Arlington Heights' Heritage Tennis Club wins award

Tennis at places like the Heritage Tennis Club of the Arlington Heights Park District is addictive, warns Cindy Georgiades.

"You start with drills, then you're subbing for a house league and before you know it you're on a traveling team," she said.

Georgiades and her son, Peter, a freshman at Buffalo Grove High School, are active at the club.

"The important thing is it becomes like family," she said. And people of any skill level can feel comfortable there.

Earlier this year, the club won the facility of the year award from a group called Chicago Tennis Patrons, based in Des Plaines, which works to get children involved in tennis.

"The club is small enough to feel like a small town club," said Rob Laue, assistant manager. "Our pro staff has probably been here a combined 50 years."

He said the club offers a surprising number of opportunities to play, including leagues, traveling teams and lessons.

The club has four full-time professionals and two part-time ones, said John Trantor, associate tennis professional, who has been with the club 16 years

Heritage, which has eight courts, was built at 7 W. College Drive in the early 1970s as a private club and obtained by the park district in the late 1980s, said Trantor.

About five years ago, the lighting was updated, and with acoustical improvements, that makes the club a much more pleasant place for lessons and matches, he said.