It’s a sunny weekend afternoon, and Carolina blue overwhelms the sky. So, you and a friend decide to go play some tennis; the first logical venue would be the tennis courts next to Trask Coliseum and across from the soccer field – the courts everyone passes by at our main entrance. However, upon further inspection, you arrive and find all of the gates locked.

This in not an uncommon occurrence here at UNCW; give it a try for yourself, but chances are, when you arrive at the tennis courts on our beautiful weekends, these new courts will not have a single soul enjoying the game of tennis.

“As with all of our athletic facilities, we cannot afford to have them open to unsupervised use. There are campus recreation tennis courts towards the back of campus that are available for the use of the student body,” said Richie Grimsley, UNCW’s assistant athletic director and facilities and event manager.

The four courts located near the residence halls are in good enough shape to play tennis on; there’s no argument there. However, the university is not getting the most out of the courts located next to Trask. Are students – or even faculty – going to cause so much damage to these courts that they can no longer be used for intercollegiate play? These are asphalt courts we’re talking about here, not grass fields that can be torn up when played on.

Grimsley also said the following in an e-mail interview:

“We charge a facility use fee for using all of our athletic facilities unless they are part of an approved pre-organized function. None of our full-time athletic facilities are open for ‘free play.'”

According to UNCW’s athletic facilities Web site, the UNCW tennis complex and its courts are “constantly maintained for peak performance in intercollegiate play. Three additional courts are also located near the residence halls for student use.”

Both men’s and women’s teams are part of our Division I athletics here at UNCW, so these courts were built specifically for them. Trask Coliseum and Brooks Field are never open to the students, faculty or public for free play or use; that’s for good reason. These facilities need to be held in pristine condition in order to ensure the best possible surfaces for competition.

In essence, there are obvious perks to being a Division I athlete and being able to play on the best-kept tennis courts is just one of the small benefits these athletes deserve.