Tennis in Traverse City & Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan tennis is seasonal, scenic and — in one respect — record-setting. Larry Nykerk coached at Traverse City Central for 50 years, from 1968 to 2017, finishing with 1,050 career wins: the most of any high school tennis coach in Michigan history. His teams took 40 regional championships and produced 13 individual state champions, and in August 2025 Central’s 12-court complex was rededicated as the Larry Nykerk Trojan Tennis Center. Local media call it “The House Larry Built”. Central’s girls’ team has reached the state finals 43 consecutive years.
The outdoor season runs late May to early October, on the resort calendar, with warm summers and lower humidity than downstate. The Grand Traverse Bay YMCA and its five indoor courts is the region’s primary public indoor venue and the reason play continues through winter. Up on Little Traverse Bay, the Bay View Association — an 1875 Methodist Chautauqua community — runs a racquet season of exactly eight weeks, mid-June to mid-August. League play across the whole north, including the Upper Peninsula, runs through the NMTA.
Highlighted Events
A short, concentrated season — and a high school programme with a place in the state record book.
MHSAA Boys & Girls Tennis
Traverse City Central plays at a 12-court complex rededicated in August 2025 for Larry Nykerk, whose 50-year tenure produced 1,050 career wins — the most in Michigan high school tennis history. Boys compete in the fall, girls in the spring.
NMTA League Play & Tournaments
The Northern Michigan Tennis Association coordinates USTA league play, tournaments and rankings across Traverse City, Petoskey, Charlevoix, Alpena and the Upper Peninsula, advancing through USTA Midwest to sectionals.
Bay View Summer Racquet Season
An eight-week season running mid-June to mid-August on the Lake and Woods courts of the 1875 Methodist Chautauqua community — one of the most distinctive tennis settings in the Midwest.
Grand Traverse Tennis Camps
All-ages summer instruction founded and directed by Larry Nykerk himself, running at the tennis centre that now carries his name.
Tennis courts & facilities in Traverse City
Indoor courts, resort and club tennis and public park courts, grouped across Grand Traverse and Little Traverse Bay.
The region’s year-round base — the YMCA’s five indoor courts, the country club, the resort at Acme and the 12-court school complex that anchors junior tennis here.
Bay Tennis & Fitness Traverse City, MI 49684
Grand Traverse Bay YMCA 3000 Racquet Club Drive, Traverse City, MI 49684
Traverse City Parks Courts Veteran’s Memorial & F&M Park, Traverse City, MI
Larry Nykerk Trojan Tennis Center Traverse City Central High School, Traverse City, MI 49684
Grand Traverse Resort & Spa Acme, MI 49610
Traverse City Country Club 1725 S Union Street, Traverse City, MI 49684
Summer club and resort tennis an hour north, including the Bay View Association’s eight-week Chautauqua season on Little Traverse Bay. Most of this band is seasonal.
Bay View Association Racquet Sports Lake & Woods Courts, Petoskey, MI 49770
Birchwood Farm Golf & Country Club Harbor Springs, MI 49740
Petoskey-Bay View Country Club 2328 Country Club Road, Petoskey, MI 49770
Walloon Lake Country Club Walloon Lake, MI 49796
Acme Township Park Courts 4000 Acme Rd, Acme, MI 49610
Bay View Association Courts 301 Hazen St, Petoskey, MI 49770
Bellaire Township Park Courts 102 S Bridge St, Bellaire, MI 49615
Boyne City High School Courts 1105 Boyne Ave, Boyne City, MI 49712
Charlevoix High School Tennis Courts 220 Park St, Charlevoix, MI 49720
Chateau Chantal Tennis Courts 15910 Front St, Traverse City, MI 49686
East Bay Township Park Courts 1961 Cass Rd, Traverse City, MI 49684
East Jordan High School Courts 125 E Main St, East Jordan, MI 49727
Gaylord High School Courts 1155 S Otsego Ave, Gaylord, MI 49735
Glen Arbor Tennis Courts 10991 S Lake St, Glen Arbor, MI 49636
Grand Traverse Resort & Spa Tennis 100 Grand Traverse Village Blvd, Acme, MI 49610
Harbor Springs Community Courts 101 State St, Harbor Springs, MI 49740
Harbor Springs High School Tennis Courts 10000 N Harbor Hwy, Harbor Springs, MI 49740
Kewadin Tennis Courts 1400 W Kewadin St, Petoskey, MI 49770
Northport Village Tennis Courts 303 Main St, Northport, MI 49670
Petoskey Community Park Courts 1001 Emmet St, Petoskey, MI 49770
Petoskey High School Courts 1500 Lake St, Petoskey, MI 49770
