SUMMERVILLE — Frequent Doty Park tennis players fear that residents will permanently avoid using the courts if repairs and improvements aren’t made soon.
As tennis has grown increasingly popular in the Summerville area, especially with the pandemic, organizers are getting more complaints, including from professional players, around the upkeep of the courts.
Issues have ranged from extremely poor lighting to problems around maintenance and cleaning.
During a recent Town Council meeting, U.S. Tennis Association league players Lorel Morris and Beth Ann Armstrong pushed officials to do something about it.
“The lighting is so dark that it’s literally dangerous to play there at night,” Morris said.
Armstrong has lived in the town for the past eight years. Three of those were spent using the Doty Park courts.
The park is located next to the Rollins Edwards Community Center on North Hickory Street near downtown. The courts have always been popular, according to Armstrong, and interest in the game continues to expand.
“We know Summerville is growing in population,” she said. “It makes sense there would be more people.”
In the USTA league, more than 200 players use the courts, paying $35 monthly per person to use them. Over 16 teams use Doty.
Summerville High School’s tennis team also uses the courts. The park is open daily.
The damage and lack of maintenance to the courts isn’t the biggest concern to the league players; it’s the lighting.
At a minimum they would like to see new lights at the court. The reason is that many of the USTA league players use the site at night after working jobs during the day.
They’ve been pushing since last summer to get bulbs replaced. Two of the back courts are often unusable because of lighting and court maintenance, players said.
According to Armstrong and Morris, a lot of the league players from other parts of the Lowcountry refuse to play on some of the Doty courts. Many longtime players are either transitioning to using the Charleston Tennis Center courts on Farmfield Avenue or have announced that this current season on the courts is their last.
The two said they don’t want people to think they’re being overdramatic. They’ve had situations where players have fallen during games and fear that players in the 70 and older league will also fall and hurt themselves.
Some frequent users of the Doty Park tennis courts in Summerville have raised concerns around needed repairs to the court surface and fear being banned from league play due to the court damage and poor lighting. Brad Nettles/Staff
Amy Evans, the town’s Parks and Recreation director, said she has been exploring different options to address the concerns raised by the league players.
“The Parks and Recreation Department and the USTA players are working towards common goals,” Evans said. “By working together, we will be able to steadily improve tennis within Summerville.”
Armstrong and Morris said they’ve been asking for help since June. Attending the March council meeting was another attempt to get help.
When Councilman Aaron Brown, an avid tennis player, asked if building more courts would be valuable, Armstrong and Morris agreed. But they also felt it would be easier and better to take care of the courts that already exist.
“It’s a shame,” Armstrong said. “The town is growing and there is no need for this.”
Reach Jerrel Floyd at 843-937-5558. Follow him on Twitter @jfloyd134.