After 50 Years, Eastern Athletic Clubs Maintains Family Values

Running a tennis club or facility can be a difficult business endeavor, and it takes a lot of work and effort to be able to create a sustainable business that lasts generations.

All of that is what makes what Eastern Athletic Clubs has done that much more impressive. One of the longest standing tennis clubs on Long Island, Eastern Athletic has been a family-run and operated business for more than 53 years, and its approach to its business has made it one of the pillars of the Long Island tennis community.

Founded back in 1972, Eastern Athletic Club was the brainchild of Peter Sferrazza and George Hart, both of whom were engineers at the time. However, the two wanted to go down a different road in their lives, and decided to build a tennis facility, something that wasn’t all too common at the time.

“My dad had been many things in his life. He worked on a lot of high-level projects with the government, he was also a school teacher at one point, but he decided to quit the engineering business,” said Marc Sferrazza, Peter’s son and one of eight siblings. “He and George Hart decided they wanted to do something different, and that was the impetus behind it. They built the first location themselves in Melville in 1972; there were a few clubs at the time on Long Island, but our club had elasta turf, the same surface they use at the U.S. Open. From the beginning, we wanted to have that quality, that was extremely important to us. When we first opened, we had four courts, and they were immediately successful.”

From the beginning, Eastern Athletic Club was a total family business, which consisted of Marc and his siblings, brothers Davide and Kenneth, and sisters Alexa, Cira and Jani, and is something that continues to this day and part of what has made it so sustainable. Marc and his siblings worked at the club as they grew up. Marc graduated from Columbia University, and he would work a day job and then come to the club to work the desk at night.

After the success of the Melville location, the Sferrazza’s looked to expand and take their approach to other locations. They would open a new club in Dix Hills in 1974, and soon after take over an existing clay-court facility in Commack in 1975. A year later, they built the new location in Blue Point, and demonstrated quick growth and expansion which made it the premier tennis brand on Long Island. At the end of the 1970s, they built a big multi-sport facility that didn’t have tennis in Brooklyn, but was a huge facility that featured, squash, racquetball and more.

“A big part of our success is that we just have had good people working for us over the years, and that we have always made sure to keep evolving and changing with the times,” said Sferrazza.

As Marc mentions, having good people working for Eastern Athletic has been such an integral part of its sustained success over the last half-century. Laurie Fehrs is at the heart of that idea. She came to Eastern Athletic after a successful career playing on the WTA Tour, turning pro as a teenager and going on to compete at the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and French Open, among others.

Fehrs moved into the coaching profession and began working at the Melville and Dix Hills locations of Eastern Athletic.

“Laurie came to us about 30 years ago, and filled our courts with lessons, and developed a tremendous following because of her expertise and teaching style,” said Alexa Sferrazza. “When her son, Michael, finished college, he began teaching here with his mother, and between the two of them, grew the sport here and really established our tennis program. As we added more courts to the Melville location, Laurie and her team continued to fill them up.”

As the brand grew and expanded, it was important to bring in pros that would be able to maintain the standard set by the Sferrazzas and Fehrs, so Laurie is the one that hand-picks the pros and interviews them, to this day, to ensure they bring in the right people for their programs.

“We have a very professional staff, and Laurie and Michael are always evolving our programs to fit the needs of our customers, and adapt to the ever-changing tennis world. Laurie, Michael and I work side-by-side to develop these programs and continue the growth. When you have a love for the sport, you fully immerse yourself into it, which is something they both do.”

Eastern Athletic Club is truly a family-owned and operated facility, evidenced by the Sferrazza family that has been at the heart of its ownership throughout its existence. The Fehrs, along with all their tennis professionals and reception staff, are all an integral part of Eastern Athletic Club’s family as is their clientele.

“For as long as I can remember, I played on the courts at Eastern Athletic Clubs. Whether it was the Dix Hills, Melville or Blue Point facilities, I always felt at home,” said Michael Fehrs. “Eastern Athletic is a home for kids and adults who really enjoy the sport. The care for the players from the professionals are unlike I have ever seen. I’ve traveled all across the nation to grow as a player at a young age and as a coach after college, and I’ve still yet to feel the way I feel from each Eastern Athletic Club facility and staff.”

In recent years, Eastern Athletic Club closed the Melville facility, which allowed them to focus more on and put more resources into the Dix Hills and Blue Point locations. The attention to detail, and desire for quality over quantity, has always been a part of the Eastern Athletic ethos.

“It’s important to keep evolving and adding things. We’ve added pickleball courts to our Blue Point facility years ago, we had badminton for awhile, we were big on racquetball when it was very popular many years back,” added Marc Sferrazza. “So we always keep shifting and making sure we keep doing what our people are interested in, and understanding what our clients and customers want. As owners, we expect a lot of each other, but also support each other which has helped us grow together. It took all of us to be successful.”

As Michael Fehrs said, Eastern Athletic Clubs has always felt like home, and that is the sort of environment that they take pride in fostering. For the last 50-plus years, Eastern Athletic Clubs has used that environment to become a staple of the local tennis community, and will continue that approach for the next 50 years and beyond.