerships for Parks, Cityscape Institute, Phipps Community Development Corporation in creating and implementing a Restoration and Management Plan for Crotona Park, which will include the tennis courts and its surroundings.
SNTC is also a member of the USTA (United States Tennis Association), and a member of the New York Tennis Association/ATA (American Tennis Association).
Currently, SNTC is in the process of meeting with the Crotona Parks Administrator and GHI Bronx Pro Classic Tournament representatives, in having a SNTC DAY at GHI. The GHI Bronx Pro Classic Tournament is held in August at Crotona Park over a period of two weeks and has been held there since the early 90’s. It started out as just a small men’s tournament and over the years has grown into a men’s and women’s tournament.
We are also in the process of looking to establish a junior development program, possibly by Spring, 2004
We hope to keep striving to make the events fun and enjoyable for our members and for them to know that there’s a CLUB they can always come to if you want to play TENNIS!
