Tournament History
North Carolina's first GLTA-sanctioned tournament, known then as the Crape Myrtle Tennis Classic, was first held in July 2004. Many have asked over the years, "Why call it Crape Myrtle?". This comes from our prior association with the Crape Myrtle Festival, a local Raleigh LGBTQ+ charitible event held in July each year.
While July provides great weather for festivals and blooming Crape Myrtle trees, the typical 90 to 100 degree days can be oppressive for tennis matches. As a result, in 2007, we moved the tournament to the month of October, where we had much better weather and years of successful tournmanets, including winning the award for Best Small GLTA Tournmanent in 2009.
All good streaks must end eventually, and we were hit with not 1, but 2 consecutive years of hurricane-induced rain and flooding during the tournament weekends. This, coupled with several founding members relocating away from Raleigh, caused us to pause tournament operations. We briefly brought GLTA tennis back to Raleigh in conjuction with the 2019 Stonewall National Tournament, but COVID-19 quickly dashed any hopes of a restart in 2020.
Fast-forward to 2024, where we re-launched the tournament with a new name, a new Spring weekend slot, and all the same great tennis the over 1000 past partcipants have come to expect. We are back again in 2026 for our 3rd consecutive Carolina Classic, and also excited to be celebrating our 15th year hosting GLTA tournaments in Raligh!
Triangle Tennis Club
Triangle Tennis Club (TTC) was founded in 2004 as the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area's first Gay and Lesbian tennis club. Our goal is to advocate the welfare of the community by promoting Tennis within the Gay and Lesbian community in the Triangle. We are also a proud member of The Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance (GLTA).
The Tournament Co-Directors
John Monti and Marc Pamley are pleased to welcome you to Raleigh for the the 2024 Carolina Classic. Some quick background on us:
John has been a TTC member since 2007 and currently serves on the TTC board. John was a key founding member of Stonewall Tennis - Raleigh and directed its operations for several years, including serving as the Tennis Tournament Director for the 2019 Stonewall National Tournament. When not playing tennis, John enjoys travel, spending time with family, and is an avid Vegas Golden Knights hockey fan.
Marc has been a TTC member since its founding in 2004 and currently serves as TTC president, running operations in the summer months. He has played an active role in assisting with most of the Raleigh GLTA tournaments dating back to the late 2000s. When he can find a minute of free time, Marc enjoys home improvement projects, aviation, and watching US football (with the Buckeyes and Browns being his favorite teams).
While neither of us consider ourselves "good" tennis players (nowadays "mediocre" can even be a stretch 😄), we both have made some runs in the C/D divisons over the years, with a few trophies to show along the way. What hasn't changed is our passion for the sport -- both social and competitve, and our desire and determination o bring GLTA tennis back to North Carolina.
Assisting us are a team of talented individuals -- Jason Schrader, Joe Smith, Greg Downing, Dipendea Shrestha, Dennis Seavers, and Perico Arcedo -- without whom we absolutely could not have this tournament. You may recognize some of those names, as most have been TTC members for years and combined have played in over 100 GLTA tournaments. In short, you are in good hands here in Raleigh, and win or lose, we want you to have a fun, enjoyable, and inclusive experince at the Carolina Classic.
