Located along Florida’s Gulf Coast, The Resort at Longboat Key Club offers one of the most complete racquet sports experiences in the state. With 24 Har-Tru tennis courts, eight pickleball courts, and a growing community of members and visiting players, the program continues to expand under the leadership of Briana Harris François, Director of Racquet Sports.
François’ journey at the club began more than a decade ago. She first joined the Longboat Key Club as a teaching professional in 2010, later leaving for Miami before returning in a leadership role.
“I started out as a teaching pro here from 2010 until the summer of 2017,” François said. “When the director retired, I came back as Director of Tennis, and two months later became Director of Racquet Sports.”
Since returning in November 2019, François has overseen significant growth across the club’s racquet programs, particularly with the expansion into pickleball.
The Resort at Longboat Key Club spans several hundred acres and offers a variety of amenities that attract both members and resort guests. The main tennis complex sits in the Harbourside area near the marina, while the Islandside also includes beachfront accommodations and 45 holes of golf.
To expand its racquet offerings, the club added eight pickleball courts in recent years.
“We built eight pickleball courts, four of them with lights,” François explained. “We have courts at the marina and courts at the tennis gardens, so players have options depending on where they are on the property.”
In addition to pickleball, the club features 24 Har-Tru tennis courts across its facilities, making it one of the largest racquet sports destinations on Florida’s west coast. The resort setting adds another layer to the experience for players and guests.
“The hotel rooms are right on the beach,” François said. “It’s one of those places where people ask what they want to do—tennis, golf, pickleball—and the answer is that we have all of it.”
The racquet sports program offers a full daily schedule of clinics, lessons, and match-play formats designed for players of different levels. One of the most popular programs during the summer months is an early-morning clinic designed to beat the Florida heat.
“In the summertime we run Beat the Heat at 7:30 a.m.,” François said. “Not everyone wants to get up that early, but it’s perfect because who wants to play at noon when it’s close to 100 degrees outside?”
Another staple of the program is the Morning Madness clinic, which runs most mornings from 8:30 to 10 a.m.
“That’s an hour-and-a-half clinic and it’s one of our most popular,” François said.
The club also offers a daily one-hour clinic later in the morning as well as Live Ball sessions, a fast-paced format that mixes competition and continuous play.
“Live Ball is like the ultimate king or queen of the court,” François explained.
In addition to clinics, the club provides private and group lessons, and the staff often adds additional sessions when demand increases.
“If we see a clinic filling up, we try to always say yes and add another one,” she said.
One of the strengths of the Racquets Sports program is its coaching staff, which brings decades of experience at the highest levels of tennis instruction. François believes the collective background of the team is what makes the program stand out.
“What makes us unique is that we have so many great coaches all in one place,” she said.
The coaching staff includes Sammy Aviles, Jason Grose, Karin Miller, Carlos Gomez, Randy Ardenfriend, Prakash Maraj, Eddy Kranjcevic, and Toni Todoric. Many of the coaches share a common background through the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, now IMG Academy.
“That connection is what brought us together,” François said. “We all trained or worked through that system.”
The group includes instructors who have coached professional players as well as former high-level competitors themselves.
“You have coaches here who have worked with top 100 players in the world, and Karin was also a top 100 player herself,” François said. “Having that level of experience all in one place is very unique.”
While Longboat Key Club is a private members club, its racquet sports program also attracts visiting players from across the country. François estimates the player base is roughly 60 percent members and 40 percent resort guests.
Many visitors return year after year, creating long-term relationships within the program.
“We have people who have been coming here for over 20 years,” François said. “It’s amazing because sometimes I coached the parents years ago, and now I’m coaching the child or grandchild.”
In addition to daily programming, the club also hosts traveling tennis teams and groups that plan vacations around racquet sports.
“We get a lot of tennis teams that come down here for vacation,” François said. “They’ll do clinics and group activities together while they’re here.”
League play is another important part of the program. The women’s side currently fields 15 teams competing in Tri-Cities and USTA leagues, while the men have six teams participating in the Suncoast League.
Racquet sports have also become part of the resort’s event programming. According to François, some weddings hosted at the property now include pickleball activities for guests.
“We have people having weddings here that include pickleball instead of golf,” she said. “Now they have the option of tennis, pickleball, or golf.”
“We were lucky that we didn’t have to remove tennis courts to add pickleball,” François said. “We adjusted our layout so we could keep all the courts.”
After more than a decade connected to the club, François says the relationships built through racquet sports are what make Longboat Key special.
“What makes this place special is that people don’t just come once,” she said. “They come back every year, and you build lifelong relationships with them.”
More information about the resort and its racquet sports programs can be found at https://www.opalcollection.com/longboat-key-club/.
===
Written by Associate Editor Osvaldo Godoy. Photo credits: The Resort at Longboat Key Club.