3
November 30, 2015
Kroc tennis center
in Greenville nets
championship season
By Brooke Turbyfill
Southern Spirit staff
The Kroc Tennis Center in
Greenville, South Carolina, is serving
up big wins this year. This fall, the
center’s doubles teams and singles
players are causing quite the racket
among local league tourneys – with a
whopping 11 combo teams winning
league championship titles and three
singles teams.
Doubles team state championships
were held in Hilton Head, South
Carolina, in October, and the
singles state championships were in
Charleston, South Carolina, in midNovember. While the center’s only been
in existence for four years, it is home to
over 200 tennis teams – an astounding
number given the popularity of the
sport in the Greenville area and,
thereby, the number of tennis clubs a
tennis player can choose to register.
Steve Cook, tennis director, said the
appeal of the Kroc Tennis Center is
varied. “We’ve built a beautiful facility,
we have great teaching pros that drum
up interest and people are improving
their game, so they’re having fun.
Generally, it’s a great atmosphere out
there and people enjoy the experience
they have at the Kroc center.”
The United States Tennis Association
selected the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps
Community Center in Greenville as
one of its 12 winners in the 33rd annual
USTA Facility Awards Program in 2014
for its excellence in construction. The
16-court center has eight clay courts
and eight hard courts and boasts more
than 700 members.
The center, which won the 2015
USTA South Carolina Facility of the
Year, also has a membership price
that’s easy on the wallet. “We’re
bringing tennis to the community at
This 40-and-up team, Kroc Kombikazes, won its league division and got the chance
to play in the state championships in Hilton Head, South Carolina, in mid-October.
a good number of members to fill all
an affordable level,” he said. “People
those slots.”
have a lot of choices of where they can
Leagues include 18-up, 40-up, 55-up,
play tennis; we try to stay on top of our
65-up and 75-up. Lauritzen stressed that
offerings, camps, clinics, adult lessons
regardless of the state championship
– all of that is part of people having a
outcomes, the very fact that so many
good experience at the tennis center.”
league teams won their local league
The center is the largest of its kind in
the Upstate area. Patty Lauritzen, tennis division is a tremendous achievement.
“The men and women already have a
house coordinator, said the club’s
major accomplishment by winning the
ability to offer a variety of leagues is
local league. They played and won a
a key factor in its success. “We have a
lot of matches to get where they were
very large league program with a lot of
eligible to go to the championship. This
participants . . . There’s many different
is truly the best of the best.”
age levels and skill levels – we have
Symposium will
take in-depth look
at trafficking issue
Corps and divisional bands and ensembles were showcased throughout the weekend at Camp Hoblitzelle.
Musicians of the Texas Division
gather for music and arts councils
Countless Salvationist musicians and leaders
have been developed as a part of the Texas
Division’s fine tradition of music and arts
programs. Over the years, the division’s Music and
Arts Council has welcomed guest groups such as
the Chicago Staff Band, the Southern Territorial
Band and the Brazilian National Band & Songsters.
This October saw the first such event in three years,
and proved the perfect opportunity for the Music
Department’s newly assembled team, headed by
Matt Broome, divisional music and arts director,
to familiarize themselves with the division’s music
program and participants.
Held at Camp Hoblitzelle, the event included
participation from nine different corps groups, in
addition to divisional ensembles. Several special
guests brought with them a wealth of experience
covering a wide spectrum of expression, including
Majors Ian and Isobel Robinson (mission
development directors in the Southern California
Division), Philip Broome (principal euphonium
of the West Point Band), Bernie Dake (assistant
territorial music secretary for the USA South),
Christopher Priest (Southern territorial director
of communications), and Jeff Cain (producer and
engineer for