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ajm3s writes:

in response to RayPray:

"Are the tennis courts at Tommie Barfield considered for school use only?"

Racquet Club has first call on these for its leagues.

"Or simply raise the fees to the racquet club."

Racquet Club soft courts were all built lousy. Even the better ones are bad and risky.

Whereas, YMCA soft courts are best in the county. This was because when this system was planned, Y player-volunteers spent a year or so studying various court manufacturers to settle on best system.

Advantage to Racquet Club membership is low cost and good staff.

If boost fees there to Cambier Park level, will lose many players to the Y, putting this facility and City further in the $ hole.

Why have soft courts at all?

You don't have them up North, in general.

Mostly they are a status symbol for Country Club life.

Best solution for the Racquet Club and city would be to replace all clay courts with hard courts, requiring little upkeep, and keep the membership fee reasonable.

Excellent!

And I agree if status symbol is what is driving all this crap, then I would appear as a non-conformist if I arrived in my 2001 Ford F250 with body rot and wooden Bancroft racket.

As I did 40 years ago, in my rotted out 1959 pickup truck for varsity trials in 1971. Crazy as it seems, I made the team, to the chagrin of some that tried out with experience gained through private memberships in outlying suburbs.

And for me (a city kid), I only picked it up because I just hated playing baseball all the time. So one afternoon, this older kid (who I did not realize was the captain of the HS team) started volleying and teaching me throughout the preceding summer. Always on my neighborhood (deplorable by Marco Island standards) public tennis court with another close friend of mine, who also made the team.

So when I hear the members lament that the city is not maintaining the courts or repairing the wrong ones, I ask how much is the public to provide in terms of tennis courts. Perhaps, we do not have enough?

If members want "world class" courts, then I suggest members buck up and pay up. Public courts were always hard courts for low maintenance and cost of installation, except in a few rare instances. The only public clay courts were available in a large metropolitan center with a population exceeding 160K and then there were only 4 available in a network of hard-courts far exceeding this number. Again, this only from personal experience.

As typical of my rants, its all about me. LOL

Your response was clear and insightful but regrettably not cynical.

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