Bus Lane Kids Opens Tennis Courts in Nashville

The Nashville youth program that started in a bus lane now has two new courts with a hitting wall and lights.

Updated on Nov. 15, 2026 in Tennis

Bus Lane Kids Opens Tennis Courts in Nashville

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Bus Lane Kids opened two new tennis courts in Nashville, adding a hitting wall and lights for after-school play. The program began in 2017 in a Nashville bus lane using chairs and caution tape.

Why it matters

The new facility gives the program a permanent home after years of informal play, and the lights allow after-school sessions once daylight savings time ends. It reflects how a grassroots effort grew into a dedicated community sports venue in Nashville.

The program regularly drew 30 to 50 kids at a time before the new facility opened, and it has grown from a 2017 start in a bus lane to two new courts. The source does not report total enrollment or the facility's construction budget.

The players

Bus Lane Kids

A Nashville youth tennis program that began in a bus lane in 2017 and has grown into a dedicated facility with courts.

Andy Mizell

The founder of Bus Lane Kids, whose vision for a permanent facility shaped the program's growth in Nashville.

The details

Founder Andy Mizell began the program in 2017 with chairs and caution tape in a Nashville bus lane and later drew inspiration from his former Lipscomb University coach, Lynn Griffith, who died in 2020. The new facility adds two courts, a hitting wall and lights.

Timeline

  1. 2017: Bus Lane Kids launches in a Nashville bus lane.

  2. 2020: Lynn Griffith, Andy Mizell's former coach, dies.

  3. November 15, 2026: Bus Lane Kids opens its new courts.

Season Trajectory

The opening of permanent courts marks a shift from the 2017 bus-lane launch to a dedicated home for the program. Its growth from chairs and caution tape to lit courts with a hitting wall reflects a pattern of grassroots youth tennis building lasting local infrastructure.

The lights allow after-school sessions once daylight savings time ends, giving kids in Nashville more hours to play. Families looking to join can expect the program to draw the 30 to 50 children it has regularly attracted before the facility opened.

The takeaway

A youth program that started with chairs and caution tape in a bus lane shows how sustained local effort can turn into lasting community infrastructure. Nashville families who want after-school tennis now have a dedicated place to play.

Further reading

Explore more local coverage in the Tennis section for context on youth programs like this one.

Source note: This article includes information reported by News Channel 5 Nashville (WTVF).

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