Schoolyard Tennis Academy

A neighborhood-first academy with Miami roots

Schoolyard Tennis Academy began in 2011 with a clear idea: put great coaching where families already live and learn. Instead of building a private compound far from school and work, the founders walked into parks and schoolyards with portable nets, lower-compression balls, and age-sized racquets. The promise was simple, and it remains the academy’s compass today. Keep the commute short. Keep the groups small. Keep learning active, game based, and enjoyable.

The program is directed by Julio Ugarte and Berkeley Brock Ugarte, a coaching pair that blends international competition, collegiate experience, and a calm, practical approach to development. They designed a pathway that starts with a first rally in a school playground and extends to league play, varsity tryouts, and entry-level tournaments. Progress is measured by habits as much as by results. When you watch a session, you see footwork that looks organized, players who reset between points, and coaches who keep the language clear and encouraging.

Why the Miami setting matters

Miami is a tennis city. Sunshine is the norm, and outdoor courts stay playable most of the year. For Schoolyard Tennis Academy, that climate is a training asset. Coaches schedule younger juniors in morning or late-afternoon windows, then bring older players and adults onto the court after sunset to take advantage of cooler air. Heat and humidity are part of the American southeast, so juniors learn practical skills from the start. They bring ice water, use shade wisely, and manage their effort across sessions and match days.

Rain is a reality as well. The staff runs on clear lightning and rain protocols, communicates quickly when showers roll through, and reschedules so players do not lose rhythm. Families appreciate that transparency. Parents know where to park, what to pack, and how the program handles the elements.

Facilities you will actually use

Because Schoolyard Tennis Academy partners with parks and a centrally located condo community, its facilities feel familiar and accessible. Families can train near home on weeknights, then meet centrally for camp weeks or invitational clinics.

• West Miami Recreation Center: Fenced outdoor hard courts inside a multi-sport complex. The setting suits entry-level classes, after-school clinics, and small-group lessons. A nearby hitting wall supports warm-ups and technical reps. Parking is straightforward, and the routine is predictable for busy families.
• Brewer Park: A lakeside community space in South Miami with two hard courts and additional handball walls that coaches sometimes adapt for volley rhythm or footwork patterns. The quieter feel works well for private and semi-private sessions during school-day hours.
• Village at Dadeland: A centrally located condo community with resurfaced hard courts, on-site restrooms, and simple arrivals and pick-ups. This venue includes three dedicated tennis courts, six pickleball courts, and two hitting or racquetball walls. Seating and selective shade help with rest intervals during warm months. Camps and larger junior blocks often gather here.

Across sites, the academy supplements court time with the tools that matter most: agility ladders, cones, resistance bands, medicine balls, and a ball machine when precise feeding or serve-rep volume is the goal. Technology is used sparingly and purposefully. Video may capture a serve checkpoint or a contact-point reminder, then coaches return quickly to live rallies so players apply corrections under real pressure.

Coaching staff and philosophy

Director Julio Ugarte is certified by both the United States Professional Tennis Association and the United States Professional Tennis Registry. He previously competed at a national level in Peru and has served as a private coach on the professional tour. Director Berkeley Brock Ugarte played No. 1 for North Carolina State University with NCAA Division I match experience in both singles and doubles. Their shared strength is clarity. Sessions have a visible arc. Warm-up builds skill, drills reinforce decisions, and point play tests habits without turning practice into chaos.

The academy organizes development around the USTA QuickStart progression. Beginners start with red balls on smaller courts to master contact, balance, and directional control. As players grow steadier, they move to orange and green balls, then graduate to standard yellow balls on full-size courts. Ratios stay tight so every athlete finds a rhythm of many touches and specific feedback. Three habits show up in every drill at every level: set up early, recover with purpose, and play with a simple plan.

