OPEN-COURT PLAY

Court Open Play beginning June 28^th: Suppose you want to go down to the courts to play or have a pickup game with your family or friends. In that case, SBIA has supplied its members a “Members” deck box located on Court #1 (shed side) with pickleballs, pickleball net, paddles, tennis racquets, tennis balls, and basketball.  The sports equipment in the Member Box is for our members and their guests (we will replace no damaged or vandalized equipment).  You will receive the combination to the lock on the Member box on your CONFIRMATION EMAIL WHEN YOU COMPLETE YOUR MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION.  Court Open Play is Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9:00 am until dark and every other day from 11:15 am until dark. No sign-up is required.

TENNIS COURT RECOMMENDATIONS

Our tennis courts are where our activities really start.  Our courts are open each morning at 8 am and close at dusk.  Children take tennis lessons there, kids meet for friendly get-togethers there in the summer, folks meet to play Pickleball, Tennis, and Basketball, and many of our SBIA events are held on the courts.  It’s what we had in mind all along, right?

Something you didn’t have in mind, though, is what seems to be happening with increased frequency.  Members are complaining that folks have had a fast-food picnic overnight and left food wrappers, empty bottles, etc. lying around.

You show up to play and end up having to clean up the mess, and suddenly, you become aware of several other problems.  Someone has allowed their children to use one court to ride their collapsible scooters because the surface is marked.  On another court, there are permanent black marks because someone has allowed their children to ride their bikes and skateboard.

The same thing that makes our Association courts great — the fact that any member or guest can use them — is the same thing that threatens them: anyone can use them (and, unfortunately, abuse them).

Save Our Surface
A tennis court is built with certain traffic in mind, namely court shoes and tennis and pickleballs.  It’s not set up to accommodate skateboards, inline skates, bikes, scooters, and other uses, and the surface is going to be marked up by basketball shoes, street shoes, and so forth.

Signs have been posted stating the rules (no skates, bikes, etc. on the surface).  Unfortunately, that only works for those who read the signs and obey the rules, two ingredients that are often missing from those who are abusing the courts.

What Can We Do?
We will continue to lock the gates at night and ask that our nighttime security check the area on their rounds.  We are scheduling more activities in the daytime hours to keep the courts busy.  Courts that see a lot of player traffic are less likely to sit idle and less likely to be used the wrong way or even abused.  We ask our members to be vigilant in keeping skates, bikes, etc., off the surface to protect the courts for future use.