Getting Started
You want to learn to play tennis? Congratulations! We all love tennis, and we're guessing that you'll love it too. For people looking to start with the high school team, scroll down a little more.
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Places to Start:
Check out our Community Tennis page for upcoming lessons for kids looking to start. We usually run a middle school program starting in mid-to-late May, and other junior programs from June through early August. Those are designed for players just getting started. George Fox is another good place to look, as they now offer year-round lessons for players of all skill levels. Click here to see their page.
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High School Tennis:​
Tennis in Oregon isn't like soccer, volleyball and basketball where every other kid started playing 5-10 years ago. 90% of all high school tennis players didn't play before high school. So, don't be worried that you are behind or won't fit in. We've had lots of players start one year, work at it a bit and become significant varsity contributors by the next year.
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The range of competitive levels is also pretty unique to tennis. There are some great players out there, and there are lots of people who are just getting started or like to play even though they aren't super-serious about it. Almost every high school team will have a group of players who haven't played before. After a few weeks of coaching and learning the rules, they go play each other.
After that, let's say that you work your way up to be the #8 player on our varsity team. Most of the time, you'll be playing against someone who is around #8 on the other team. Sometimes that will be a mismatch, but it usually means you'll have a good competitive match.
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Adults: For adults, there are organized leagues that generally run through the tennis clubs. Portland has about 1800 men and 2400 women playing in leagues for players rated between, and league play ranges from who have played a few months up through for D1 players. There are 6 different levels of play, so you usually get a fairly competitive match. We don't have any adult classes in Sherwood, but George Fox offers adult lessons for beginners up through pretty high levels.
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Everyone: Some young players are on their way up, and some older players are on their way down. In general, you are always going to be able to find a good match. Your opponent's tennis story will probably be very different than yours - but that doesn't mean you won't have a competitive and fun match.