Bryan Shelton has quite the history with the NCAA Tennis Championships.
The 57-year-old has helped lead his alma mater, Georgia Tech, and his current team, the University of Florida, to numerous appearances in the tournament. Georgia Tech won a national championship in 2007, while the Gators claimed the 2021 title.
An outstanding player in his own right, Shelton has seen firsthand the growth of college tennis and its impact on the professional ranks. His son, Ben, has made a successful start in the ATP Tour after claiming the 2022 men’s NCAA title.
“When you see players out there, having success professionally, and you see that they went this route, it just opens their eyes to the possibilities of what can happen,” said Shelton, who played professionally from 1989-97. “College provides so many positive things that allow these kids to possibly have the potential to go on and play professionally.”
The stars of tomorrow could be on hand when the National Tennis Campus at Lake Nona hosts this year’s NCAA Tennis Championships starting Thursday-May 27. But this time, the event will feature men’s and women’s tournaments from the NCAA Division I, II and III.
“It’s unique for the NCAA in any sport and a great way to put a spotlight on tennis and to bring something to Orlando that is unique in the world,” said Lew Sherr, CEO and executive director of the United States Tennis Association. “We have the benefit of living in a city with several things that are unique in the world and were excited about creating a destination for collegiate tennis here.”
Said Joni Comstock, senior vice president of Championships for the NCAA: “It’s a little bit of history we’re setting here because we’ve not done this before with our tennis student-athletes; to put all of them together to participate and celebrate the championship.”
Added Shelton: “It’s going to be a fun, exciting experience for all three divisions. Tennis wins in this situation.”
The National Tennis Campus has been a crown jewel for the USTA since its debut in 2017. The 64-acre facility features 98 racquet courts that can host everything from clay tennis to pickleball and the Collegiate Center, a 12-court stadium facility specifically designed for college tennis.
And while the venue has hosted its share of NCAA conference tournaments, it’s also hosted the Division I (2019, 2021) and Division III (2022) tournaments.
For Brian Hainline, chairman of the board and president of USTA and a former college tennis player, that men and women get to play at the same site is a truly unique opportunity only available to a select few sports.
“That’s something tennis has done probably better than any other sport,” he said. “You look at the U.S. Open and the other three Grand Slams and the 1,000 level events at the ATP and WTA, and it’s sort of a statement about sport and equal access. It’s wonderful to bring that to the collegiate level.”
The event includes the men’s and women’s wheelchair championships. The venue expects up to 100 schools and universities and more than 1,000 athletes to participate during the 17 days.
The D-I semifinals (May 19) and finals (May 20) will be broadcast on the Tennis Channel.
“Having this many courts allows us to stage multiple events side by side,” Sherr said. “This was one of the aspirations when the facility was built.”
Even though there aren’t any official estimates on how many spectators the championships could bring, the Lake Nona venue drew 12,000 fans when it hosted the Division I men’s and women’s tournaments in 2019.
“We expect it will be far, far larger,” Sherr said.
Comstock credits familiarity from the previous championship tournaments as one of the reasons the NCAA awarded the National Tennis Campus an event of this caliber.
“That allowed us to get to know the area a little bit, watch it develop through the years and gain some confidence that not only is the National Campus the only place that’s large enough [to host] but could do it within a reasonable time frame,” said Comstock. “The quality of the facilities and the USTA staff are second to none and we’ve got three great membership hosts in the University of Central Florida, Rollins College and Oglethorpe [Atlanta].”
Shelton believes the venue offers the perfect setting for an event of such magnitude.
“It’s pretty easy to get to Orlando. We’re not going to a remote place that’s difficult to get to,” he said. “We can expect good weather for the most part. It will be warm. So we’re going to be outdoors and it’s going to be a venue that will be able to take care of everyone’s needs”.
While baseball (Charles Schwab Field, Omaha) and softball (Hall of Fame Stadium, Oklahoma City) have permanent homes for their World Series championships, other collegiate sports such as tennis host their championships at various sites.
“It would be cool if tennis were to have a destination point and that destination point would be at the USTA National Campus,” said Hainline. “That’s something the NCAA and USTA are working collaboratively on and we hope that dream can become a reality.”
Comstock sees potential in the Lake Nona site being part of a rotation to host this event.
“It would be something we could repeat,” she said. “I don’t see that it would be something we would do every year and the USTA will probably not want to undertake this every year, but we could certainly revisit this with potentially some kind of a schedule if our membership wanted to come down and do this on some kind of a schedule.”
Said Shelton: “Lately, we’ve been going to campuses and there are years where the host site is not even involved in the championship. There are fewer fans there to support the event and it doesn’t have that feel of this being the biggest tournament of the year.
“Being able to have one location like Lake Nona, you could really get behind it. You have the USTA’s influence, which will help draw and fund the event and bring TV exposure. Then you can build the event. You can start putting things in place that you can continue to grow as each year passes and get better and better and better and stronger.”
The Greater Orlando Sports Commission has worked to bring NCAA championships to the Central Florida area, including tennis. It plans to assemble another round of bids set for 2026 and beyond.
“These events, these championships, are awarded years out in advance,” Sherr said. “We’ve been working on this for two to three years to align the timing to work for all the divisions.
“We’ve had nothing but great support and at the NCAA level. They love the fact we’re showcasing all divisions together and lifting the platform for one of their sports higher than they could.”
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.
