Opponent cancels tennis game citing unsafe courts

03/27/09 - The Quinnipiac University women's tennis team traveled roughly an hour and a half to the University of Rhode Island for its match yesterday afternoon, but did not hesitate to leave after seeing the condition of URI's tennis courts.

"They didn't like the shape of our courts and elected not to play," URI head coach Sandy Wood said.

Both teams had already completed their warm-ups and were ready to play when Wood was informed of the decision.

The courts are in visibly rough shape with cracks protruding from the center of the playing surface under the net. The cracks appear to have been filled in the past, but because of weather conditions have deteriorated again.

"I didn't think [the courts] were safe for my players to play on," Quinnipiac head coach Mike Quitko said.

Quinnipiac, who is scheduled to play in its conference tournament in two weeks, has played at URI in the past, but not since April 4, 2001, which was nearly eight years ago.

"The courts were much better then than they are now," he said. "It was a matter of safety for my players."

Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn said he has heard complaints from both Wood and his players in the past and even said that the courts are in line to have the cracks filled, a temporary fix that has been done every other year since the cracks became a problem. However, Bjorn said the current economic situation has affected the university and has stalled the allocation of available funds.

The necessary finances are normally made available to the university through a program called "Asset Protection," and Bjorn said he is committed to finding a way to getting the courts fixed, even if the program cannot make any money available.

"I'm going to head back to campus and take a walk out there and visit with [coach Wood] and examine our options," Bjorn said.

Fixing the courts comes with a hefty price tag and in order to get the funding, some of Bjorn's options may have to include fundraising.

On a normal schedule, six of the 12 courts are patched at a time. Bjorn estimates the next patch job will cost between $16,000 and $18,000.

As far as a complete resurfacing goes, he said the university has two options. The first is to rebuild the tennis courts, which is estimated to cost $50,000 to $60,000 per court. With 12 varsity courts, the university is looking at a $600,000 to $700,000 price tag.

The second option entails grinding down some of the existing surface and rebuilding it, estimated at $125,000, Bjorn said.

"We can submit a request to Asset Protection and hope that money becomes available in the future," he said. "That would certainly be a much better fix than what we have been doing in the last several years."

The university's most recent athletic projects have drawn funding from a variety of sources. The baseball team's Bill Beck Field just received a $50,000 face lift. It received funds from the Ram Slam Club, the URI Athletic Department and the URI Department of Facilities Services.

Seven years ago, Rhody finished the largest construction project in the university's 117-year history when it built the Ryan Center. The $54-million project was funded by utilizing $15 million in private donations, $18 million in state appropriations and $21 million in revenue bonds.

"Our women's tennis program is certainly something that is very important to us," Bjorn said. "Its student athletes have done a great job in terms of competing, so we certainly have to do whatever we can in order to put them in the best possible position to compete."

The Rams' match with Quinnipiac is currently listed as cancelled and Quinnipiac is not slated to suffer a forfeit. Both Wood and Quitko said they did not think the match would be made up in the future.