'Tennis in the Park' to improve courts, programs

Every year, tennis players look forward to spring, which brings the bright, contrasting greens of the courts and fresh yellow ball fuzz floating through the air as the rhythmic thuds and pings of rallies echo across the park. \nBut this spring, Bloomington tennis enthusiasts have something else to get excited about.\nMick Renneisen, director of Bloomington City Parks and Recreation, and City Councilman David Sabbagh announced at the end of February that the United States Tennis Association and the National Recreation and Park Association named Bloomington a 2006 Tennis in the Park Community. This means that the community will be eligible for resources and grants from the two organizations to improve its tennis programs and facilities.\n"I hope it reinforces that tennis is a viable, recreational opportunity and that we have a lot of enthusiasts in Bloomington," Renneisen said. "We want to encourage their participation, even if it's just casual,"\nRenneisen said the Parks and Recreation Department will try to use its Tennis in the Park designation to focus on refurbishing and maintaining court facilities. The department maintains 21 courts around the city, and its first project is to raise an estimated $50,000 to replace the lighting at the Winslow Sports Complex courts. \nThe benefits, however, might not be immediate, said John Turnbull, the department's sports director, who applied for the Tennis in the Park designation during the winter. Turnbull said he filled out the application for the Category 1 level of the program, meaning the community could receive at most $2,500 to help with the cost of refurbishing. He said that they should know if they have received funding from the USTA by the end of the summer.\n"We just want to maintain our current facilities and continue to provide facilities for the people of Bloomington to use recreationally and competitively as well," said Dee Tuttle, sports staff associate for the Parks and Recreation Department.\nEach year, the city offers beginning and advanced classes for both adults and youth, as well as private and semi-private lessons, from May through September. The city also holds an annual adult tournament each summer. Tuttle estimated that about 100 participants entered last year's tournament and said participation in all tennis programs has been growing.\n"Participation numbers over the last three years have increased," she said. "There are trends in every sport, and we happen to be on the upswing again, which is great because tennis is a lifetime sport."\nTennis in the Park is designed to help parks and recreation agencies maintain and improve facilities and programming and, last year, provided $124,000 in cash grants, according to the NRPA Web site. Renneisen said he is hopeful that membership in the program will help tennis become less of a "cyclical" sport in the community and encourage people to get involved in the city's programs.\n"I think there are only so many sports-related activities people can do for their entire lives, (but) tennis is one of them," he said. "We see players who are 70 and 80 on our courts. It keeps them healthy, it keeps them fit and socially engaged and gets them outdoors. A lot of other sports tend to not be options for us as we age. You can't play football when you're 80"