Tennis Center nets 15th annual Observer Challenge

Get your game faces on: From Dec. 12 to Dec. 14, the Longboat Key Public Tennis Center will hold the annual Observer Challenge tournament.

The tournament will kick off at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 11, with a cocktail party catered by Harry’s Continental Kitchens.

“This is when everybody will find out who they play,” Tennis Center Manager Kay Thayer said. “They’ll already know their starting times, but it’s not until the night before the tournament that they will find out their opponents.”

What makes this tournament unique is its format. Instead of participants playing either singles or doubles, Observer Challenge players will compete in both singles and doubles matches.

“People like it because it’s different,” Thayer said. “Most tournaments are singles or doubles, and we have all of the above. It’s a unique format you don’t see anywhere else.”

Each team has four players, two men and two women. As teams sign up, Thayer will put them into different levels, from Open Division down to Division Four.

“It is a challenge to put teams in different levels, especially when people of the same teams are of different levels, but that’s what makes it fun,” Thayer said.

People can also sign up individually or with a partner, and Thayer will try to place them on teams.

The tournament draws more than 100 players annually, and most of them are from Longboat Key.

“A lot of Longboat residents get to play each other,” Thayer said. “People can play people they know. We occasionally get people from outside Longboat, such as Bird Key, but most are from here. It’s like we have our own local tournament.”

Each year, the winners of the tournament receive a form of glassware. In 2012, the prize was wine glasses, and last year, the winner received pint glasses. This year, Thayer said the prize will be cocktail glasses.

The first day of the tournament will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 12. Semifinals continue from 7:30 a.m. to noon Dec. 13, and finals will take place from 7:30 a.m. to noon Dec. 14.

If you go
Cocktail party
When: 4:30 p.m. Dec. 11

Where: Longboat Key Public Tennis Center, 590 Bay Isles Road

Cost: Free for tournament participants; $10 for others

Tournament
First day: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 12

Semifinals: 7:30 a.m. to noon Dec. 13

Finals: 7:30 a.m. to noon Dec. 14

Where: Longboat Key Public Tennis Center, 590 Bay Isles Road

Cost: $30