From Eagle Tennis Club
to Evolution Tennis Academy

Honoring the Legacy of
Eagle Tennis Club

How Local Media Covered the Closure

The closure of Eagle Tennis Club was widely reported across Treasure Valley media. KTVB News — Boise's NBC affiliate — sent cameras to document the moment, with coverage that featured Eliott and Owen McPeak speaking about what Eagle Tennis Club meant to them and to the community. BoiseDev, the Idaho Business Review, and the Eagle High School student newspaper The Stampede all covered the transition and the determination of its alumni to carry tennis forward.

The Founding Story:
A Clinic That Became a Movement

When Eagle Tennis Club closed its doors, a painful void opened in the Treasure Valley. Hundreds of players — from beginners to serious competitors, from young children to lifelong adult players — suddenly had nowhere to go. The coaches who had built careers there found themselves without a home. The community's tennis infrastructure had collapsed almost overnight.

The response was not despair — it was determination.

Former Eagle Tennis Club pros Percy Chan and Todd McPeak, along with former Tennis Directors Jim Brown and Michael Zitterkopf, began asking a fundamental question: What if we built something new? Not just a tennis clinic, but a structured academy — one that could serve every player in the Treasure Valley, regardless of age, skill level, school affiliation, or background.

They were joined by Lucy Merrick, Eliott McPeak, and Owen McPeak — all former Eagle Tennis Club students who had come of age on its courts, gone on to compete at high levels, and now wanted to give the next generation the same foundation that had shaped them. Seven people. One shared purpose: keep tennis alive in this community.

The Community Clinic Origins

The solution was elegantly simple: use what they had. Eagle High School's tennis courts — some of the finest outdoor courts in the region — were available. The coaches had their rackets, their USPTA certifications, their decades of experience, and something more powerful than any facility: a community that trusted them.

What began as an emergency community clinic in the spring of 2025 quickly took shape as something more deliberate. A structured curriculum was developed. Returning college players — former Idaho state champions who had trained at Eagle Tennis Club — were recruited as player-coaches. Age groups were organized. A vision emerged.

Eagle Tennis Academy launched in the summer of 2025. It was not just filling a gap left by Eagle Tennis Club. It was honoring its legacy by doing what the club had always done at its best: bringing the best coaching in the region to every player who wanted it, at every level.

The 2025 Inaugural Season:
Proof of Concept

Nobody knew exactly what to expect from the first summer. Would families show up for a brand-new academy with no track record, no building of its own, operating from outdoor courts at a public high school? The answer was overwhelming.

Over 140 players trained with Eagle Tennis Academy during Summer 2025 — far exceeding any projection. The coaching staff included four veteran USPTA professionals and more than a dozen returning college players, many of them former Idaho state champions who came back to invest in the next generation. Over 10 weeks of intensive daily clinics, the program generated more than $50,000 in revenue — a figure that, crucially, was channeled back into the community.

Where the Money Goes

Academy proceeds are directly channeled back into the tennis community. This includes equipment and uniforms for the Eagle High School tennis team, travel and tournament expenses for away matches, court maintenance and facility improvements, and need-based scholarships for players who want to train but face financial barriers.

This is not a profit-extraction model. This is a community reinvestment model — exactly as Eagle Tennis Club's coaching legacy would demand.

The Peer-to-Peer Mentorship Model

One of ETA's most powerful differentiators emerged organically from its roots: the returning college player-coaches aren't outsiders hired to fill slots — they are products of the same community. Many of them trained at Eagle Tennis Club. They are former Idaho state champions who went to college on tennis, and who chose to come back to give the next generation the same experience that shaped them.

When a 13-year-old hitting with a 20-year-old who grew up on the same courts, competed in the same tournaments, and faced the same challenges — something different happens than a standard lesson. It is mentorship. It is proof of what is possible. It is the Eagle Tennis Club legacy alive and breathing on the Eagle High courts.