New tennis club manager wants sport to grow in city

Nestled in the corner of Crescent Park, the Moose Jaw Tennis Club is one of the most picturesque settings for the game in the province.
New club manager Paul McNutt hopes to made this gem of a club less hidden when he takes over starting May 1.
"Ideally something that we've spoken about is trying to increase membership here, get some more new faces out here," said McNutt. "We want to bring more awareness that the tennis club is here. It's kind of tucked away herein the park.
"We want to make sure that people know that we have an amazing facility here."
After years of great service by club manager Jim Kirkpatrick, the 25-year-old McNutt and new club president Kim Hagan are hoping to be a little more aggressive in pursuing new members.
McNutt said he wants to use some new avenues to draw people to the club and the sport.
Some of the ideas include "going to school groups and going to different corporations and getting them out here for special events. Attracting some larger groups and hopefully we can filter out of that some people who enjoy the sport a little more," said McNutt.
While schools come to the club to have gym classes, the club is also hoping to be more proactive and get into the schools to show students the game as well.
The club is equipped with a kitchen and a barbecue in addition to their courts making it ideal for corporate events.
While looking at new avenues of drawing people to tennis is important, getting youth involved in the sport is always a key.
"Our numbers have stayed pretty consistent over the years, but we're not getting as many juniors," said Hagan.
"We want to get in the schools and get the kids back into it."
As a young man himself, McNutt's is hoping to meet the challenge of drawing junior players and young adults to the game.
"Hopefully we can bring people in here who want to grow up with the sport and grow up with the Moose Jaw Tennis Club," said McNutt.
While McNutt has played a lot of badminton and squash and has tennis-playing experience, he didn't grow up with the sport as a youth in Crane Valley, Sask.
A work practicum landed him a job at 15 Wing Moose Jaw in 2006. From there he continued to play a lot of racquet sports and Reg Lavictoire at 15 Wing encouraged him to apply for the post.
While McNutt is a new face hoping to bring some new ideas to the club, he also hopes to keep the same personal touch and friendly atmosphere that has long been a part of the local club.
"Personally I want to make sure that the members and the people who use this club are greeted and feel welcome here," said McNutt. "It is a club and you want people to feel like it is a club - some place where they can get together and be social."