Come out and have F.U.N. on the court!
SpotSports will host its 2024 USVI Tennis Legends Rackets Up! event from Friday, May 10 - Sunday, May 12, 2024 to raise funds for youth tennis instruction.
Free instruction to individuals of every age and skill level! Learn the basics, improve your fitness, and connect with friends and family!
Music | Prizes | Food
This is a free, community well-being event that brings tennis instruction to Virgin Islanders by local tennis pros and local legends, and special guest appearance from Wimbledon champion and 12x grand slam tennis winner, the legendary Rosie Casals.
Equipment will be provided to participants.
All you need to bring is a smile and fun vibes!
All proceeds will go to The Storm Wilkins Foundation to provide free tennis programming for youths in the Virgin Islands. To give or donate, click here.
Learn more about SpotSports here.
Join us as we honor mothers this Mother's Day! Free SpotSports tennis clinic. All ages and skill-levels welcome. Equipment will be provided. Meet 12x Wimbledon champion, Rosie Casals and USVI pros.
Note: Program will be held at Emerald Beach Resort tennis courts. Enjoy food, drinks, and festivities on the lovely beachfront property at Emerald Beach Resort.
John Wilkins is considered one of the world’s leading tennis coaches and founded SpotSports® in 2006. His love for the game developed at the age of 13 where he was trained and became the #1 pro player in St. Thomas and throughout the VI. John was top-ranked in the Caribbean and competed on the ATP Professional Tour. John represented the Virgin Islands both in National and International events and competed on the ATP Tour and held a Top 3 ranking in the Caribbean.
Using his SpotSports® patented Signal Detection training system, he guides players to state, national and international championships, including Davis Cup. John was the youngest coach in NJCAA history to sweep a National championship with 7 National Champions and 9 All Americans. He was also a former Davis Cup Captain for the US Virgin Islands. Coach John believes in giving back to his home community and provides free tennis programs in the Virgin Islands, throughout the Caribbean, and in Latin America in his mission to "bring tennis to everyone."
Rosemary “Rosie” Casals was both a tennis player and a pioneer of the women’s professional game. She was born and raised in San Francisco, the daughter of parents who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador, and learned to play tennis on the public courts at Golden Gate Park when she was about 8 years old.
She is a 7 time Wimbledon Doubles Champion, winning 5 women’s doubles with Billie Jean King and 2 mixed doubles titles with Ilie Nastase, owning a total of 12-time Grand Slam doubles titles. Rosie was the singles winner of the first ever Virginia Slims tournament in 1970, in Houston, Texas and one of the Original “9” who signed a One Dollar contract with Gladys Heldman in defiance of tennis’s governing body the USTA. She along with Billie Jean King fought for equal prize money for women and were one of the founders of the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1996 and in 2022, one of three to be inducted twice, along with Billie Jean King and Nancy Richey.
Off the court, her pursuit of equality between the women’s and men’s games was just as bombastic. She didn’t politely ask that women be paid the same as men’s players she demanded it and made no apologies. Ms. Casals is co-founder of the nonprofit, Love and Love Tennis Foundation, and founder of the Latin American Foundation.
Garvey Thomas is founder of G. Thomas Tennis Academy and is a local VI high-performance coach and serves as the Tennis Service Representative for Virgin Islands Tennis Association (VITA). He was the former top Junior player in the US Virgin Islands and a former coach at the John McEnroe Academy in New York. He now resides on the island of St. Thomas and continues to develop the next generation of USVI tennis players.