Petoskey Racquet Club 2020 US-31 N, Petoskey, MI 49770
TC Community Tennis Courts 315 E State St, Traverse City, MI 49684
TC Northern Michigan Tennis Center 4511 Garfield Rd, Traverse City, MI 49685
Traverse City Central High School Courts 1151 Bay St, Traverse City, MI 49684
Traverse City Central Park Courts 123 Park St, Traverse City, MI 49684
Traverse City Recreation Courts 2125 E Front St, Traverse City, MI 49686
Traverse City Tennis Club 4321 S Airport Rd, Traverse City, MI 49684
Traverse City West High School Courts 1600 Aviation Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686
Before you go — check the season, not just the hours. This is a resort market and much of it is genuinely seasonal: outdoor play runs late May to early October, the Petoskey-area club and resort courts are summer operations, and Bay View’s racquet season is exactly eight weeks, mid-June to mid-August. Outside that window the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA’s five indoor courts and Bay Tennis & Fitness carry the region. Traverse City to Petoskey is about an hour, so confirm before driving north.
Junior Tennis, Academies & Programs
Junior tennis here runs on a short outdoor season, one indoor facility, and the continuing involvement of the coach who built the region’s reputation.
Grand Traverse Tennis Camps
TC CentralFounded and directed by Larry Nykerk after his retirement from coaching, offering all-ages instruction through the summer at the Trojan Tennis Center — described by its own staff as the breeding ground for some of the best players in the state. Website
Grand Traverse Bay YMCA
Traverse CityYear-round youth tennis on five indoor courts — the region’s primary public indoor facility, and the main reason junior development here does not stop in November. Website
NMTA Junior Team Tennis
Northern MichiganUSTA Junior Team Tennis for boys and girls ages 6 to 18 during the outdoor season, plus NMTA tournaments across Grand Traverse, Emmet, Charlevoix and surrounding counties. Website
Traverse City Country Club
Traverse CitySummer junior clinics at the city’s private club, alongside outdoor tennis and pickleball.
Bay View Association
PetoskeySummer junior clinics within the eight-week racquet sports season at the historic Chautauqua community on Little Traverse Bay.
Competitive Adult Tennis
Adult play is coordinated by the Northern Michigan Tennis Association, which runs USTA league play, tournaments and rankings across an unusually large territory — Traverse City, Petoskey, Charlevoix, Alpena and the whole Upper Peninsula — advancing through USTA Midwest to sectional championships. NMTA can be reached at [email protected] or (231) 590-4515. Representative leagues, tournaments and clinics below.
Adult Leagues
Adult Tournaments
Adult Clinics
Did You Know?
A state record and a 150-year-old summer colony, in the same corner of Michigan. Two highlights:
1,050 wins. Larry Nykerk coached at Traverse City Central for 50 years and finished with more career victories than any high school tennis coach in Michigan history — 40 regional titles, 13 individual state champions, and 65 players past 100 career wins. Central’s girls have reached the state finals 43 consecutive years. The courts now carry his name.
The Bay View Association near Petoskey is a Methodist Chautauqua summer community founded in 1875 — and it still runs its own racquet sports programme on the Lake and Woods courts, for a season of exactly eight weeks each summer.
College Tennis & the Northern Pathway
Northern Michigan has no NCAA tennis programme of its own — which shapes how players here progress.
The nearest college tennis is a long way south. Unlike the rest of the state, this region has no NCAA programme within it. Grand Valley State, Calvin, Aquinas and Hope are all in the Grand Rapids and lakeshore area, roughly two and a half to three hours away; Michigan State and Michigan are further still. For a Northern Michigan junior, the college pathway means travelling downstate to be seen.
Which is why the high school and camp structure matters so much here. Traverse City Central’s programme and the Grand Traverse Tennis Camps have effectively served as the region’s development pipeline in the absence of a nearby college scene — and the record suggests it has worked. Players from a market this size have consistently reached state finals and gone on to college tennis, which is not the norm for regions this remote.
