Jackie Bohannon kickstarts tennis craze at Bird Key Yacht Club

Within one week, there were two tennis events at the Bird Key Yacht Club that drew more players than could fit at the club’s three courts. More sat on the edges of the courts, watching old friends and new members in friendly round robins. 

This is a new sight that coincides with the arrival of the club’s first tennis director Jackie Bohannon, 37. 

“I approached Scott, the GM, after not having a job for about three months with my idea of starting a tennis program here at Bird Key,” Bohannon said. “They decided to give me a chance like on a trial basis, and in the middle of a pandemic. We really didn't know what to expect. But it was met with a lot of enthusiasm, and it's really just taken off. We have over 200 tennis players here at the club now.”

That’s more than half of the club members. Most players would say that’s all thanks to Bohannon, a longtime area pro who had been giving lessons at the Longboat Key Club for 17 years before being furloughed in March 2020. Since starting at the Bird Key Yacht Club in July 2020, she’s begun giving organized lessons, put together player groups, organized competitive and relaxed tennis events and even racquet stringing. 

The courts are full daily and the club has even added assistant teaching pros. With the increase in tennis demand, the club has even begun to ponder the idea of expanding from their current three tennis courts. 

“They say a successful tennis club has 25 members per court, so, right now, if we had 75 people playing tennis regularly, well, we would be thriving from a tennis perspective,” Bohannon said. “And we have over 200 tennis players. We have a separate tennis mailing list. For a yacht club with three tennis courts, we're really getting as much bang for a buck as we possibly can.”

For 11 years, club member Cindy Thelen played in groups organized by the players themselves. Now she takes advantage of the clinics and low-key social tennis events that Bohannon does. 

“I certainly have been playing more,” Thelen said. “I love the clinics that she heads up, and I play in numerous groups. So actually, I play too much. It gets to the point where I would be out there all day.”

New members have joined the club specifically for tennis, and a Cinco de Mayo round robin event had at least as many new people as established members. The success comes down to Bohannon’s focus, dedication and passion for coaching and tennis. She’s started beefing up her court maintenance skills to make things better, and added a ball mower to give players more efficient practice time. She said she’s always looking for ways to improve and get more people playing, and she’s been able to implement many of those. 

“One of the things I've always loved doing is not only starting programs from scratch, and watching them grow, but also starting people from scratch,” Bohannon said. “That's what was really exciting about finally getting my opportunity here is getting a chance to program how I want to program … I've always gotten to be able to do that with my players. And now I get to do that with my own program with my own club.”