On Thursday, Oct. 3, Del Val’s Tennis Club ran its first after school meeting, cleaning up the school’s tennis courts for “Clean Up the Courts Day.”
The club is preparing for Courtside Racquet Club to revamp the courts for the school year. Before these renovations can take place, weeds and overgrown grass must be removed from the space.
The project was run by club advisor, Tracy Miceli, along with co-presidents Wyatt Mendolia and Grayson Basile.
“The courts had been neglected,” Miceli said. “Our goal is to clean up that entire court space because I have been speaking with the general manager of Courtside Racquet Club, and they are very interested in starting a team here [at Del Val].”
Tennis Club ran its first official year in the 2023-2024 school year, but the courts were run down and neglected. This year, Courtside Racquet Club agreed to remodel Del Val’s courts by repairing cracks in the pavement, repainting them and installing new nets.
Anyone is welcome to join Tennis Club, and students do not need experience in the sport. It’s a good environment for those just beginning.
“People should join Tennis Club because it is a good thing to do if you have free time after school,” Basile said. “It’s a small club, so you’ll know everyone in it. It is not competitive play. It is just for fun, but we are trying to make it into teams. If you’re looking to play competitively, sign up.”
However, when it comes to turning the club into an official sport, more factors come into play. Some of these include funding and having younger students show interest.
“Funding is helpful, but we also need to establish that there are younger students that are interested in coming up to Del Val and playing tennis,” Miceli said. “We would need to make some kind of survey or a feeder club where middle school students are playing tennis.”
Del Val students interested in joining can visit Miceli in The Commons, email her or show up to the next meeting. The club has racquets and balls to supply to students who have never played the sport, so equipment is not an issue.
