Sitting at a district tennis meeting, Soddy-Daisy coach Junior Johnson overheard some people bemoaning the fact that there was no Champions Club tournament this year. He decided to put something in its place.
Johnson created the Chattanooga Big Bang Tennis Tournament, a two-day, three-site event that begins this morning. It will include 19 teams representing 11 schools.
The Champions Club tournament was canceled because of a scheduling conflict but is expected to return next year. A lot of the teams that usually participate in that tournament were invited to the Big Bang tourney, which has a "Power" division, regarded as the A group, and a "Club" division.
The tournament will be held in a team format only, with no individual awards given.
"This will be a good opportunity to get some more matches in for each team," Johnson said. "Schools are only allowed 16 regular-season matches, and a weekend tournament counts for two."
The Power division will be played at Signal Mountain Town Hall, while the Club division will hold girls' play at Middle Valley and boys' competition at Lakeside. Signal Mountain, Red Bank, East Hamilton and McMinn County have both boys and girls in the Power group.
"We're looking forward to the tournament," Signal Mountain coach Keith Dressler said. "With the new courts [at the town hall], it'll be a beautiful setting for what should be some good tennis."