Belfast councilors have agreed to exempt a group of longtime users of the city’s public tennis courts from new scheduling rules, after the players complained that the changes disrupted their established early morning playing schedule.
Before this year, recreational tennis players could schedule free two-hour slots on the courts at City Park by using sign-up sheets, as long as they didn’t interfere with scheduled play by schools or other formal programs.
But in early January, the council adopted a new reservation policy that abandoned the sign-up system for drop-in tennis players. Instead, it allowed drop-in users to continue playing for free, but it required that they stop playing after 30 minutes if another drop-in group wanted to use the courts.
On Tuesday night, members of a long-time early-morning tennis group called the Dawn Patrol complained to councilors that the changes had forced them to cut short some of their matches and practices.
“In January, the council approved a change in the tennis court reservation system that has jeopardized regular, organized play by people like us. It baffles me why a change would be made for people like us,” said Dawn Patrol member Jay Davis. “We have eight people to play tennis as a group, and to be told, after half an hour of play, when we’ve signed up for two hours that we have to leave the court — how can we keep playing like that?”
Pam Salokangas, director of the city’s parks and recreation department, told councilors that the change had been meant to ensure more equitable access for all residents to the court. She said the department had received some complaints in the past that they couldn’t get on the courts, especially during busy times of summer, because they were monopolized by other players.
“There’s fear in the room that, ‘We’ve been doing this up to 30 years, why the change now?’” Salokangas said. “The change now is that courts need to be open to everybody.”
She noted that it could be inconvenient for people to drive over to the tennis courts looking to play, only to find out they need to sign up for a future slot. The changes were also meant to help the city schedule more revenue-generating tennis programs and clinics that could build interest in the sport, according to Salokangas.
“There was no intent to remove these teams from playing,” Salokangas said. “At no time would I ever want to stop tennis.”
Councilors ultimately approved amendments to the new rules after Councilor Mary Mortier proposed grandfathering in some of the former scheduling rules for three organized tennis groups that have used the courts for decades. But under the changes, their sign-up sheets will be moved from paper to an online system.