The tennis team will compete in their annual Santa Smackdown Professional-Amateur Tournament (Pro-Am) on Thursday and Friday. The Santa Smackdown is a tournament in which students, the professionals, pair with a partner of their choice that is not in the tennis class.

“I think with the Lindale Tennis players being the pro and them having to find a partner [or] amateur allows the game of tennis to be expanded a bit,” head tennis coach Randal Namanny said. “It also allows the players an opportunity to show off their skills and teach those that don’t know much about the sport.”

The tennis team has held Pro-Am tournaments since the late 90s as a way to earn money. They have tournament sponsors donate items that are placed into a raffle that the spectators can enter.

“Many local businesses have supported the tournament and the team over the past few years and have really grown the tournament to what it is today,” Namanny said. “We have over 50 entries in the tournament which is a total of over 100 people playing in the tournament, not to mention the large number of spectators that we will have on site.”

The tournament consists of friends and family of the tennis players playing with them, against other pairs. This is a way for the students to spend time with people they wouldn’t normally get to.

“The tennis Pro-Am is an incredibly important event for our team because it’s one of our best fundraising opportunities of the year, and it’s a fun way to keep practicing and working on our skills during [the] offseason,” sophomore Gavin James. “I think it’s a great way to get the rest of the community involved in tennis. Unlike football or basketball, we’re often a little more secluded away, but the Pro-Am helps get people involved with our team and the Lindale tennis program.”

The Pro-Am is one of the only tournaments happening this season in Lindale. It’s a tournament meant for the community to have fun and spend time with their tennis team before the season kicks off.

“It is a great opportunity for the team to give recognition to those who have made the tournament possible, have a lot of fun, and grow the game of tennis in Lindale,” Namanny said. “It is a family-friendly, fun, environment, that truly supports this community and an event that this community has so positively embraced.”