Club At Harpers Point

Harper’s is a great place to play tennis. I learned the game playing there as a kid and recently started playing there again after moving back to Cincinnati. The facility/​courts are in great shape and the staff is courteous.

My family has been members at The Club at Harper’s Point for nearly 20 years. From the tennis programs to the swim club to the fitness center, Harper’s is truly a great club. It’s not the very biggest club in town, but it has a very cozy and homey feeling to it and most of the staff has been there for years (front office, instructors, trainers, grounds crew) and you’re not just a member number like at some clubs, rather people really know you by name.
The tennis has been the backbone of this 31-​year-​old club. They run great programs and clinics for juniors and adults, while they also offer the best summer camps around for kids, Interclub and USTA league play for adults (very popular for both men and women, and great socially too), and you can choose from 15 different teaching professionals for private lessons. USPTA Master Professional Steve Contardi has been the Director of Tennis at Harper’s since 1977 and is maybe the biggest name in tennis in all of the Midwest. He has built a great name for the club and its programs, and people have been coming for years to join as members and to play in the Contardi tournaments and camps. Harper’s has 10 great indoor courts with the same surfaced use at the U.S. Open, while it’s well-​kept 11 outdoor HarTru «soft» (clay) courts, open from May 1 through September 30, make it second to none in Cincinnati.
While Harper’s has gotten some good competition from Five Seasons down the road in recent years, one of the biggest things that makes Harper’s stand out is it’s large list of experienced tennis professionals including: Head pro and camp director Ali Ismail, a former college and satellite tour player with more than 25 years of teaching experience, Bunnie Allare, a former nationally ranked junior and college player with 33 years of tennis teaching experience including 21 at Harper’s, Ken Burns who has been at the club since 1984 and is a certified USTA umpire and the club’s tournament director, Donnie Jackson who has been with Harper’s since 1989 and has coached more nationally and sectionally ranked and future college players than you can count, and Lynn Nabors-​McNally, a former Northwestern standout and pro tour player who coaches many of the top juniors in the area. Harper’s also has Jillian Wolf who has been leading the beginner clinics for many years.
Since graduating from high school I haven’t picked up a tennis racquet as much as I should have, but instead I’ve been going to the fitness center at Harper’s a lot. It’s smaller than many of the area gyms, especially with the rise in these mega gyms like Lifetime Fitness and Urban Active Fitness, but it’s a great place to work out. They have all of the latest cardio machines and Nautilus and Hammer Strength weight machines, as well as an 1800-​square foot aerobic dance studio, spinning bikes, and a one-​mile outdoor running course. My mother and sister have gone to many of the aerobics classes, which draw huge numbers of people. The classes taught by «high energy fitness professionals» always leave you with the feeling you had a great work out, and many even buy passes just to attend their favorite fitness classes, my mom says.
Harper’s also has a 25-​meter outdoor heated pool which includes both high and low diving boards. The outdoor pool also has a children’s pool, a snack bar and vending machines, a playground, and a basketball and sand volleyball court. It is also home to the Harper’s Hurricanes swim team, lessons and activities, and there is a great adult pool near the outdoor tennis courts for those 18 and up. Harper’s also has a massage studio, a café, and a nursery.
The Club at Harper’s Point isn’t the newest club around, but it’s consistently been great and continues to make improvements to remain the best club around. You know you are at a great club when you walk through the front door ready to play tennis, work out, or relax at the pool. There’s not a better place around to do all of those things all under one roof.