DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PRESENTATION Updated FEBRUARY 2020 DEDICATED

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PRESENTATION Updated: FEBRUARY 2020

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PRESENTATION CONTENTS Slide 3: Introduction Slides 4 to 14: Red, Orange, Green Ball Tennis Slide 15: Proposal Details Slide 16: Padel Tennis Court Slide 17: Padel Tennis Court Costing Slides 18 to 25: Options With Padel Tennis Court Slides 26 to 36: Options Without Padel Tennis Court Slides 37 to 41: Indicative Costings

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS INTRODUCTION In recent years, major developments in the approach to teaching tennis skills to junior players have evolved in relation to the size and texture of the ball used, the size of the court, height of the net, the size of racquets and the scoring system. In the light of these developments and the fact that the club is adding two extra indoor courts extending across the Old Navan Road, this presentation on dedicated junior courts on existing court 7 might be of interest to members of the Executive Committee, coaches, trustees and those responsible for Junior Development.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS TENNIS PLAY & STAY CAMPAIGN In February 2007 the International Tennis Federation officially launched a global campaign aimed at increasing tennis participation worldwide. The Tennis Play and Stay campaign aims to promote tennis as easy, fun and healthy, and to ensure all starter players are able to serve, rally and score from their first lesson. Fundamental to the campaign is the use of slower balls by coaches working with starter players, ensuring that their first experience of tennis is a positive one, where players are able to play the game. NOTE: Court sizes and net heights for red and orange ball tennis are not set in stone. Any convenient area can be lined and used. There are, in fact, several versions of the red ball court: mini, small & large.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS RED BALL The red ball court for the younger players (5 to 8 years) is usually 36 feet by 18 feet, but can be up to 48 feet in length. There is a mini version of the red ball court with dimensions of 27 feet by 10 feet. By using the 36 feet by 18 feet version, four temporary red ball courts can be lined on a single doubles court. This is labour intensive and time consuming if it has to be done every time there is a coaching session or a competitive event. Red ball players use red felt or foam balls with reduced bounce that are larger and softer than normal tennis balls.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS RED BALL large small

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS RED BALL

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS ORANGE BALL The orange ball court (for players 9 to 10 years) has a length of 60 feet and a width of 21 feet for singles and 27 feet for doubles. This makes it 9 feet shorter than a normal court at either end, putting the baseline half way up the forecourt of a full sized court. The width of an orange ball doubles court is the same as the width of a full size singles court and the orange ball singles court is 6 feet narrower than this (three feet either side). Note: The ITF uses metric units and e. g. specifies the length of an orange ball court as 18 m or 59 feet approximately rather than the 60 feet mentioned above. Orange ball court players use an orange ball with reduced bounce.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS ORANGE BALL SINGLES COURT The doubles court extends to the side-lines of a normal singles court. The singles courts is 6 feet narrower (3 feet either side on a standard court). The 18. 29 m x 6. 4 m is the exact conversion of 60 feet x 21 feet.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS ORANGE BALL Note the variation in court dimensions from the previous 18. 29 m x 6. 4 m.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS GREEN BALL COURT The green ball court (for players 9 to 12 years) is a full size court. Players use a green ball with 25% reduced bounce. The 23. 7 m x 8. 23 m is the exact conversion of the standard 78 feet x 27 feet.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS GREEN BALL There is now an approved alternative to the traditional scoring system. This system has sets first to four games with tiebreak at three games all. The tiebreak is first to five points with no need to win by two points.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Only the red ball court has a net of a different height, 2 feet 9 inches at the centre as opposed to all others at 3 feet. There are variations in racquet size and scoring systems that are not relevant to this discussion.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS SUMMARY

