A prime opportunity for young tennis players of all skill levels has arrived in Suffolk as United States Tennis Association Junior Team Tennis has found a home at the Howard Mast Tennis Complex.

Janice Henderson of Suffolk Parks and Recreation has helped make this arrangement happen, noting it was an effort on her part to help her tennis students.

“My kids kept questioning where do they go after they learn the game, and I needed to have a haven so that they can play,” she said. “So I reached out to USTA and been working with them since at least the beginning of the year to get this (going).”

USTA Junior Team Tennis was established in 1991 and provides boys and girls of all skill levels, ages 5-18, with all the health and social benefits of tennis in a coed, fun and competitive team environment, according to USTA.com. Participants are given a chance to compete with friends and against individuals of similar ages and skill levels.

The website noted that USTA Junior Team Tennis features nearly 100,000 players competing nationwide.

Henderson has a group of 19 participants, including girls and boys, which she said are in the 8- to 12-year-old age range, and she is looking for more.

The current group started in October, and Henderson has divided them up into four teams. The players practice throughout the week, and a lot of them come out on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the normal practice sessions provided.

“Then on Saturday, they execute what they’ve learned in a match,” Henderson said, noting they play at Howard Mast.

She said that next year, depending on the number of participants, her plan is to have Suffolk’s USTA Junior Tennis Team start playing other USTA Junior Tennis Teams in the Hampton Roads area.

The Suffolk team’s home court would be the Howard Mast Tennis Complex, located at 201 Holly Lawn Parkway behind the Farm Fresh on North Main Street.

Henderson hopes that she can eventually expand the team by adding players ranging in age from 12 to 17, and she noted that the bigger Suffolk’s team, the more opportunities it will have.

“I’m still looking for more players,” she said.

And her efforts to partner with the USTA have not stopped at youth tennis.

“Next year, I’m really positive that we’re going to be hosting USTA adult leagues, as well, so players are wanted,” she said.

For more information about USTA Junior Team Tennis and USTA adult leagues, contact Janice Henderson via email at JHenderson@Suffolkva.us or by phone at 514-7243.