Longboat Key Tennis Center hosts chilly event for snowbirds

By S.T. Cardinal
| 3:00 p.m. November 12, 2025

Longboat Key Tennis Center held an event welcoming back seasonal residents Tuesday, Nov. 11. A tennis clinic demonstration was held, food was served and music played as Longboaters mixed and mingled on a chilly Tuesday afternoon.

Longboat Key
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Longboat Key Tennis Center held its annual welcome back event at a very comfortable temperature for the snowbirds Tuesday. Despite the sub-60 thermometer reading, more than 50 came out to the Longboat Key Tennis Center for a meet and greet to welcome the start of busy season.

“I wish we had more people, but you guys are the tough ones,” Longboat Key Tennis Center Manager Kay Thayer said while addressing the crowd before tennis pros gave a clinic demonstration described as a live ball drill.

Thayer introduced two new tennis teachers: Cody Wright and Tomasz Buricki, and thanked Friends of Tennis for its continued support.

The Carolyn Davis Duo — Davis on guitar and vocals and Keith Elias on sax — played during the welcome back event held at the Tennis Center Nov. 11, which included hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar where Longboaters mingled.

Tennis Center leader coached at Colony

Kay Thayer grew up in Sarasota and taught tennis at the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort from 1994 to 1999.

Then she got a job teaching at the Longboat Key Tennis Center, which had just been constructed the year before. Six courts and a little shack made up the Tennis Center then. Community funding by the nonprofit Friends of Tennis with support from the Town of Longboat Key has led to the growth of the Longboat Key Tennis Center to 10 Har-Tru courts and a multi-story clubhouse and pro shop.

With most courts on the 10-mile island reserved for resort guests or club members, the tennis center has offered courts to many who may have played at the Colony before its closure in 2010. Thayer manages the facility now.

“I really believe that the Longboat Key Tennis Center has taken the Colony’s place,” Thayer said.

Jackie and Dobs Gibbins participate in a tennis clinic demonstration during a welcome back event at the Longboat Key Tennis Center Tuesday, Nov. 11.

The crowd, players and organizers came to the Longboat Key Tennis Center dressed in long sleeves Tuesday, Nov. 11 for a meet and greet to welcome back seasonal residents. Tennis Center Manager Kay Thayer (crouched) and Friends of Tennis President Ron Watts (red) watch on as a demo clinic is held.

Keith Elias and Carolyn Davis came up with the name "Carolyn Davis Duo" as a way to refer to the band at the Longboat Key Tennis Center Tuesday, Nov. 11 during a welcome back event.

Mariano Sanchez hits a forehand during a tennis clinic demonstration at the Longboat Key Tennis Center Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Joey Assaly, dogs Charlie and Zuka, Sue Bean, MJ White and Sandy Schonhoff attended the Longboat Key Tennis Center 2025 welcome back event Tuesday, Nov. 11.

John Bradbury, Fran Ferguson and Andrew Geller (left to right) enjoy the hors d'oeuvres at the welcome back event held at the Longboat Key Tennis Center Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Marine Corps veteran John Beeman and Navy veteran Richard McGrath were at the Longboat Key Tennis Center welcome back event Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Longboat Key Tennis Center employee Elle Alpers and tennis pro Robbi Salum pose for a picture together at the Longboat Key Tennis Center Tuesday, Nov. 11 during the annual welcome back event.

Doug Rhodes, Irene Langlois, Billy Clyde Tuttle, Kate Rhodes, David Pitt and Mike Langlois pose for a picture at the Longboat Key Tennis Center Tuesday, Nov. 11 during the annual welcome back event.

Mariano and Margaret Sanchez participate in a tennis clinic demonstration during a welcome back event at the Longboat Key Tennis Center Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Longboat Key Tennis Center Manager Kay Thayer addresses attendees who braved the (for Florida) cold at the welcome back event at the Longboat Key Tennis Center Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Dobs Dibbins hits an overhead during a tennis clinic demonstration during a welcome back event at the Longboat Key Tennis Center Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Cody Wright and Robbi Salum pose for a picture at the Longboat Key Tennis Center at the annual welcome back meet and greet Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Alice Edwards helps herself to some hot cocoa at the welcome back event at the Longboat Key Tennis Center Tuesday, Nov. 11.

author

S.T. Cardinal

S.T. "Tommy" Cardinal is the Longboat Key news reporter. The Sarasota native earned a degree from the University of Central Florida in Orlando with a minor in environmental studies. In Central Florida, Cardinal worked for a monthly newspaper covering downtown Orlando and College Park. He then worked for a weekly newspaper in coastal South Carolina where he earned South Carolina Press Association awards for his local government news coverage and photography.