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PROPOSAL The suggestion is to consider the conversion of existing court 7 into some combination of red and orange ball courts (and perhaps keeping the green and / or yellow ball court facilities) by adding a fence parallel to Beech Park Avenue 3. 5 m from the doubles side line of court six, thereby isolating court seven for the provision of junior courts. There is also an option to square off the trapezoidal area thus formed into a rectangle. In all scenarios mentioned later, it will be necessary to move the new light pole which is two metres from the north east corner of court seven into the corner adjacent to the indoor courts building. In the event of this scheme getting approval in principle, there will surely be many variations suggested on the scenarios proposed here.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PADEL TERNNIS COURT Before proposing some scenarios for junior courts, the possibility of constructing a padel tennis court will be addressed. This is a different type of purpose built tennis court with back and side walls, something like a cut down version of a handball court or a squash court, and the ball can be played off the walls. There are variations in the detailed construction of padel tennis courts depending on materials used. Padel tennis is generally promoted as a doubles only game, but there is a singles court available. Because of the nature of the game, it is possible but very strenuous to play singles on a doubles court. Wooden padels with holes are used instead of tennis racquets. Clearly, interest in this game might be limited, but it is a very popular game in Europe and it is becoming increasingly popular here. There are currently 12 padel tennis courts in the whole of Ireland, spread across six clubs. Three of these are traditional tennis clubs. Of course, it is a much more expensive option than the junior courts, but it might fulfil a combination of demands.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PADEL TERNNIS COURT COSTING The court dimensions are 20 m x 10 m (65. 62 ft. x 32. 81 ft. ) for a dedicated doubles court and 20 m x 6 m (65. 62 ft. x 19. 69 ft. ) for a singles court. As already stated, it is possible to play singles on a doubles court but it is very strenuous. This is why padel tennis is generally considered a doubles game. Padel Court Supply and Install on existing court: € ex VAT Supply (frame, halogen floodlighting, carpet) Groundworks (guesstimate) 10, 000 Installation 5, 000 Transport 3, 000 TOTAL: 32, 000 14, 000 Options: Structure Upgrade (steel / glass) + 4, 500 No carpet - 2, 000 LED Floodlights + 800 The next slide shows a glass padel tennis court superimposed on a traditional tennis court. Later slides show a red ball court and an orange ball court could be accommodated, but the runback for the orange ball court would be very tight.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PADEL TENNIS COURT

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PADEL TENNIS COURT

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PADEL TENNIS COURT The dark grey area is the playing area of the side walls. The light grey area is the fencing which is not in play.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PADEL TENNIS DIMENSIONS

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PADEL TENNIS & ORANGE BALL COURT Note the tightness of the orange ball court at both sides and ends. Court sizes are not set in stone so the orange ball court could be shortened by say 1 m either end.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PADEL TENNIS, RED & ORANGE BALL COURTS

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS PADEL TENNIS & RED BALL COURT The red ball court shown here is the 36 ft x 18 ft version, but the larger court could be accommodated.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS 1 x PADEL, 1 x ORANGE, 2 x RED BALL COURTS The padel court could be moved closer to the left hand fence, giving more space to the two red ball courts

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS 1 x PADEL, 1 X ORANGE, 3 x RED In padel tennis, you are allowed to run outside the court to return a ball that has been smashed over a back wall! This is why the padel court is shown centered on this slide. The doors have also been included. The proposed new indoor courts foyer will take up the current space at the side of court seven. The access gate would need to be relocated to outside this building.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS OPTIONS WITHOUT PADEL COURTS The next slide shows what would seem to be the cheapest option for red ball and orange ball courts, but not necessarily the optimum solution. The existing full size singles court is retained with an orange ball court superimposed on it and a red ball court at either end. The runback may seem short on the left hand court, but the young children using the soft ball do not require as much room as adults using the normal ball would require. This option would involve building a fence to isolate court seven, relocating the existing indoor courts door, levelling the space outside, lining for red and orange ball courts and removing doubles lines from existing court seven. These doubles lines could be retained, but the court could not be used for normal doubles due to limited side-run. Other possibilities follow.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS RED, ORANGE, GREEN, YELLOW BALL COURTS The emergency door shown in red and white would be relocated to a position as indicated in the top right hand corner of the image and the area in front of the present door would be levelled. The white court is the retained singles portion of court seven. It would be optional to level the ground and move the door. The next slide shows an alternative.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS 2 x RED, 1 x ORANGE BALL COURTS This shows a new carpet surface lined for orange and red ball tennis. There is a fence isolating the orange ball court and providing a walkway to the red ball courts. The fence for the walkway could be dispensed with if entrance to the red ball courts was via the passageway between courts three and four.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS 1 x ORANGE, 2 x RED COURTS OFFSET This is similar to previous slides, but the courts are coloured appropriately. This would naturally be a more expensive solution, albeit a more visually attractive one.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS 4 x RED COURTS IN RECTANGLE In this configuration there is clearly no orange ball court. Moving the door and levelling the ground outside would be optional.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS 4 x RED COURTS IN TRAPEZIUM This option better utilises the space for optimum run-backs behind all courts by offsetting the courts. Relocation of the doors and levelling the ground would be desirable in this configuration.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS 1 x ORANGE, 2 x RED COURTS (N / S)

