by Rennie Anderson
A pickleball group has been trying to reserve six of the twelve tennis courts at the Peninsula Tennis Club to regularly play pickleball. On January 15th, 2023, the pickleball group made a formal request to the San Diego City Parks and Recreation department to take over half of the tennis courts.
Point Loma High School has been playing tennis and working with the Peninsula Tennis Club (PTC) for 30 years, according to Au-Co Mai, a member of the Peninsula Tennis Club board of directors
With the new pickleball group taking half of the courts at PTC, Point Loma High School tennis would have to come to a halt, as the PTC is not able to support PLHS tennis along with their other members. PLHS tennis would have to find new courts to practice on. However, the court requirements for a high school tennis team, especially one with both JV and varsity teams, is difficult to meet. To be able to play games in the league, schools need a minimum of six courts. With varsity and JV, these six courts are barely enough. The team already practices at 6:30 A.M., as that is the only time they are able to access all twelve courts. When matches are played in the afternoon, the team utilizes six courts, which often makes the competitions feel rushed, as there are often club members waiting to play on the courts as well. While playing at a different venue is one possible solution, all of the tennis courts within a reasonable distance are not available, as other high school teams occupy them or the PLHS tennis team does raise enough money to rent them out.
PLHS is one of the few schools in the San Diego Unified School District that doesn’t have tennis courts on campus. Not having courts available on campus or in the neighborhood to play on is becoming a rising concern amongst the tennis players.
There are a few student-athletes on the team who are working towards getting tennis college scholarships, and want to play tennis at a college level. Without a tennis team at PLHS, this becomes more of a challenge.
Sports are an incredibly important element to the overall high school experience. Tennis in particular has been a long standing popular sport in Point Loma, is often less costly than other teams sports, and is the perfect way for people to be introduced and find their love for the game. It is important that high school students can continue to play tennis and learn to love it, just as so many have in the past. While pickleball is an exciting addition to Robb Field, the tennis courts might not be the right spot due to its important role in the PLHS community.
“We need people to contact two very important people by both email and phone,” Au-Co Mai said, regarding the closure of the tennis courts for the PLHS team. “They will be tallying the phone calls and emails that they receive from the public so everybody’s participation counts.”
If you are seeking contacts to reach out regarding this issue use these resources below:
Mr. Andy Field, Director of Parks & Recreation (Email: Afield@sandiego.gov Phone: 619-235-1110)
Mayor Todd Gloria’s office (Email: MayorToddGloria@sandiego.gov Phone: 619-236-6330)