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Show Tennis Anyone? Don't expect a perfect game on Vernal's Courts By David L. Wains Where has the surface gone? This is a question often asked by tennis players like John Dicker-son, Dicker-son, who play on the Ver- nal C'ty courts. Out of the nine public courts located in Vernal, not one has been kept up to minimal conditions. The three tennis courts located next to the Uintah High School have been needing repair for several years. Each court has a chain link fpnrp as a T ' -frpF V P I r-ii"TJ"'"",,7iTii""'""- -m'ln 1 i . - -1- A PEELING SURFACE, a poor chain link net and some weeds cause tennis playing to be even more difficult on one of the three tennis courts next to Uintah High School . -c A - -I'-.v'-V- J I . - n, , WHAT HAS HAPPENED? a ripped net propped up by an iron n?lmnh V teHmS Plarg d'SCOura8ing. (upper left) The mi ng of asphalt and concrete surfaces can become disadvantaZuf (upper right). A gate torn down at Uintah High's court shows how hey are being cared for (lower left). The only atSmp? to maintain the condition of Vernal's public tennis courts is h c sign which has fallen to the ground (lower right). ","UL '.V j.j"?f?flSK!ww! net, which isn't all bad, if they were kept at the proper pro-per tennis net height. There was an attempt to raise the three-inch low-nets low-nets by placing an iron rod in the middle of the nets, proping the center of the net higher. This made the net look like a symetrical "w". Nets aren't the only problem with the three courts, the surface of the courts have been wearing off in spots. This gives the courts a three-tone appearance, ap-pearance, and causes feet to slide on the court when played on. Vernal City also has four newer courts located in the ballpark complex, which could be suitable for play if they were built in a more conventional manner. These courts have a cement playing area or in-surface and an asphalt area as the non-playing non-playing or out surface. The wear on these courts has caused the softer surface, sur-face, asphalt, to sink lower than the concrete. Hence, there is approximately approx-imately an inch drop off where the surfaces meet. Sometimes it is like trying try-ing to play on a staircase. The other two city tennis ten-nis courts are located behind the Dinosaur Gardens. These courts are over fifteen years old and the concrete has chipped chip-ped away in many pljices. This makes playing very frustrating, since the hall may bounce in any direction. direc-tion. It seems that Vernal City Ci-ty has plenty f tennis courts to keep the public liappy, but according to tennis players the quality and maintenance of tu. courts leave much to be desired. t ! 1 1 II |
