SPOKANE, Wash. – Scott Wortley, head coach of Lewis and Clark High School’s Men’s Tennis team, started his tennis career in his parents house.
“I broke a lamp,” Wortley said. I’ve broken pictures. I’ve knocked off flowers off of a nice Hawaiian lily I got my mom for Mother’s Day. I mean, we’ve destroyed pretty much a lot of the house.”
Wortley practiced on a different type of indoor court, but now, he is advocating for a public-use indoor tennis court to be built in Shadle Park.
The proposal for the indoor court is part of the proposed Together Spokane bond and levy put forward by Spokane Public Schools and Spokane Parks.
As per their website, Together Spokane aims to create a “shared vision for the future of our city’s parks, schools, and neighborhoods.”
They say part of that vision is increasing Spokane’s access to wellness activities.
CEO of the United States Tennis Assocation Pacific Northwest, Matthew Warren, says there is a large disconnect between the people that want to play tennis and those that have access to tennis courts.
“Currently, there are only 22 indoor courts in the region, serving over 44,000 active player,” Warren said. “There are additional 47,000 people who want to play tennis but aren’t playing tennis because they don’t currently have access.”
Indoor tennis courts could provide access year-round, not just in the temperate times of the year.
But Together Spokane and the USTAPNW is not only focusing on building courts. They also plan to refurbish courts and, Warren says, provide curriculum and materials to physical education teachers to keep them in the game.
Warren also says there are plans to expand a scholarship program to keep students in the sport.
Wortley says that Tennis is not just a sport, its a way to teach life lessons.
“It starts with love,” Wortley said. “You have faults, you have breaks, you have rallies. If you have a lot which is on your serve, if the ball hits the net and rolls back over, you can stumble, doesn’t mean the points over.”
The Together Spokane Bond and Levy will be on the ballot in November, and will fund projects over a 20 year period.
