50th Birthday Ideas With Tennis

There is no better way to celebrate an avid tennis enthusiast's 50th birthday than to have a party incorporating the game of tennis. A nice change from the typical "over-the-hill" party is to have a tennis mixer. These are easy to organize and guests will enjoy participating.

  1. All White Mixer

    • A Wimbledon-themed tennis mixer is a great idea, especially if the birthday is celebrated around the time of the Wimbledon tennis championship tournament. Have participants wear all white tennis clothing; this is still a tradition at the All England Club. Use white tennis balls; white tennis balls were used until 1972, but can still be purchased. Locate as many wood rackets as possible for players to use. For refreshments, serve strawberries and cream; this is also a Wimbledon tradition. Set up a "king and queen" mixer format for the tennis. Assign four players to each court for doubles play. Start with the weaker players on the top court. Play four to five rounds of tennis using a "no-ad" format, with each round being 12 to 15 minutes long. At the end of each round, the players that are leading will move up a court and split up. Players that are losing will split up and move down a court. Losing players at the bottom court will be replaced by any players waiting to play. Players on the top court who are ahead at the end of the round remain on the top court, but will split up. At the end of all the rounds, the two players that are ahead will be the winners of the mixer. A small prize can be given to the winners.

    Poker Tennis

    • Poker tennis with several rounds of timed doubles play is another social tennis mixer idea. Assign players to the courts with the weaker players starting at the top court. The time between rounds should be 12 to 15 minutes and it works best to use "no-ad" scoring. Plan to use several decks of playing cards. At the end of each round, the winning players will each draw two cards from the deck and the losers will draw only one card. Have the players hold onto their cards until the end of the mixer. The winners on each court will move up a court and split up and play with a different partner. The losers will move down a court and split up. Losers on the bottom court will be replaced by players waiting to play. At the end of time, have players use their cards to make the best poker hand using only five cards. Prizes can be given to the highest hand, lowest hand and the highest pair. Provide light snacks, such as fruit, for players during court changes and have grilled burgers, beer, wine and birthday cake at the end of the mixer. Attach birthday balloons to the tennis net posts for a festive atmosphere.

    Grand Slam Happy Hour

    • For an indoor setting, borrow or rent a Wii game console with Grand Slam Tennis. There are several playing options, but the best one for a party atmosphere is the "tennis party mode." This option has several mini game options for both singles or doubles play. Select one of the mini games and set up a singles challenge where players can challenge each other with a small monetary amount, such as a dollar. Two players start, one is the champ and one is the challenger, who puts up a dollar to play. If the challenger wins, he keeps his dollar and becomes the new champ. However, if he loses, he pays the champ, who then waits for another party guest to challenge. A timer can be used to shorten each match and allow many people to challenge. Serve adult beverages and hors d'oeuvres.