On a warm breezy Sunday evening, over 30 players came together with their racquets, colorful caps and a whole lot of enthusiasm for just one thing — tennis.
Music blasted from the speakers as players danced to the rhythm of the game on the dark blue courts at a DeSoto sports facility. Sweat dripped down their foreheads, their eyes focused on the neon green balls as their energy bounced off the courts.
Jamel Madison founded his own racquet sports organization in 2023. Now Madison Ace Racquet Sports has over 200 student players, six coaches, and several classes conducted each week.
Madison, 34, left the corporate world about three and a half years ago and started coaching full-time. He is now on a mission to make what can be an expensive sport more accessible and build community.
“I’ve been playing since I was 13,” Madison said. “It always was my passion to come back to tennis.”
Madison said he grew up in a family where almost everyone around him played tennis. He started with taking junior tennis lessons at a country club in Shreveport, La. — Southern Trace Country Club — where his parents used to play.
He said he left Louisiana over a decade ago and moved around with different corporate jobs in Austin and Arizona. Madison finally moved back to Texas about four years ago, where he worked at a corporate office in Irving.
Then he decided to pursue his passion and teach racquet sports.
He first coached at a local country club, Madison said. He gained experience and acquired certifications before starting his own coaching business. It’s not just a business or a school, it’s a “whole community,” he said.
In the early days of his coaching journey, Madison said he used to hold lessons at public parks. Now his coaching practice has found its home at Thorntree Golf Club in DeSoto.
This year in August, Madison received the Presidential Impact Award at the U.S. Open in New York.
Tennis is not an affordable sport, Madison said. With that in mind, his classes are priced at $19.99 for a 90-minute group class and $54.99 for a one-hour private lesson.
“I could be charging over $150 with my certification in our experience, but I don’t want to do that to my community,” he said.
The cost of attending tennis lessons in Dallas-Fort Worth varies widely depending on factors such as the city or area, the coach’s experience and certification, the instructional facility, and more.
Some coaches provide group lessons for $30 to $40 an hour, and private lessons for $90 to $100.
On Sunday evening, some players came to escape their daily routines, while others came to train for the Texas Open tournament, which started Oct. 2 and was organized by the Oak Lawn Tennis Association.
People from all walks of life — a personal trainer, a security guard, an accountant, an attorney — attend the weekly tennis lessons.
Jennie Tai, 27, joined the tennis class to find passion and consistency.
Tai said she used to be a competitive swimmer and soccer player growing up, but never played tennis. She was a big fan of the sport, she said. She said she always wanted to play but never really got a chance, as her schedule was filled up with soccer and swimming training.
“When I started making adult money, I thought — well.”
After college, going to the gym felt like a punishment, she said. She was looking for something to keep her body moving but was fun at the same time, Tai said.
Tai came across Madison’s coaching class on social media and decided to sign up.
“No matter how tired I am, I love coming here, and that is something I never thought I would do again,” she said.
Tai said because of this class, she got a chance to meet a lot of people and even build friendships — something that she does not always get to do with her corporate job.
Tai joined Madison Ace around the same time as Ashley Dennis, an attorney at a firm in Dallas.
Dennis, who has been a student of Madison’s coaching lessons for about a year, said she joined the lessons wanting to learn the fundamentals of the sport. She said she was looking for a sport she could continue playing consistently.
For Marlene Holmes, coming to class every week and witnessing her own progress on the court is an exhilarating experience.
Holmes, 39, a personal trainer who lives in Plano, started learning with Madison over a year ago. Holmes said she grew up playing volleyball but has always been around tennis as her family was heavily into the sport.
She said she saw an Instagram post about the coaching lessons and said, “‘Sure, my knees still work, so let’s give it a whirl,’ and I’ve honestly fallen in love with it way more than I anticipated.”
Linda McGill has been teaching tennis for over a decade. She is one of the coaches on the instructional team at Madison Ace Racquet Sports.
McGill, 62, born and bred in Dallas, said she enjoys her job and teaching tennis doesn’t feel like work to her. She works as the assistant coach for tennis at Bishop Dunne Catholic School in Dallas and teaches after-school tennis.
“You know what they say, if you find something that you love, you’ll never work another day in your life,” she said.
She started teaching the beginner class at Madison’s coaching organization last year and now, she teaches the advanced and intermediate groups too, McGill said.
Brandon Hardeman, 42, of Dallas is among the many excited people who come to the tennis lessons every week. Hardeman, who works in security, said he keeps coming back to the court for the people and the positive energy that surrounds the place.
He said this class reminds him of the ’90s TV show Cheers. “Everybody comes; everybody knows your name.”
Hardeman said whenever he is at the class, he finds himself smiling ear-to-ear.
It’s the same feeling for Dennis, who said she has always been very driven and ambitious, which made her feel like she always had to be a high achiever or performer. She said whether she does well during these lessons or not, she still has a lot of fun stepping out on the court — every single time.
“Maybe it’s the exercise, they claim gives endorphins,” Dennis said as the group of players broke out into laughter.