At about this time next year the men’s and women’s tennis teams will swing back into action with a new, completely renovated home for the spring of 2011. This is something that has been in the works for quite some time.
The J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center , completed in August 2004, currently includes four indoor and seven outdoor courts.
The new tennis complex will include completely new courts, with stadium seating, lights and a scoreboard, along with player access connecting the two facilities and small concessions for fans.
According to Ray Brincefield, assistant athletic director of outdoor athletic facilities, the courts will help enhance every aspect of the sport.
‘It’s going to benefit everybody,’ Brincefield said. ‘Student athletes, fans, everybody within the tennis program will enjoy it.’
Brincefield said the driving force behind the new complex has been the men’s tennis head coach, Jon Choboy, who has been working on the project since its beginnings in 2004.
‘I personally started pressing for this my second year here,’ Choboy said. ‘It wasn’t anything that was opposed, everyone was in agreement, but with all the other projects it didn’t happen until now.’
One of the major reasons a new facility is necessary is recruiting. Within the past five years, Division I tennis programs have been building state-of-the-art tennis stadiums. In simple terms, whoever has the best courts and facilities gets the best players, according to Choboy.
‘Tennis is an outdoor game and I have for sure lost recruits because of our outdoor facility,’ Choboy said. ‘We have gotten some top recruits on campus but we simply couldn’t grab them because our facility is bad, our court’s cracks are wide and it’s not up to par at all with other Division I tennis facilities. But it will be now.’
Coaches recruiting against the Pack have told potential players about the problems with the courts, causing State to lose recruits on the sole basis of facilities, according to Brincefield.
The reason the outdoor courts are in such poor condition is because they were built on top of an old University landfill site.
‘The stability of the soil under the courts is not good, so our courts have to be redone a lot because they crack a lot,’ Brincefield said. ‘Because they don’t have a very good surface, our project starts with the courts and going down into the ground to make sure we have a good base.’
With the new complex the courts are not just being renovated; they are being moved as well.
‘They are tearing everything out,’ Choboy said. ‘They are digging down a few feet and moving the courts closer into the hill so the seats will be along the indoor side spanning from court one to court six.’
Moving the fan seating to the other side of the courts will allow fans a better view of the action due to the way the sun sets.
‘The way the current seats are oriented it’s looking right into the sun,’ Brincefield said. ‘In addition, we’re keeping the grass seating if you want to sit on a blanket or have children run around.’
With these improvements, sophomore Diana Mortlock of the women’s team hopes it will attract a larger fan base as well as improve the team.
‘Overall it will be great for our team to be able to take a step forward,’ Mortlock said. ‘The outdoor courts aren’t great so I will be looking forward to having a new surface to play on.’
This project, which is estimated to take 10 months once both tennis teams finish their post-season play, is targeted to begin around the end of May.
The timeline for the project includes completing the courts, lights and fence by the fall and finishing the stadium in time for the spring 2011 season, when the teams begins their outdoor tournaments.
‘It’s a really tight schedule,’ Brincefield said.
Choboy said he is most excited about having lighted courts.
‘With the lighting that we’ll have, it will allow for a much better practice schedule as well as allow for Friday and Saturday night matches,’ Choboy said. ‘It will just really enhance everything. I couldn’t possibility be more excited.’