Programs you will see on the calendar

• PeeWee Clinics, ages 3 to 6: Short, energetic sessions that build agility, balance, and coordination. The goals are reliable contact, a basic rally, and confidence in a group setting without constant parental support.
• Junior Development 1, ages 7 to 10: Orange-ball training on smaller courts. Players learn to aim with height, direction, and depth while practicing serve starts and keeping score in simple formats. Footwork patterns are introduced early.
• Junior Development 2, ages 11 and up: Full-court training with a strong technical base. Sessions refine ready positions, split-step timing, recovery movement, and serve plus first-shot patterns. Scoring expands to short sets and timed matches.
• Advanced Clinic, generally 10 and up by invitation: A higher-intensity block with structured point play, mental routines, and physical benchmarks. Players begin preparing for USTA junior events, school teams, or local leagues.
• Summer Camp blocks: Weeklong programs at the Village at Dadeland that group athletes by age and ability. Mornings focus on technical fundamentals and coordination circuits. After lunch or rest intervals, campers play live-ball games and short-format matches.
• Adult Clinics and Cardio Tennis: Technique-focused beginner and intermediate clinics that cover core stroke patterns and doubles basics. Cardio Tennis uses music, ladders, and continuous rotations for fitness and repetition. Private and semi-private lessons are available at all locations.

The schedule flexes with school calendars, daylight, and demand. Families often choose a home site for weekly clinics and add a second day or a weekend session as players advance.

How players develop here

Development at Schoolyard Tennis Academy is practical and layered. Each area of growth gets attention in every session.

• Technical: Coaches emphasize grips that hold under pressure, compact swings that find contact consistently, and footwork that protects balance. Serving begins with progressions that reduce strain and allow many quality repetitions. A mix of volunteer feeds and live-ball sequences deliver high touches each hour.
• Tactical: Players learn one clear idea at a time. Rally crosscourt to the big part of the court, then change direction on a balanced ball. Serve wide, recover to the middle, and make the first forehand heavy to the open side. These anchors scale as athletes face stronger peers.
• Physical: Sessions start with footwork patterns and end with short conditioning blocks suited to age. Younger juniors practice coordination, landing mechanics, and posture. Older players add lateral power, deceleration, and simple resistance routines they can do safely at home.
• Mental: Pre-point and between-point routines arrive once players keep score. Coaches normalize nerves and momentum swings and teach concrete resets. The aim is to lower stress by giving athletes a next action on every point.
• Educational: Sportsmanship is coached. Players call lines, keep score, and shake hands properly. Parents receive guidance on match-day roles and how to frame post-match conversations so players learn to self-manage.

Competition and progression

Competition is not postponed until everything feels perfect. As soon as a junior can rally and serve, coaches host short-set playdays and round robins that prioritize process goals over trophies. Advanced Clinic players move into local USTA circuits and school teams when ready. Because the academy operates at partner sites, in-house events are designed to be logistically simple. Players show up, get a clear format, compete with purpose, and go home with next steps rather than noise.

Alumni and coaching track record

The founders’ resumes help families feel confident about the pathway. Julio has coached nationally ranked juniors and worked on the professional tour. Berkeley brings a Division I player’s lens to training and match preparation. The message stays steady across ages. Build the base correctly, raise the standard step by step, and results follow. You will hear that sentiment more often than you hear about rankings or ratings, which is deliberate. The staff knows that durable habits create durable results.

Culture and day-to-day life

Schoolyard Tennis Academy feels like a neighborhood program because it is one. Coaches know which siblings are coming up next and who just moved from red ball to orange. New players are folded into fast-moving drills that feel like games. There is no court reserved for a single star. The coaching group wants the entire ladder to move up together.

Operating in parks and a condo community creates a healthy mix of tennis families and casual park users. Juniors learn awareness and courtesy, and the sport remains visible to the neighborhood. That visibility supports the academy’s founding purpose of bringing tennis to more kids, not asking kids to travel far to find tennis.

Costs, access, and how sign-ups work

Pricing is approachable compared with destination academies. Adult clinics are typically billed per class, and junior programs are sold in sessions rather than open-ended memberships. Summer camps are priced by the week with half-day or full-day options and optional aftercare. Sibling discounts apply to seasonal blocks. Because groups are intentionally small, popular windows fill quickly. Early registration is smart, especially for summer and invitation-only clinics. Weather policies are clear, with reschedules or credits after rainouts. If you need financial accommodation beyond sibling discounts, speak with the directors. The program is small enough to evaluate needs case by case, and the staff cares about keeping motivated juniors in the sport.

