A familiar sight for residents taking a stroll by the Drumheller Curling Arena is that of the tennis courts often standing empty or only with a scant few players utilizing them.
The new Drumheller Tennis Club is aiming to change that. At their meeting on April 3, tennis players in the valley had a chance to meet one another and decide what their goals were.
“There was people who came to our meeting who were saying that they were so glad they finally found people to play tennis with,” said Marcel Augey, one of the founders of the club. “We have a couple goals. The first is raise awareness for the sport. Second, we want to relocate the courts.”
The current courts were built years ago and have fallen into disrepair.
“The condition of the courts is steering people away,” said Augey. “We’re driving to Standard to play tennis. They have nice, new courts. We need new courts.”
The fate of the current courts is uncertain as well. Phase 2 of the Badlands Community Facility is beginning and to make way for new hockey and curling arenas, the tennis courts may be removed.
The tennis club is already searching for potential sites to build three courts and are hoping to get the support of the Town of Drumheller There are a few factors the club is considering.
“It can’t be too close to trees. The roots of trees will easily damage courts. A prime example is the courts already in Drumheller,” said Augey. “We want to try to have a good public accessible, open location.”
The goal is to have new courts built and ready to play on in 2013, Drumheller’s centennial.
However, the club is not just about building new courts. One of the goals is to raise awareness and get residents out having fun.
“It’s not just about new courts. With the tennis club I wanted to have, once or twice a week, having mixed nights, doubles nights, or evenings for kids,” said Augey.
Augey has been playing tennis for years. Trevor Chan sparked his interest and Augey watched the stars of tennis, such as Andre Agassi, play. During the summer, Augey and several others try to play three or four times a week, but have to go elsewhere to play sometimes.
“I belong to the Medicine Hat Club and I saw what they do. I talked to the guys I play tennis with here and we decided to put our heads together to see what we could do,” said Augey. “It really started with the [Sports, Recreation, and Arts] expo. We wanted to see what interest is out there and it’s snowballed from there.”
Support has been growing for the club and the club will be playing on the old courts by the end of the month. On April 23, the club will be cleaning the courts.
For more information, visit the club’s Facebook page. To get involved, contact Augey at marcel.augey@gmail.com.
“It’s fun for everybody and it’s affordable,” said Augey. “Everyone is welcome, just come out and have fun.”
