When the Town of Cary completed the Cary Tennis Park on Louis Stephens Drive in 2002, it did so with the hope that a cutting-edge venue would attract more people to the sport, says William Davis, the town’s athletics director.

“One of the charges we had with the tennis park was to have a real balance of participants, from the youngest kids to adults, from beginners to those in our academy program, making sure we reach people of all skill levels and ages,” he said.

But Sean Ferreira, tennis supervisor at Cary Tennis Park, said it can sometimes be a difficult sport to learn for the youngest players, especially children ages 10 and under, because their size relative to the tennis court makes it difficult to develop their game.

“They can play from the baseline, but they’re not really able to develop their net game or their strategy,” he said.

It’s a potential problem that hasn’t gone unrecognized by the sport’s governing organization, the United States Tennis Association. A few years ago, Ferreira said, the USTA began testing a new format for the game called Quickstart Tennis.

Designed to help bring the game down to their level, so to speak, the Quickstart format reduces the size of the tennis court from 72 feet to 36 feet. It also allows the use of smaller racquets and larger, low-compression foam balls.

“Quickstart is a good way to start kids out,” Davis said of the program. “It’s basically changing the whole dynamics of the game to accommodate size.”

About a year ago, Ferreira said, the USTA approached the Town of Cary about partnering with the organization to establish what would become one of the first permanently modified Quickstart courts for children in the nation. Ferreira said Cary agreed to work with the USTA to make the modifications while resurfacing all tennis courts, a process he said was required by the town every three years.

“The [Quickstart] concept has been around for a few years, but it’s been called ‘mini-tennis’ and used portable nets,” he said. “The USTA decided that there was a need to create permanent courts.”

“As they [USTA] roll out this initiative, they’re partnering with certain communities to roll out this format,” Ferreira continued. “They chose us because they said we were on the cutting edge.”

Weather permitting, Ferreira said Cary’s Quickstart courts could be completed by sometime next week, with programming set to begin in March. The courts will primarily serve kids between 5 and 7 years of age. Ferreira said the town was still exploring the idea of adding additional lines to other existing courts to allow children ages 8 to 10 to play on 60-foot courts.

Ferreira expressed hope for what the new format might accomplish locally for the sport of tennis. “This will allow kids to learn how to hit the ball correctly and hit it quicker,” he said. “Also, it will get them playing more.”

“One thing about tennis over the years — it’s a great sport for people of all ages, but there’s a learning curve. With this format, what we’re hoping to do is to get kids playing as much as possible.”