Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club awarded ‘2014 outstanding Facility of the Year’ honor

The Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club was recently recognized by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) San Diego Division as the “2014 Outstanding Facility of The Year.” This prestigious award is the culmination of numerous new programs and events held at the club.

The club, which has added over 100 new members in 2014, hosts numerous USPTA tournaments and USTA league play. The club donates courts for the USPTA Professional Singles Tournament and for many years has been the site of the USPTA Pro Student Annual Tournament.

The club’s Junior Program, headed by Tennis Director Derek Miller, boasts 53 graduates that have moved on to play in NCAA collegiate tennis, with currently over 18 players ranked in the top 40 in the nation, nine in the top 10, and five in the top 50 players in the world. This highly regarded Junior Program is one of the most heavily attended Junior Programs in the country. The club donates courts for the training of these high performance tennis athletes and highly ranked junior competitors that may well be the stars of the future.

The club is also host to the Rancho Santa Fe Middle School tennis team, “The Eagles,” which is coached by four of the club’s professionals four days per week. This program is considered unique in its attention to daily emphasis on training and team play combined with non-tennis events for over 60 fifth to eighth grade students.

The tennis professionals at the club and the facility are of service to the tennis community through many charitable donations. They hosted a fundraiser for the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Association and for five consecutive years held the Seacrest Village Retirement Home fundraiser. They support the RSF Community Center by offering court use for weekly tennis clinics held for the center’s participants. In addition, each year the staff professionals participate in “Tennis Fest,” donating free tennis lessons for 900-plus tennis enthusiasts in the community.

The RSF Tennis Club supports the high criteria of the USPTA certification process. The staff professionals, Dophie Poiset, Derek Miller, Allison Denike, James Conda and Jordan Lomas, are considered some of the finest teaching professionals in the county. Most are born and raised in San Diego. The senior staff professionals have numerous national and collegiate playing awards and credentials. Several have “Pro of the Year” recognition and teaching awards through the USPTA. Residents and non-residents have the opportunity to take private or group lessons with these highly trained professionals.

The RSF Tennis Club maintains two of the few Har-Tru courts in San Diego, and they are considered the best maintained clay courts in the district. There are 10 hard courts, one of which is also a Pickle Ball Court, with a “Lily Award” -winning Club House and Pro Shop.

The Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club, with its beautiful club house, grounds, courts — meticulously maintained — meets and exceeds all of these requirements for the 2014 Outstanding Facility of the Year

The club is open seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Tennis Club is located at 5829 Via de la Cumbre, Rancho Santa Fe.

For more information about the club, membership or lessons, please call (858) 756-4459 and ask for Dophie Poiset or Derek Miller.

— Submitted press release