Cedars Tennis Resort enters new era in adding tennis pro John Eagleton

Days after tennis pro John Eagleton joined as Tennis Director of Cedars Tennis Resort and Club, he had Grand Slam Champion Ellis Ferreira committed to a clinic on Longboat Key. 

It’s that kind of “star power” that Sean Halley, vice president of Resort Vacation Accommodations (RVA) and Cedars, said the resort needed as the final piece to its new vision. 

Halley said he and RVA staff have prepared for about a year to turn Cedars into a hot destination on Longboat Key, a place that could draw tennis legends to benefit not only local players but also local businesses. 

Though the clinic was postponed to Nov. 9 due to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Eagleton said Cedars is still excited about ushering in this next chapter for the resort. He hopes the clinic will provide a fun activity for residents and nearby tennis enthusiasts during a difficult time.

Going forward, though, the team at Cedars wants to make the Longboat Key resort a hot spot for tennis players from all over. 

“Our vision with Cedars was to not only go through rebranding but kind of a new business thought process of not just having this as a tennis resort…but to actually turn this into a destination,” Halley said.

Scoring an ace director

Eagleton grew up in South Africa, where he started his career in team sports like soccer and rugby. It wasn’t until he was 8 years old that his father bought him his first tennis racquet for $1. 

He grew to like tennis more than team sports because he was able to excel on his own accord. And he did just that. 

By age 12, he was racking up championship titles, and he realized that tennis was the sport for him. He became a star player at the University of Miami for college and was a four-time All-American. 

As he shifted more into coaching tennis, Eagleton became a United States Professional Tennis Association Pro and later co-founded SportsEdTV. The company creates digital sports instruction content that features well-known sports players. 

Eagleton speaks proudly of SportsEdTV and how it reflects his style of coaching. The videos on SportsEdTV are meant to reach all levels of players, where people can learn at their own pace. 

SportsEdTV will work closely with Cedars’ new events, working to promote the club to a broader audience and introduce a dedicated page on the SportsEdTV site to talk about Eagleton and the offerings at Cedars. 

Over the years, Eagleton’s reputation in the tennis world allowed him to grow his connections, which is one of the things that Halley and Eagleton will lean on while growing Cedars as a bigger tennis destination. 

John (Eagleton) is able to, at a moment’s notice, bring in the best players in the world, the best coaches in the world,” Halley said. 

Halley said hiring Eagleton was the final piece that RVA and Cedars needed to propel them into the rebranding phase and try to take the resort worldwide. 

Approaching a new era

Eagleton took over as Tennis Director at Cedars on Sept. 6 and quickly got to work securing the first clinic. When Eagleton arrived at Cedars, Halley said it brought a different energy to the staff. 

“I’m honored to have John here, and that has reinvigorated the staff to make all of us want to be better,” Halley said.

Halley credited RVA owner Larry Starr with allowing him and the staff at Cedars to run with the new vision. From top to bottom, everyone at RVA is committed to making Cedars a bigger destination. 

“We believe that, no matter what our standing is, we believe that we build everything together from the ground up,” Halley said. 

That rebranding not only has to do with the SportsEdTV partnership but also marketing Cedars as a destination focused on its members. 

“The goal is to build this. We got to, first of all, take care of the members,” Eagleton said. 

Eagleton, Halley and the staff at RVA want to introduce things like member packages for those who visit Cedars. The resort packages would be a “five-star treatment” for those who visit and feature trips to local attractions, restaurants and more. 

Halley said he hopes these packages will benefit not only the guests but also will help boost nearby local businesses to build community relations. 

All of this — the SportsEdTV, destination packages and tennis pro clinics — create the vision for Cedars going forward as Eagleton and Halley attempt to make the resort stand out and build the tennis community. 

“I think Sarasota and Cedars is the biggest undeveloped gem I’ve seen for tennis,” Eagleton said. “We need to make this a tennis Mecca.”