The Junior Tennis Program at Palisades got underway the summer of 1994 by tennis enthusiast Boots Duesing and several Park members. After soliciting donations from members, Boots created a few clinics for kids and eventually hired Doug Gruber on a part-time basis to run two summer tournaments. Doug taught the kids how to play tennis and more importantly how to display good sportsmanship. Boots immediately saw the program’s potential and hired Doug full-time with the support of the Junior Tennis Patrons and the program was off and running.
 
By 2001, program participation had grown so much that an assistant was needed, and Dave Zimmermann was brought on board to assist Doug. Dave saw tremendous opportunity in the “toddler to kindergarten” ages and developed a very successful early tennis program. Today it is one of the most attended clinics. The Junior Tennis Program has become a treasured tradition in Palisades.