VIDALIA — The gift of 12 new tennis courts was unwrapped Tuesday in Vidalia, and now Parks and Recreation Director Johnny Lee Hoffpauir is looking for ways to serve up as much tennis to the community as possible.

With that in mind, Hoffpauir has called in some experts from the United States Tennis Association to pitch some ideas Thursday evening.

“I’m hoping to learn everything about tennis,” he said. “I’ve been a baseball guy, but basically I hope to gain a better idea of how we could best use these courts, make them accessible to the public and how we could set tournaments up.”

Members of the USTA will be at Vidalia City Hall at 6 p.m. Thursday to discuss ideas with representatives from Concordia Recreation District No. 3 and anyone from the public that wants to join, Hoffpauir said.

“It will be an informational meeting, and we are hoping to get people involved in tennis,” Hoffpauir said.

The USTA and members of the public will discuss ideas and options for the complex, and then Concordia Recreation District No. 3 will then come up with a plan of action for development of a tennis program.

“We have the facilities to host big things, and these people can help us get it off the ground,” Hoffpauir said. “I could see it hosting big tournaments, state and regional tournaments, and drawing college play down here.

“We offer a good place for local schools to have tennis teams compete in state tournaments. Not a lot of places have 12 tennis courts and the facilities we have to go with it.”