When I have mentioned I am on the tennis team to other students, peers and even on occasion teachers, I have been faced with two questions time and time again; “We have a team?” and “Where do they practice?”

First of all, yes. GlenOak has a boys and girls tennis team. Secondly, they practice on the school’s tennis courts, which are on the outside of the far end of the stadium up the little hill. They appear older, are cracking and quite literally on an uneven piece of land. If we want our school to champ in every sport in the Federal League, we should set them all up equally for success.

In 2016, GlenOak built its own tennis courts, which many would think is fairly recent. However, the players strongly disagree.

Despite being refinished in 2023, the tennis courts are easily weathered. They have huge cracks running all across the playing space, making it virtually impossible for players to return shots in a normal way. When it rains, certain areas are filled with water, which has caused many matches and practices to end early. Unlike other sports, tennis cannot practice in the rain, because when courts get wet, they become extremely slippery, which is a huge safety hazard.

Obviously, the environment does not always equate directly to success; the team and its players have to want it, which I fully believe both the boys and girls teams do.

However, take into consideration many other Federal League courts appear to be in better shape than ours.

The girl’s team record this past fall was 12-6, not including our tournament record, which is higher than it has been in an extremely long time. Last year and this year members of the boy’s tennis team went to the state.

Sadly, sometimes when you are on a team that is not well recognized, not even by your own school, it can be very frustrating and quite frankly disheartening to deal with as an athlete, especially when your team is succeeding.

The girls and boys alike (from our school and competing ones, because they have to deal with the poor conditions as well) have been begging for new courts for years.

Putting a flower bed by the court entrance is not going to cut it; what matters is how the gameplay is affected.

The GlenOak High School tennis courts need a renovation that is meant to last.