Continued construction debacle: Tennis team finds new home

The+construction+has+demolished+the+NC+tennis+courts%2C+leaving+the+team+with+no+training+sites+on+campus+and+many+inconveniences+to+come.+

Esteban Alarcon

The construction has demolished the NC tennis courts, leaving the team with no training sites on campus and many inconveniences to come.

Esteban Alarcon, Reporter, Photographer

Due to the plan to build a new gym, construction demolished NC’s tennis courts in middle January, leaving athletes to move training to Cobb County Kennworth Park at 3900 S Main St in Acworth.

The 2017 tennis tryouts commenced at the brink of the construction, an unfortunate coincidence, and the team faces many inconveniences. Instead of having tennis practice a few steps from the school, it takes place a mile down the traffic-jammed road. Considering that only three of the sixteen athletes drive, the challenge of getting to practice and tryouts continues to pose problems on the players, parents, and coaches.

“I try to carpool with someone to practice but a lot of the times it doesn’t work. I don’t think that all of this construction is worth this mess,” sophomore and varsity athlete Blake Williams said.

With school dismissal at 3:30, athletes arrive to their transportation at 3:40, make it out of the student lot in seven to ten minutes, and arrive at the new location around 3:50. The construction project only worsens the traffic around the school, adding to the inconveniences it causes.

Additional problems will rise in the future when playing matches at home. The “home courts” will be located in Legacy Park, a residence miles from the school. This placement of home courts will cause further confusion for visiting teams.

“Yes, the construction is for the good of the school, but as for the tennis team, it’s tough. There are many inconveniences caused by the project,” varsity Tennis Director, Coach Hullender, said.

The new courts will not be finished for an estimated two to three years.