Tennis courts construction pushed back
Courts will be updated after the 2018 girls’ season finishes
Junior Alyssa Barth hits a ball during a match against Benilde-St. Margaret’s Sept. 21. According to Barth, she is not wearing her Park team uniform because of the cold weather.
September 27, 2018
After an unforeseen discovery, the tennis courts renovation has been pushed back to after the girls’ tennis season, according to David Breitenbucher.
According to coach David Breitenbucher, the current tennis courts are in very bad condition with cracks and other issues.
“They have cracks on them, they don’t drain well, they’re just old, old courts,” Breitenbucher said. “It’s long overdue that we do them.”
According to varsity player and captain, senior Susanna Hu, the court’s problems have made it more difficult for the girls to play.
“The cracks and dead spots make it a little frustrating when we play,” Hu said. “For example, when playing a match and a ball hits a crack making it bounce in a different direction you just get frustrated.”
Hu said it is especially disappointing because she was hoping to have new courts for her last year on the team.
“Many were disappointed, especially the seniors because the school originally told us that we would have new courts for our senior year and all the seniors got super excited,” Hu said.
According to Breitenbucher, just before the renovations started, a problem was discovered with the soil which added time to the project and delayed the updates.
“They tested soil under the courts and the testing came back that it needed to be a much bigger project than just a resurfacing,” Breitenbucher said.
Even though the players are disappointed about not having new courts, Breitenbucher said he understands why they have to wait.
“I’m just happy that they’re doing it the right way, ideally we would have rather had it ready for the girls’ season, but I’m glad they’re not doing it cheaply,” Breitenbucher said.
According to Hu, the updated courts will provide the players with more confidence and will allow them to play better.
“With new ones, we won’t have that bad reputation and it will build our team spirit and confidence,” Hu said. “Also I think people will have more passion to play just by having new courts.”
According to Breitenbucher, the tennis court construction will start after the girls’ season and continue through the boys’ in the spring.