Supporting Information for South Austin Tennis Center Project

Comments on Court Shortage in Austin

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Community Involvement in SATC Project Plans

"The renovation and expansion of the South Austin Tennis Center, however, was a specific component of the Prop. 2 park bond proposals. During the spring and summer of 1998, I worked with other park advocates, including the Capitol Area Tennis Association, in support of the proposed park bonds under the affiliation of Austin Parks 98. The South Austin Tennis Center was often specifically mentioned in the materials we distributed. The City's official back-up materials explaining the purposes for which the Prop. 2 bonds might be spent specifically mentioned expansion of the South Austin Tennis Center."  - Jeb Boyt (Parks Board)

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1,000 Additional Adult Players Supported by 8 Courts at SATC
(Sources: Sheryl Behne - SATC Manager, CATA, ATL, and WTTA)
Over the course of a year, 8 more courts at South Austin Tennis Center would allow for many more individual Austinites to get out and play tennis.  There are peak times during which the courts are always full: weeknights Monday through Friday from 6pm to 9pm (Recreational players and Group Programs) and Saturdays from 9am to 5pm (USTA and ATL league play).  These correspond with the times that people can fit exercise into their schedules.

On the busy weeknights, we can estimate that 4 of the courts will be for group lessons (6 players), 2 of the courts will be for doubles and 2 of the courts will be used for singles.  From 6pm to 9pm that makes 8 group lesson sessions, 4 doubles matches, and 4 singles matches for a total of 72 additional players each night or 360 per week.

During the weekdays from 9am to noon, 8 additonal courts would support 2 additional WTTA teams per day of play.  This could accomodate 76 additional roster players, plus subs in a season.

On Saturdays, ATL league matches are from 9am-11am, 11am-1pm, 1pm-3pm, and 3pm-5pm and use 4 courts per team matchup.  CATA USTA league teams make effectively the same use of the courts (in terms of players per court).  8 addtional courts would allow for 8 additional matches between two teams per week which makes room for 8 additional teams of 12 players in the league for a total 96 additional players in a season.

There are 2-3 league tennis seasons during a year and it is not always the same players on each team.  By the same token, weeknight players are not always the same individuals throughout the year.  So, if we estimate that there are 3x as many different individuals playing on weeknights and 2x as many different individuals playing leagues throughout a year, we see that 8 additional courts gets 1,080 new individual weeknight players and 336 new individual league players out on the courts.

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Court Utilization at SATC
(Source: Sheryl Behne, SATC Manager)

Weekday Hours: 9am-9pm (November 15 to March 31), 9am-10pm (April 1 to November 14)
Weekend Hours: 9am-6pm (sometimes 7pm if league needs require it)

Monday through Thursday the courts are very full from 6-9pm.  If we had more courts, we could do more with: my own Tejas leagues (currently we have a 4.0 and 4.5+ mens progressive partner league), wheelchair leagues, private weekly round robins such as the retired coaches, larger clinics, supervised coached play for novices, etc.  Friday nights are also full and we turn away players; for example, the ATC needs more than the 4 courts we can currenly give them.  For 7 months out of the year, the assistant professionals teach only group clinics in the evenings because of the demand for courts.  Weekday mornings would not be considered prime time, but we have a problem every weekday morning hosting more than two WTTA teams and two USTA teams (one team away and one here) because it leaves no courts open for the general public or for teaching.  We have had to ask some of our own coached teams to play at other facilities.  The only time of the year when play is light is Dec. 1 through Jan. 30 because of the inconsistent weather and no city-wide leagues being held.  However, we still work very hard to keep the place going strong with our own leagues and special clinics, Resolution Open tournament, etc.  Even during the winter months, when the weather is good, the courts are in demand.

The following are examples of requests for courts we could not fulfill:

• General public wanting courts between 6-9pm weekdays.
• CATA USTA league teams wanting courts on Saturdays.
• Seniors wanting to reserve 4 courts for drop-in play Mon, Wed, Fri during weekday mornings. Two different groups were declined.
• Captains of various teams wanting to reserve two or more courts for team workouts.
• Corporations such as American Airlines wanting to host a tournament.
• Charitible organizations wanting to host a tournament.
• Wheelchair Association wanting to host a 4 court league on a weekday night.
• NJTL summer program needing courts weekday mornings.
• St. Edwards University wanting to use the courts at nights for their dual matches with out of town colleges. Also, they have wanted to use our center for collegiate tournaments.
• Novices and Lone Star teams wanting a "supervised coached play" during a weekday night during prime time.
• Our own Tejas mens leagues wanting to expand from 2 or 3 courts to 3 or 4 courts weekday nights. (Progressive partner-"meet em all")