Tennis has returned to the Camana Bay Festival Green.
The court, which once hosted some of the biggest names in tennis as part of the Legends tennis event, is now open to the public for hourly bookings seven days a week and even nights.
In addition, Cayman Sports is now providing cardio tennis and group tennis classes on the court.
Warren Urquhart, the head tennis professional of Cayman Sports, says he is thrilled to be able to offer tennis sessions on the picturesque Festival Green court.
"It's basically a brand new surface, with amazing LED lights," Urquhart says. "It's also very private and there is a cooling breeze coming down the adjoining canal. In the evenings, the view across the water towards the lighted Camana Bay is stunning."
The classes are open to anyone, although those who live or work in Camana Bay get priority for bookings, Urquhart says.
Cardio tennis costs CI$25 per session, with a class size of six to eight people, and adult group lessons are CI$35 per person, with class sizes of three to five people. Lessons for children are CI$25 per person, with a maximum class size of six children.
Cardio tennis is a fun, high-energy, group tennis fitness class where participants take part in fast-paced drills while hitting hundreds of balls, Urquhart says.
"Participants achieve their effective heart rate with ease due to the fun factor and they burn more calories than any other form of tennis," he says. "While they are playing a form of tennis, the primary focus is a great workout. It's a great way to improve your game, meet new people and have a full body workout."
The adult group tennis lessons focus more on the technical side of tennis and making improvements to students' swing, grip, movement and tactical play. Lessons are offered for beginners as well as intermediate players.
The programmes are six weeks long and each week one of the core tennis shots is taught and practised, Urquhart says.
For more information or to see a schedule of classes, visit them on Facebook or email warren@caymansports.net.
Private bookings
When not hosting the Cayman Sports classes, the Festival Green tennis court can also be booked by individuals or groups. Regular booking rates are CI$10 per hour for those who live in Camana Bay and for business tenant bookings and CI$15 per hour for others. The court is open for bookings daily from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. For more information or to book a time slot, email info@camanabay.com.
This article originally appeared in the January 2021 issue of Camana Bay Times.
Alan Markoff has worked with Dart as the editor for Camana Bay Times for three years and has been writing professionally since 1997. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Alan graduated from the State University of New York at Albany with a degree in English, and first moved to the Cayman Islands in 1982. He has 16 years of experience in the real estate industry and previously worked as a journalist for Cayman Compass before joining Dart to relaunch the Camana Bay Times monthly newspaper. An avid baseball fan, Alan loves travelling but also schedules trips back home around catching a summer game or two with his home team, Cleveland Indians. He is a movie buff who spends many an evening catching a film at Camana Bay Cinema. It was at one of these movies that he met his wife, Lynn!