If you were around the University of Alberta outdoor courts this summer on a Monday evening, you would have had the pleasure of watching high level tennis, as good as tennis gets in a regular league in this city. The Edmonton Elite Summer League of five teams and thirty-seven players finished their summer season on Monday, August 26.
Congratulations to the winning team, the Hall of Framers: Jeff Lewis, Zack Perala, Michal Ostrzygalo, Tobiasz Strozyk, Martyna Ostrzygalo, Keenan Desmarais and Michelle Lewis! (See photo above).
For more detail on who did what and the team results over the summer, click here.
More on the Edmonton Summer Elite League
Goal of the league. To provide a fun and competitive tennis environment for higher level players over the summer season, using a team format. Men and women play together, and there is no age restriction. A winter season is also scheduled for once or twice per month at the Royal Glenora and Saville Tennis Centres.
Who plays on which team. Players in the league are at a 5.0 level or higher. Players sign up as “free agents” and the captains hold an elite league draft and pick their players. Many of the players, for example, are existing or former university players.
The format. The five teams play each other once during the regular season. The top four teams qualify for playoffs. Then semi-finals and finals are played. Each team has at least six players. Usually four players complete four singles matches (1 point each for a win) and two doubles matches (2 points each for a win) each session.
Future plans. The league is working toward holding provincial finals against Calgary players.
Tennis For Life
Jeff Lewis, the league’s lead organizer this year, talked about the league’s philosophy:
“Our mission is to have player retention by keeping the atmosphere fun and stress free. Tennis can be a stressful sport when competing at a high level, so we try to have the league as an outlet for having fun regardless if you win or lose. We also try to recruit the top junior players in the city to show them that tennis can be a life long sport after the juniors finish playing competitively. We have some players that started playing in the league in their early teens and continue to play into their 20s and 30s.”
The league acknowledges the support of its sponsors, the Saville Sports Center and The Royal Glenora Club for access to facilities, and Tennis Alberta for providing balls.
For more information, check out the web site at: https://eliteleague.leagueapps.com/
