Located in the scenic Ojai Valley in Ventura County, California, Ojai Valley Athletic Club features a beautiful five-acre tennis, swim and fitness facility with 10 hard courts and 4 clay courts

Alex Schechter describes Ojai in the POINTS GUY like this: Ojai, which means 'nest' in the native Chumash language, is a stone's throw from Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. From first time visitors, it tends to elicit little gasps of delight. Fifteen miles in from the coast, peaceful Ojai feels far removed from the noise of city life and congested freeways. It's also visually stunning, encircled by rippling mountains where the sun casts a pink shadow when it sets.

The Ojai area is home of The Ojai, the famous 119-year-old tennis tournament which uses 112 tennis court in the Ojai Valley, Ventura, Oxnard, and Port Hueneme.

The Ojai

From the OVAC website

Ojai’s mild weather enables members to swim year-round in our two heated pools. We also offer the very latest in fitness training in our state of the art fitness center. Our Yoga, Pilates, Stretch and Qi Gong classes offer a chance to relax and refresh the mind and body. If you are looking for a high energy class, we offer several strength training classes, as well as dance and Zumba. And Ojai was voted one of the top Tennis Towns in the United States. Our tennis pros offer lessons on our beautiful tennis court facility.

Ojai Valley Athletic Club is a member club of

Steve Beckendorf
Director of Tennis

Minnesota-born Steve started playing tennis at age 7 after observing his brother playing the game. When his High School started a tennis program, he joined and continued playing all through college at Div III Gustavus Adolphus.

In 1990 Steve moved to Ventura, California, where he worked in the insurance industry. From 2009 until 2018 he worked at the Oxnard Tennis Center (now Channel Island Racquet Club) and at the River Ridge Tennis Center before joining OVAC in July this year.

FREE BEER AT TUESDAY AND THURSDAY DROP-INS

Asked about his challenges, Steve says, "We have a limited number of players in the area, so working on grassroots, defining programs, connecting with schools is all very important for us. We opened the club up to non-members who are also allowed to train here. We are also participating in USTA Leagues, Junior Team Tennis and Ladies Interclub League."

Steve is PTR certified and works with 2 more tennis professionals at OVAC, Jim Kasser and Katya Welborn.

Ryan Gaston
General Manager

Ryan was born in Rome, Georgia, one of the biggest tennis hotbeds in the U.S.A. Both his parents played and he started playing at age 13. At 14 he played already tournaments and received a full tennis scholarship for the University of Montana. Became a top player at the Big Sky Conference. Went on to become Assistant Pro at North River Yacht Club in Tuscaloosa, AL. In 2000, Ryan started as Head Pro at Ojai Valley Athletic Club and shortly after became Tennis Director and then General Manager in 2016. He is USPTA certified.

TCB: Ryan, how many members does the club have?
RG: We have approximately 5,000 members or 1,600 memberships. 500 of those are tennis memberships, the rest is swim and fitness only.

TCB: Who owns OVAC?
RG: The club was privately owned since 1976. In 1998 we became one of eight member clubs of California Athletic Clubs.

TCB: How is it working for California Athletic Clubs?
RG: They are wonderful to work with, giving us lots of freedom. Supporting us hosting the PAC 12 Championships every year and also the New Balance National High School Championships. Currently, they are renovating and upgrading our upstairs fitness facility.

TCB: What's new for 2019?
RG: The big news is Pickleball, of course. We'll take one of our clay courts and build 3 permanent Pickleball courts and a Basketball corner. It'll be a huge addition to our program. We are the first tennis facility on Ojai to invest in Pickleball.
Also, we're planning to grow the youth programs. In April we're adding our first VCJTA* Open & Novice Tournament.

TCB: Thank you, Ryan.

(* VCJTA stands for Ventura County Junior Tennis Association, our Organization of the Month in May of 2019.)

David Sammel "Locker Room Power" 

Paul Annacone "Coaching for Life" 

 Bill Patton "The Art of Coaching High School Tennis"

Sidney Wood "The Wimbledon Final That Never Was"

Pat Cunningham Devoto "The Team"

Ara Grigorian "Game of Love"

David W. Smith: "Tennis Mastery"

David W. Smith: "Coaching Mastery"