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS 1 x ORANGE, 2 x RED COURTS (E / W)

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS 3 x RED BALL COURTS (3 x N / S)

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS 3 x RED BALL COURTS (1 x N / S, 2 x E / W)

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS REPRESENTATIVE COSTINGS To establish indicative costs, estimates were sought for three scenarios based on the configuration of 1 x orange ball court (north/south) and 2 x red ball courts (east/west ). 1. Painted Tarmacadam surface : 2. Carpet Surface 1: Standard green surface with white lines. 3. Carpet Surface 2: Standard green surface court surrounds with courts themselves coloured appropriately. These are shown on the following slides.

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS COST: 1 X ORANGE COURT 2 x RED COURTS Painted Tarmacadam Surface: Removal and disposal of existing carpet surface Levelling of portion around existing emergency door from indoor courts Preparation of tarmacadam surface for painting Apply 2 coats non slip paint with white formation lines Erection of fence along full east side of court six, 3. 5 m from east side-line Erection of lower level fence between proposed yellow ball court and proposed red ball courts Relocation of gate at north-east corner of court seven to the north-west corner of new enclosure (the existing gate will be replaced by the wall of the new indoor courts foyer) Any other requirements not included in the above Cost: € 10, 750

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS COST: 1 X ORANGE COURT 2 x RED COURTS Green Carpet , White Lines: Removal and disposal of existing carpet surface Levelling of portion around existing emergency door from indoor courts New green carpet surface over whole area of new enclosure White lines as required to accommodate the new courts Erection of fence along full east side of court six, 3. 5 m from east side-line Erection of lower level fence between proposed yellow ball court and proposed red ball courts Relocation of gate at north-east corner of court seven to the north-west corner of new enclosure (the existing gate will be replaced by the wall of the new indoor courts foyer) Any other requirements not included in the above Cost: € 28, 450

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS COST: 1 X ORANGE COURT 2 x RED COURTS Colour Infill in Blue, Dark Green or Red or Yellow Lines: Removal and disposal of existing carpet surface Levelling of portion around existing emergency door from indoor courts New green carpet surface over area surrounding new courts Red, blue or dark green carpet infill for surface of red ball courts Orange carpet for orange ball court (red or other colour might suffice if unavailable) White lines as required to accommodate the new courts Erection of fence along full east side of court six, 3. 5 m from east side-line Erection of lower level fence between proposed yellow ball court and proposed red ball courts Relocation of gate at north-east corner of court seven to the north-west corner of new enclosure (the existing gate will be replaced by the wall of the new indoor courts foyer) Any other requirements not included in the above Cost: € 29, 650

DEDICATED JUNIOR COURTS COST SUMMARY: € ex VAT Existing tarmacadam painted: 10, 750 New green carpet surface all over with white lines: 28, 450 New green carpet surface surrounding appropriately coloured and orange ball courts; white lines: 29, 650 A suitably painted acrylic top surface on existing tarmacadam should be considered. This would give a better bounce for the red and orange balls and should be a cost effective option.