The MVHS tennis courts have welcomed back the sound of sneakers screeching across the surface, a sound that has been absent for the past two and a half years.
According to Athletic Director Tim Lugo, the courts were closed in June 2021 to store construction equipment needed for the new auxiliary gym.
The construction on the Auxiliary gym was supposed to be done by October of 2022, but due to material delays from COVID-19, the gym finished construction in January 2023, Lugo said. He also mentioned that once the construction was over, the courts were able to be freed up, but needed some refurbishing as well as reconfiguring, since the 800 wing and Auxiliary gym were added on top of a section of the tennis courts.
The biggest delay was the acrylic top coat that needed to be applied to the tennis courts. According to Lugo, when applying the acrylic, the temperature needed to be 55 degrees and rising throughout the day, which they were expecting in early March 2023.
“[But we] had the worst winter in a quarter century,” Lugo said. “So we didn’t really get temperatures in the mid 50s until early to mid May when they actually put the acrylic down.”
In the time that the courts were closed, the boys and girls tennis teams had to practice at Rengstorff park, about a 15 minute drive from MVHS. This was a challenge, because tennis practices started at four and players would often arrive late, varsity singles player Hannah Rutherford said.
“It was inconvenient. Players had to bike or get rides…and we also didn’t get as many courts and as many hours of court time,” varsity tennis coach Julian Ong said. “So it’s great having our own courts.”
Another downside of playing at Rengstorff was that the team wasn’t allowed to have a speaker because the loud music would annoy the senior pickleball players, singles player Sophia Ong said.
“Now that we have our own courts, we bring a speaker, [and] we made a giant playlist so now we can blast our music and it really helps with our energy,” Sophia Ong said.
Mountain View High School also hosts Spartans Sports Camp every summer. According to Doug Wiersig, Spartans Sports Camp director, the tennis courts are used for tennis camp and also multi-sport, their biggest camp. Not having access to the courts meant they couldn’t offer tennis camp and lost their home base for multi-sport, making it harder to manage the campers.
The courts finally opened in the spring of 2023. The boys and girls tennis teams were able to test out the courts during the summer prior to the start of the school year. Spartans Sports Camp was also able to use the courts this summer.
“The new courts are awesome,” Wiersig said. “It’s 100% resurfaced, they look great. We’re very thankful for all the new facilities. We’re really sitting in a very nice position for next summer.”