What sets Schoolyard apart

• Neighborhood-first footprint: Training happens where families already are. That reduces travel fatigue, increases consistency, and keeps tennis visible in the community.
• Small groups with clear goals: Ratios stay tight so coaches can deliver stage-specific feedback. Players know exactly what success looks like each week.
• Game-based learning: Instruction moves quickly into live rallies, which accelerates decision making and confidence.
• Purposeful simplicity: Technology is a tool, not a crutch. The emphasis stays on habits that transfer to matches.
• Flexible multi-site model: Families can choose a home site for weekly routines, then converge at a central venue for camps and special clinics.

If you are weighing different models, it helps to compare Schoolyard’s approach with larger destination campuses like the IMG Academy campus model, nearby commuter programs such as North Miami Beach Academy programs, or community education programs like Portland Tennis and Education. Those comparisons make the academy’s neighborhood-first identity even clearer.

Boarding, recovery, and support services

Schoolyard Tennis Academy is commuter based. There is no boarding, and that is intentional. Families control schedules and can integrate schoolwork, other sports, and family routines without the stress of a daily highway drive. Recovery is addressed through smart practice design. Sessions build in water breaks, shade usage, and short breathing resets between blocks. Warm-ups layer mobilization, dynamic stretching, and footwork sequences. Cool-downs emphasize simple band work and basic flexibility exercises. When players need more targeted help, coaches refer to trusted local providers for physical therapy or strength training outside of scheduled clinics.

Safety, communication, and logistics

Safety protocols are visible. Coaches monitor lightning and rain apps, check courts for debris, and adjust workloads for heat. Communication is personal and fast, often directly from the directors. Families receive concise updates about registration, weather, and schedule changes so there are no surprises. New players get clear instructions on what to bring and how to find the courts at each site.

A week inside the program

A typical week might include two afternoon clinics for a 10-year-old in Junior Development 1. Monday focuses on forehand shape and recovery steps, followed by target games that reward height and depth. Wednesday turns to serve starts and return spacing, then finishes with short-set play. On Saturday, the same player might join a 90-minute live-ball block at Village at Dadeland that mixes orange and green ball athletes by skill rather than age, creating healthy challenge and variety.

An older junior in the Advanced Clinic might train two evenings a week and play a weekend round robin. Sessions open with split-step timing and first-step speed. Drills emphasize serve plus first shot, defending the backhand corner, and changing direction only on a balanced contact. Point play closes the night with scorekeeping and between-point routines that mirror tournament conditions.

How parents fit into the process

Parents are partners. The academy offers simple guidelines on what to watch for during practice and how to talk after matches. Instead of reliving every point, parents ask about process goals. Did you set up early on returns, and did you use your crosscourt rally before changing direction? That framing reduces tension in the car ride home and keeps the focus on learning. The staff also provides practical tips on hydration, sleep, and packing a match bag so young athletes take responsibility for their routines.

Where the academy is headed next

The future is focused on depth rather than sprawl. Expect continued investment in staff education, a deeper bench of invitational clinics for advanced juniors, and expanded partnerships with neighborhood schools for after-school blocks. Camps at Village at Dadeland will remain a hub because arrivals and pick-ups are efficient, and the facility supports larger group logistics. The directors are also exploring more structured fitness progression for older juniors that fits safely around growth and school workloads.

Who will thrive here

• Families who value short commutes and consistent attendance over long weekend drives.
• Beginners who need a friendly on-ramp to the sport without pressure.
• Juniors who respond to clear goals, small groups, and game-based drills.
• Adults who want reliable weekly clinics and the option to add focused private lessons.

If you are looking for a residential program with dorms and full-service dining halls, a destination academy may suit you better. If you want a practical, neighborhood-first pathway that meets you where you live, Schoolyard Tennis Academy is a strong fit.

Final word

Schoolyard Tennis Academy has stayed true to the idea that launched it in 2011. Bring quality coaching to where families already are, keep groups small, and build players through habits that hold up under match pressure. Miami’s climate, the multi-site footprint, and the directors’ steady leadership combine to create a program that is both accessible and ambitious. Whether a child is just learning to rally or a junior is preparing for school teams and local tournaments, the pathway is clear and the tone is welcoming. For families who want substance without the friction of long commutes, this is a Miami program with staying power.