Riverview tennis facility needs lights
Published Wednesday November 4th, 2009
Club enjoyed turnabout season this past summer
The Riverview Tennis Club enjoyed a turnabout season this summer and hopes to continue that growth over the next several years.
Blessed with six clay courts, the RTC accomplished much during the past season including an increase in membership, more sponsorship from businesses and added focus on the community -- providing free court access to day camps and giving tennis demonstrations to several hundred area students.
The Riverview club is rightfully proud of its six clay courts and feels it has one of the best playing surfaces in the province. The club feels the clay surface is easier on the joints and offers beginners a better surface to learn the game.
Despite all the positive steps this past season, RTC president Charles Hebert feels there's still one major item -- lights -- the club needs to make itself a top-rated tennis facility.
"We need those lights," Hebert said. "We've had tremendous support from the town and parks and recreation department and hopefully before too long we'll have those lights installed."
The executive and volunteers at the club feel if the Riverview courts had lights they'd be able to extend the hours of operation and give members and prospective members an added incentive to join the club.
The club also feels having permanent lights would put the club on an even footing with the Dieppe and Moncton clubs, both of which have lights.
"Lights will be the catalyst for the club's continued growth," Hebert said. "It will also help market the club as a full-range facility."
The issue of having lights installed at the RTC was among the major focuses of a presentation brought to Riverview town council a week ago.
"We wanted to start a dialogue with them (town) about the possibility of getting lights installed," Hebert said. "Like I said, the town and recreation department have been very good to us and we know they'll continue to support us in our endeavours.
"We expect the town will deliberate various requests for funds over the next few months and hopefully they'll consider our request for lights."
Due to the work of the executive and many other volunteers, this past summer showed a 50 per cent increase in membership -- from 71 last year to 107 this year. It was the highest membership count since 2005.
The average membership since 1998 at the Riverview club has been about 120 members.
By comparison, the Dieppe and Moncton tennis clubs had over 200 members this past summer.
Hebert explained that lights enable the Dieppe and Moncton clubs to extend peak playing time. From June to October, those clubs are open until 10 p.m. By September, they are offering nearly three hours more court time than the Riverview facility.
The lack of lights in Riverview limits the potential for membership growth and some members are forced to play elsewhere in the evening. And as summer progresses, court usage dips in Riverview whereas the Moncton and Riverview clubs stay busy in the evenings through September and early October.
The RTC executive feels the current membership could easily be doubled with the addition of lights due to the increase in peak playing time.
Besides Hebert, members of the RTC executive are William Langley, vice-president; Joanne Moore, treasurer; and Raymonde Breau, secretary.
More Sports
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
