As the academic year reaches its end, sports clubs find their seasons hitting the same point. For Central’s Tennis Club, the next two weekends will provide an opportunity for club funding and recruiting for next year.

On May 14 and 15, the Tennis Club will be hosting the Tennis Wildcat Grand Slam, a tournament against other schools from the regional area, that will be the last competitive match of the school year, and the first tournament Central has hosted this year.

Sophomore Nick Paulay, the club’s practice coordinator, knows that the team loves this event for a number of reasons.

“We just got these courts redone a couple years ago,” Paulay said. “It’s really nice to use the facilities and bring in other teams.”

Paulay added that hosting tournaments serve as fundraisers for the team. This allows them to travel to meets at other colleges and universities, as well as replace team equipment.

Of the confirmed teams travelling to the tournament, there are two teams from Portland State University, two teams from Eastern Washington University and one from Oregon State University.

Senior Megan Graham, club president, says the team also likes the challenge of facing clubs from schools across Oregon and Washington.

“We only usually do two meets per quarter, so bringing teams here is a neat occurrence,” Graham said.

On May 20 and 21, the weekend after the Tennis Wildcat Grand Slam, the club will then host the Annual Alumni Doubles Tournament.

“We call it an alumni tournament, but anyone’s invited to play,” Paulay said. “If you sign up with a doubles partner, you can play in it.”

The event is open to all students, and acts as a great way to recruit for the upcoming fall season. In addition to Central students, Ellensburg locals enjoy competing, and Western Washington University brings students as well.

“It’s really a community tournament,” Paulay said. “We have a lot of locals who come… We like to let them use our new facility.”

Graham believes that the alumni tournament is a great way to end the season and that it ties the Central community to Ellensburg.

“It’s exciting to be hosting [the alumni tournament] here,” Graham said. “We can’t wait to see people there.”