Community Voices And Blog - chapelhilltennis.org

18Feb 2022 by jerrye316

Champions – Chapel Hill High School Tennis Teams

Advocate, Public Tennis Courts, Youth Tennis

Did you know? Chapel Hill High Schools Tennis Teams have been NC State Team Champions for 18+ times. Last year 2021, the Girls East Chapel Hill High School Team went undefeated, losing only in the state championship finals. The JV team, which uses the Cedar Falls courts, went 7-2 in matches under the coaching of Elizabeth Heetderks. Elizabeth has also been an advocate for maintaining and improving our courts at Cedar Falls for which we are thankful. Tennis is alive in Chapel Hill! Let's support tennis athletes of all ages by providing public tennis facilities to provide the opportunity to become school tennis champions, no matter your economic status. Many of these athletes started and developed with lessons, practices, and matches on CH public tennis courts. Congrats to all our…

12Jan 2022 by jerrye316

Champagne and Tennis

Advocates, Court Maintenance, Public Tennis Courts

Cheers for a happy new year 2022. Last year was a good year for Chapel Hill public tennis. We saw a lot of incremental improvements to the public courts, communication channels with the town P&R were established, and significant future renovation proposals were presented. Most importantly the tennis community became engaged in the decision processes. Together, we coordinated and worked for improvements to the tennis facilities with a sense of "fairness and transparency". It's a new year. The focus was mainly on Ephesus and Cedar Falls/Hargraves last year, and we need to keep the good changes and momentum going there. We should also investigate needed updates to the other tennis court locations. And preserve our existing courts for tennis. The plan is to hold tennis stakeholder and status update meetings…

26Oct 2021 by jerrye316

Town Agrees to Keep Six Courts At Cedar Falls. Really Good News!

Advocates

Update: This is an update to a previous blog regarding a town proposal to eliminate yet another full size tennis court. Good news. A bond has passed with funds allocated to totally renovate the tennis courts at Cedar Falls starting in 2022. More good news. In a PG&R Commission meeting last week and monthly meeting with P&R, it was stated that the town has agreed to proceed with keeping all six full size tennis courts. Lines will be painted representing junior courts. In an earlier proposal, the original renovation plan was to eliminate a full size court for 3-4 junior courts. The tennis community united and provided feedback to the town opposing this plan. Junior courts have value but that value is less than keeping the six full size courts…

26Oct 2021 by jerrye316

Lights Are Shining Bright Again At Ephesus Tennis Courts

Court Maintenance, Public Tennis Courts

Update: This is an update to a previous post about darkness with six light bulbs out at Ephesus tennis courts. On Sept 8, 2021, P&R and the tennis community took a tour of the Ephesus tennis courts to review fixes needed. Regarding the lights, it was requested to prune the tree limbs away from the lights and to replace the burned out bulbs. Tree limbs were pruned and now the lights when working can shine down without light being blocked from the tennis courts. Unfortunately, for awhile there were six bulbs that were out. Two of these bulbs are for court 1 which is typically the most heavily used court in the evenings. That also is approximately 1 in 3 bulbs of all bulbs not working. With the winter months…

10Sep 2021 by jerrye316

Bicycle Lanes and Junior Courts

Advocates, Public Tennis Courts

There is value in both, but ... The tennis courts at Cedar Falls are planned to be renovated. However, the proposal originally proposed by Parks and Rec was to eliminate a full size court from six to five and replace with 4 junior tennis courts. See town proposal <here>. The question is not whether junior courts are good, but at what expense and benefit. All the full sized courts are currently used by the East Chapel Hill HS JV teams. Once the courts are renovated there will be even more demand for full use of courts in the evening. There is also the possibility with six courts to rent out the courts to tennis associations. So why reduce the number of courts to five? When CH Parks and Rec was…

27Aug 2021 by jerrye316

Viewpoint: Advocating For Safe and Viable Tennis Courts And CH Town’s Failure to Respond

Advocate, Public Tennis Courts

I have advocated, fought, and met with town staff and many tennis players for over two decades in an effort to make the Ephesus Tennis courts and the Phillips Tennis Courts safe and viable for play, getting re-done when cracks, sponginess, holes, peeling, excessive water retention and other problems have reduced the playability of the courtsto nearly zero. We have tried to have regular maintenance done on the courts after each of the re-do's, but the Town never seems to have the time, person power, or funding to do it. In recent years the Town has responded to the loudest noises from citizens, and without formal organization, tennis has lost out (and lost courts!) to another newer more vocal sport. The Town has failed to follow-up with contractors who have…

25Aug 2021 by jerrye316

Viewpoint: Junior Tennis Courts

Advocate, Public Tennis Courts

Our family has experience with junior courts (our kids played matches on them in various tennis programs). Based on our experience, I don’t believe adult tennis courts need to be removed to make space for junior courts. Junior lines overlapped with adult ones aren’t a big deal for either the kids, or adults who play using the ‘regular’ ones. Retaining adult courts will provide flexibility for both adults and juniors to play in the same facility. Contributor: Resident of CH Viewpoints are opinions expressed by the contributor.

24Aug 2021 by jerrye316

Viewpoint: Concerned About CH Public Tennis Court Conditions

Advocate, Public Tennis Courts

I'm very concerned about the public tennis courts in Chapel Hill. Not only keeping them as tennis courts, but the maintenance and regular upkeep of them.Each year, more and more decline has happened. As a frequent user, it is sad to see. I hope that Park & Rec personnel will hear our voice! The tennis community is alive and thriving! Contributor: SB (Chapel Hill Resident) Viewpoints are opinions expressed by the contributor.

20Jul 2021 by jerrye316

Welcome: Chapel Hill Tennis Voices

Advocates

Welcome to the launch of Chapel Hill Tennis Voices, spreading news, constructive opinions, and articles regarding the public tennis community in Chapel Hill. Make your voices heard. Contribute to this section by e-mailing admin@chapelhilltennis.org . The goal is to bring the tennis community together by having a central place to: Share information affecting the tennis players and public facilities Advocate for the preservation and renovations of the current public courts Make people aware of proposals from the town and Parks and Rec affecting public tennis facilities Organize to provide feedback and guide the town on future decision about CH tennis Support our youth, family and school tennis teams so their voices are heard Provide a vehicle for tennis players to meet other tennis players