Text Box: History

Text Box: The OBTA was formed in 1992 and offers both recreational and competitive tennis. Text Box: In April of 1992 the club, founded by tennis pro Jeff Horn, began play at Edgewater High School in College Park. The group quickly outgrew the four hard courts at the high school but was able to move to nearby Rollins College with its eight hard courts.   During the period at Rollins, the club formally proclaimed all tennis players were welcome and the club would not be an exclusively gay organization.   After another move, this time to Rosemont Country Club, the name, the Orange Blossom Tennis Association (OBTA) was adopted in respect to the only other gay recreational organization in Orlando at the time, the Orange Blossom Bowling Association.   Horn hoped as more recreational groups in Orlando formed, they would unite around the common name Orange Blossom and make the name unique to gay recreational groups in Orlando.  

Text Box: Continued growth forced a move to the clay courts at the Orlando Tennis Center. During this time the club also witnessed the birth of The Smash, a monthly publication mailed to over 300 members.   Presently, the OBTA calls Sanlando Tennis Center and its 25 tree-shaded courts home. Sanlando has also doubled as the site of the Orange Blossom Tennis Championships every Easter weekend since 2000.   OBTA uses the tournament to raise money for several local charities; thousands of dollars have been donated since the tournament began.   The club also participates in the annual Florida Cup Tournament, a round robin format with 16 players competing in singles and doubles against clubs from Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. OBTA won the trophy in 1997 and 2001.   Horn also created the Miss OBTA Pageant, a fundraiser for the St. Francis House Homeless Shelter. The pageant, held each October, continues to be the largest single source of revenue yearly for St. Francis House.