Washington Kastles

So this stadium is block or so from our apartment, right on the water.  We pass it all the time and see these big hot shot players' faces on the outside but have never known what or who the Kastles were.  So Thursday I got a Groupon for $15 fix to the Eastern Conference Finals.  I knew Martina Hingis was  playing so I thought it would be fun just to see a pro play tennis so I got us tickets for Friday night.

 They were playing the Boston Lobsters....hence the other mascot along with Kastles tennis ball!

 It's not a huge stadium so all the seats are great!  So if you know anything about tennis, you have to throw all those rules out the window as THIS is a team sport and plays under the WTT rules.  There's a men and women's double match, a men and women's single and a mixed double match.  Scoring is completely different and it's not that quiet, dignified match watching atmosphere.  It's loud music between each point, mascots, big announcer voices, lots of cheering, CHEERLEADERS and plenty of good fun.

 So right before the last match they have "Storm the Kastle" where everyone up higher in the stands can move down anyplace they can find an empty seat!  I thought that was awesome!  How many times do you see all those seats empty down near the court or field of professional sports?

 The Kastles easily beat the Lobsters which meant they were playing for the championship on Sunday night.  They announced if you brought your military ID to the ticket office we could get free tix for that match!

 So Sunday after church we were running errands and it started to rain.  We were an hour late getting to the stadium but because of the rain they hadn't even started yet.  They were trying to dry the court when we arrived and it took about another 40 minutes before they were able to get started.

 But then the sun came out and it was beautiful!  So they gave us all this cool swag.  Friday night we each got a bag with the usual pen, notepad, glass mug, towel...trinkets like that.  Then Sunday they gave us all these red towels to wave.

Andy Roddick and Martina Hingis

 Teddy Roosevelt from the Washington Nationals dropped by for a little dancing while DJ Kool did a rap number between matches.  He's MY age!

 So, the thing I liked about this organization is that they're so community minded.  Tons of underprivileged kids there from Kastles camps and they give out tennis rackets to a bunch of those kids as well.  All kids 16 and under can go on the court after all the matches for autographs and ALL the players stay and sign.

 The tennis Sunday night was awesome!  Amazing hitting and the speed and strength were just staggering.  We had even better seats Sunday and to be that close and see the power behind those hits....just jaw dropping.  And the Kastles won!  Where else can you walk right down to the court and where they actually walk around and high five the fans?

Coach

Billie Jean King started this league with her ex-husband so she was there as well.  She's with the owner of the club in this pic.  Looking forward to next season which is very short.  Some of these players are retired but some still compete.  They take time out of their schedules to participate.  There are only 7 home matches in the entire season.  We'll definitely go back!