Imagine heading to your best friend’s JV tennis match at the lower field courts one afternoon. Fun, right? Well, it would be, but at the EHS courts—where JV tennis plays—there are no bleachers, and, until recently, to go to use the bathroom. Doesn’t that sound like a pleasant fan experience? Okay, no. For a tennis program as renowned as Edina’s, its own high school courts are in a sorry state.
To get some first-hand fan perspectives on high school court conditions, I asked some JV players for fan names. Sophomore Sheila Hirsch’s response: “We don’t really have any student fans.” Well, this shouldn’t be that much of a surprise: why would there be any fans where there are no bleachers? People care, but not enough to bring a chair.
For players, the courts are equally inadequate. Junior JP Franze, who has played JV tennis the past two years, commented on the multitude of cracks in the high school courts, and the lack of seating. “I’d like to see more bleachers…This would promote more fans.”
Senior Jerry Housh, a JV player for the past three years, mentioned that “during matches I have to run and get balls that go under the holes in the fence.”
As the home of one of the most successful high school sports teams—the girls’ tennis program, which has won fourteen consecutive state championships starting in 1997—it seems unfair and almost laughable that the high school courts are in such dreadful conditions. “It’s a subpar facility for an excellent program,” said John Soma, EHS athletic director.
Why would the tennis courts be allowed to remain this way? According to Soma, some improvements have already been discussed. “There were some architects that provided some designs and prices, but the funds were no longer available,” he said.
If substantial upgrading were ever to occur, the proposal would have to navigate a complex system to receive funds. Potential projects must pass through school administration, district administration, and the Finance and Facilities Committee before being ultimately voted on by the School Board. At any point during the journey, the job could be put aside as a lower priority. So far, the high school tennis courts have been one of these lower priorities. As School Board Treasurer and Finance and Facilities Committee Chair Peyton Robb put it, “There are only certain big tickets items that can be accommodated each year.”
There is definitely some hope for the future. Soma reported that he recently had a portable restroom placed near the courts, and that “we’re working with the Edina Athletic Booster Club to get some [bleachers] this spring or this fall.”
Fans and players need to watch and be sure plans like these are carried out. For an excellent tennis program, I would have thought that at least above-average facilities throughout the district would be a given.
