Darling Tennis Center
• Address: 7901 W. Washington Ave., Las Vegas
• Phone: 702-229-2100
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: darlingtenniscenter.net
• Hours of operation: 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday; 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday; 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday
• Owned/operated by: CJMS Tennis Management
• In business since: 2005
Describe your business.
We are a full tennis management service that provides lessons and clinics for players of all ages and levels. We provide tennis socials, league tennis for adults and juniors, as well as running and hosting more than 20 tournaments a year.
Your facility was named one of the best junior high performance programs in the country. To what do you attribute this?
We are very proud of our junior program. The three main reasons for our success are our coaching philosophy, our coaching staff, and our pathway. Our coaching philosophy includes teaching kids to use tennis as a way to learn life lessons, spending equal time developing the person and the athlete as we do the tennis player, as well as emphasizing sportsmanship and the spirit of competition.
Our staff members are experienced in working with and developing some top national players through our pathway. They are amazing teachers, coaches and motivators. Most of the kids who go through our program stay in tennis for life.
What is the hardest part about doing business in Las Vegas?
Las Vegas is a pretty transient town, so when you get families that come in and learn and are having fun, then someone gets transferred to a different town, that is difficult. Also, this is not a 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday town. You have different shifts, daytime, swing shift and graveyard that you have to try and accommodate.
What is the best part about doing business here?
To try and accommodate different shifts and clientele, we get to be very innovative and continually brainstorm and come up with new ideas that work for different people. We also get a lot of people in from out of town, so you are always meeting new people from all over the world. Another favorite part of this job is seeing and teaching junior players. I have been teaching in town for over 25 years and I now have former students come back as adults with their kids to learn tennis. It is amazing to see families coming through the tennis cycle.
How can Nevada improve its business climate?
New clientele. I think bringing in new industry and diversifying our economy would be a big help in creating new tennis players. Also, creating new sporting events and recognizing that Las Vegas has a local sports clientele in this market. We have some of the top tennis professions in the U.S. working here, and they are grooming some of the best young tennis talent in the nation.
What have you learned from the recession?
Tennis players will always play tennis. They may play more leagues and do more clinics but tennis players will continue to come out and participate in their passion and love of the game. In addition, people wanted to become part of communities more — get to know each other. The tennis community is strong but we want to get the word out that you don’t have to be a seasoned player to have fun and learn the sport.