7 months ago
About 1300 athletes and their families will travel to Central Georgia in a few weeks.
Macon has always hosted the Junior Team State Championships at the John Drew Smith Tennis Center since it began 12 years ago, but this season, it's about to get a lot bigger.
Even if you don't have an athletic bone in your body, you will probably appreciate what the sport can do for the city.
Susan Weaver admits she doesn't play much tennis.
"No... don't have time.. Stay too busy here," she chuckled.
But she'll really show the love for the sport when the tennis courts that sit right behind Fresh Air Barbecue heat up later on in July.
"The smoke drives them crazy, and they're just across the trees," Susan bragged.
The Junior event is going to grow by 22 percent. That means an extra 350 kids will hit the courts.
Donna Bailey is with the Macon Tennis Association.
"I truly did panic, because the more teams you have, the more court space, more people and trying to accommodate everyone," she admitted.
Donna's busy, but the Macon Convention and Visitors Bureau is practically bursting with excitement over the bump in attendance.
Beth Robinson helped to crunch the numbers.
"That's huge. We are not seeing a big increase in any of our convention or any of our sporting events this year, Robinson said.
Last year the tournament had about a thousand kids.
That generated $588,000.
The CVB is anticipating 130 teams with about ten players each, who will spend close to $800,000 this year.
"The difference between this and our other sporting events is this is really a family affair. Usually they bring grandparents, aunts, uncles, moms, and dads. They stay in droves when their kids play," Robinson said.
Which means Susan and her crew will have to put a lot more meat on the smoker.
"We sell a lot of chickens to the tennis people. They love chicken, they just love barbecue, and they love to eat," she said with a smile.
This year, Atlanta is sending its winter and summer champions to the tournament, and that's what's causing the spike in attendance.
The state plans to run this new format from here on out, so Macon will continue to see those numbers in the future.
Now here's the bad news: if you play tennis, don't expect to get a local court July 31, August 1 or 2.
Bailey's using Macon State, Healy Point, and even some courts in Warner Robins that weekend.
