Our Story...

Tennis in northern Solano County has a rich history. The sports clubs at Rancho Solano, Dover, and Green Valley in Fairfield and Browns Valley in Vacaville have been home to our tennis families for decades; their USPTA tennis directors built strong programs for all ages and levels of play to nurture and grow the sport. City programs in Fairfield, Vacaville, and Dixon offered instruction on public courts. Allan Witt Park in Fairfield hosted USTA league team play from 2007 to 2014. The Cello International Tennis Academy (CITA) has been challenging young players since 1986.

USTA adult league activities were limited to Adult (18+) and Mixed (18+) by rating and gender until 2000. Senior (50+) was offered for the first time in 2000, Super Senior (60+) in 2010, and 40+ in 2013. 

Minimal USTA league offerings through the early 2000s meant that the opportunity to play organized tennis was small. That void was filled by the Solano County Tennis Association, the original SCTA, with its motto - Support Community Tennis. This group of enthusiastic volunteers built a robust organization that scheduled monthly tournaments at all the local tennis facilities and awarded Grand Prix points to participants. Their operational scope, professionalism, dedication, and involvement were exceptional. SCTA activities dominated the tennis scene in Solano County until the organization faded away in the mid-2000s as the opportunities to play USTA league tennis multiplied.

With expanded league play and motivated USPTA professionals at the clubs, tennis continued to flourish. Our players did well when challenged. The Browns Valley ladies’ 18+ 3.0 team won the USTA National Championship in 2017. The 2018 NorCal Hawks won the men’s Super-Senior 65+ 3.5 championship at the BNP Paribas Senior Cup at Indian Wells. Phil Cello brought the ATP Men’s $100,000 Challenger to Rancho Solano in Fairfield in 2015, where we met Taylor Fritz,

Francis Tiafoe, and Dustin Brown. That tournament now continues annually on the courts at Solano Community College.

Then, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, everything changed in 2020. In-Shape management restricted access to their clubs and dropped their Tennis Director positions. Our tennis community lost three home bases and the complexion of the sport in our area changed dramatically. Only Green Valley CC had a committed USPTA pro and courts for league play.

In March 2021, USTA announced league play would return in April-May. With their no-guest policy, the In-Shape clubs were not an option to host teams. We needed another place to play. Centennial Park in Vacaville was the only public four court complex in Fairfield and Vacaville that met the USTA/NorCal requirement for a restroom available during league play. City staff expedited the process with USTA and NorCal to get the courts approved for league play before

team registration closed. Since we were not organized at the time, court reservations were treated as facility rentals by the team captains. Eight teams represented Centennial Park in the league seasons ending in September; four won their league playoffs and competed in the NorCal Sectional championships. Tennis still had a heartbeat in northern Solano County.

But many players were joining out-of-area teams; our USPTA pros were limited in their ability to develop and grow the sport; court amenities were sparse; and we had to organize to negotiate with outside agencies.

In June-July of 2021, we began the process of creating a Community Tennis Association (CTA). We needed a local single voice for the sport in our area, an organization that could pull together the disparate segments of our tennis community. The first big decision was agreeing to a name. SCTA was an early favorite because of all the positive 20-year-old memories. But Solano County Tennis Association would be inappropriate as a name because Benicia and Vallejo now have

active CTAs of their own. Thus, the Solano Community Tennis Association was born – the new SCTA.

The foundational pieces came together rapidly. Mission statement, incorporation, by-laws, installation of directors and officers, application for tax-exempt status, website, and agreement with the City of Vacaville for court usage. 

That foundation was built by the end of 2021. In 2022, we were able to support USTA adult league tennis on the four unlighted courts at Centennial Park, occasionally using the courts at Three Oaks Park and even In-Shape when needed. But, much of our energy was expended looking for courts to play on and seeking a path forward for a new tennis home facility. 

We initiated communications with City of Dixon staff to grow tennis on the Hall Park courts. That remains a work in progress as those six courts are scheduled for renovation soon, with some forecast to be dedicated to pickleball.

We provided inputs to City of Fairfield staff when the eight lighted tennis courts at Allan Witt Park were scheduled for renovation in the summer of 2022. Unfortunately, only three courts remained configured for tennis after the renovation. We encouraged the Fairfield tennis community to participate in the development of the concept plan for the proposed Matt Garcia Park at One Lake, to express the need for tennis courts at that site. That could be a future tennis home for the Fairfield tennis community. 

In Vacaville, we knew that a proposed Centennial Park Master Plan (CPMP) had been in development since 2017. We spoke regularly with City staff and the Park Planner, stating our need for a tennis home base and requesting that the four tennis courts in the new plan be sited in a location that would allow future expansion to 8-12 courts as funding allowed.

The Vacaville pickleball community reached out to us, suggesting that the two communities align to speak as one voice going forward. Each community saw a need for a home base for its sport, more courts in a single location rather than dispersed around the city on neighborhood parks. That collaboration eventually led to a request by the Pickleball community to come under the SCTA organizational umbrella, as a separate division as allowed by our by-laws. 

The draft CPMP was briefed to the public in December 2022, showing the existing four tennis courts going away and four new lighted courts sited in a location that would not permit future expansion. That would preclude the 265 acre park from becoming the tennis home base for the Vacaville tennis world going forward.

Then, two encouraging signs appeared at the end of December.

The City of Vacaville announced an energy storage project proposal that would include a public amenity, a 6-acre community recreation area. An 8-court tennis complex was shown as part of that amenity in the initial concept plan.

And, it was announced that the Rothbard family had sold In-Shape to California Family Fitness, which is owned by Perpetual Capital Partners. Is there a chance that new ownership would be willing to sell the three local In-Shape clubs with tennis courts or, at least, adopt more tennis-friendly policies?

There are still possible paths forward. But the future remains uncertain. In-Shape may once again embrace tennis or sell its clubs to someone who will. Our new tennis home base is not likely to happen on current city courts but may emerge as a tennis complex in proposed new parks in Vacaville and Fairfield. In the meantime, how do we keep alive the feeling of family within our community? Can we do more, like support youth activities?

The challenge is there. We will take it one day at a time and base every decision on our Mission Statement – To promote and develop the growth of tennis in the northern Solano County area.