Langley Tennis Centre will hold its official grand opening at 20611 80th Ave. on Thursday, Sept. 2 with an open house that will include free games, clinics and prizes from 1 to 7 p.m. – and a ribbon cutting by the acting mayor at 6 p.m.
Tennis Centre general manager Larry Jurovich said it wasn’t clear what impact the provincial decision to make masks a requirement again – and to introduce vaccine passports – would have on the facility.
“We are still waiting on official word from Tennis B.C. and Via Sport,” Jurovich told the Langley Advance Times.
“That said, last year, through everything, tennis was never considered a ‘high intensity’ fitness class so all we had to do was show a solid COVID. As you know, tennis inherently has a lot of social distancing so it is easy to demonstrate a safe environment.”
Jurovich was also waiting for word on whether the centre would have to require proof of vaccination.
“My understanding again was that [the passport] applies to all of the types of businesses that were not allowed to operate at all last year, [such as] indoor dining, fitness centres etc.”
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For Jurovich, the Langley facility represent a return to familiar surroundings.
He grew up in Langley and started his coaching career here, so after 30 years of coaching in every corner of the world “it feels like this centre represents my career coming full circle.”
Jurovich has developed grand-slam calibre players who have represented their country in Davis Cup and Fed Cup events, winning, and have won more than 40 national championships.
He has coached other coaches, creating top-level training programs in Canada and the U.K.for their national coaches.
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The new Langley facility aims to serve the eastern Fraser Valley with programs ranging from age four to adult for all levels of ability.
More information can be found online at www.tenniscentrelangley.ca.
Since the pandemic hit, in the U.S. there has been a 50-per-cent increase in people playing tennis.
Racquet sales among first-time players jumped 38 per cent and the number of players now stands at 11 per cent compared to the pre-pandemic level of seven per cent.
Have a story tip? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