Northern Michigan High School Tennis
Governed by the MHSAA — boys in the fall, girls in the spring. Tennis divisions are set separately from a school’s classification in other sports.
Traverse City Central Trojans
MHSAA · Big NorthOne of the most successful high school tennis programmes in Michigan, playing at the 12-court Larry Nykerk Trojan Tennis Center. The girls’ team has reached the MHSAA State Finals in 43 consecutive years.
Traverse City West Titans
MHSAA · Big NorthCentral’s crosstown counterpart in the Big North Conference, with active boys’ and girls’ programmes.
Petoskey Northmen
MHSAA · Big NorthThe Little Traverse Bay area’s largest programme, competing in the Big North alongside the Traverse City schools.
Cadillac Vikings
MHSAA · Big NorthA Wexford County programme in the Big North Conference, south of Traverse City.
Gaylord Blue Devils
MHSAA · Big NorthAn Otsego County programme competing in the Big North.
Alpena Wildcats
MHSAA · Big NorthThe conference’s eastern member, on Lake Huron — a long trip for the Traverse City schools and vice versa.
Charlevoix Rayders
MHSAA · Northern ShoresOne of the schools now in the Northern Shores Conference, formed in 2024-25 when six schools left the former Lake Michigan Conference.
Glen Lake Lakers
MHSAA · NorthwestA Leelanau County programme competing in the Northwest Conference.
“The House Larry Built”. Traverse City Central’s 12-court complex was rededicated in August 2025 as the Larry Nykerk Trojan Tennis Center, breaking a school district policy against naming facilities for individuals. Nykerk built the programme from a brand-new junior varsity team in 1968 into one that has sent its girls’ side to the state finals 43 years running — and he still runs the summer camps on those courts.
Three conferences, and one of them is new. The largest Traverse City and Petoskey schools compete in the Big North Conference alongside Cadillac, Gaylord and Alpena. Most smaller schools in Charlevoix, Emmet and Antrim counties now play in the Northern Shores Conference, formed in 2024-25 when six schools left the former Lake Michigan Conference. Glen Lake and others compete in the Northwest Conference.
Distance is the defining constraint. The Big North stretches from Traverse City east to Alpena on Lake Huron — well over two hours each way — and Nykerk has described the years when Central was independent, from roughly 1987 to 1997, travelling long distances simply to find suitable competition. That geography still shapes scheduling for every programme up here.
Run more tennis in Traverse City — without the overhead.
Tennis Circuits gives Northern Michigan clubs, resorts, associations and teaching professionals a complete event platform for tournaments, leagues, clinics, camps and match play — free for clubs, built and supported by tennis people.
Traverse City Tennis Facts
Curious one-line facts about the people, places and history that make tennis in Traverse City unique.
Northern Michigan tennis spans Grand Traverse Bay and Little Traverse Bay, from Traverse City to Petoskey and Harbor Springs.
The outdoor season runs late May through early October, aligned with the region’s resort and tourism calendar.
Summers here are warm with lower humidity than southern Michigan, making for excellent outdoor conditions.
The Grand Traverse Bay YMCA has 5 indoor courts and is Northern Michigan’s primary public indoor tennis facility.
Larry Nykerk coached tennis at Traverse City Central for 50 years, from 1968 to 2017.
His 1,050 career wins are the most of any high school tennis coach in Michigan history.
Nykerk’s teams won 40 regional championships and produced 13 individual state champions.
Sixty-five of his players recorded 100 or more career wins.
Central’s 12-court complex was rededicated as the Larry Nykerk Trojan Tennis Center in August 2025.
Local media dubbed it “The House Larry Built”.
Traverse City Central’s girls’ team has reached the MHSAA State Finals 43 consecutive years.
The Bay View Association, an 1875 Methodist Chautauqua summer community, runs an eight-week racquet season each year.
That season runs mid-June to mid-August on the Bay View Lake and Woods courts.
The Northern Michigan Tennis Association coordinates USTA play across Traverse City, Petoskey, Alpena and the Upper Peninsula.
Michigan high school tennis runs boys in the fall and girls in the spring, with tennis divisions set separately from other sports.