TheLounge
03-27-2007, 01:45 PM
Other than the a number of schools installing synthetic turf football fields, the one athletic facility that is getting the most upgrades is tennis. Carlmont added a seventh court a few years ago while San Mateo and Aragon upgraded their tennis courts as part of greater school construction projects.
Yet Mills High, one of the best tennis programs over the past decade, has courts that need a serious facelift. The courts themselves need to be re-surfaced, the fencing surrounding the courts needs to be re-done as well as several other projects.
The San Mateo Union High School District, however, doesn’t have the necessary funds to upgrade the courts at Mills. Instead of whining and complaing, the Mills tennis program, school and the Millbrae community at large, has stepped up to fund the changes themselves.
OK. There’s a little whining.
“The biggest thing is, every school seems to get their courts rebuilt and we have to do it all on our own,” said long-time Mills coach Scott Selig, who graduated from Mills in 1982 and has been the boys’ and girls’ coach since 1993. “It’s kind of interesting, (considering) we have one of the top programs around. At least we’re getting it done. If you want to re-do anything and the district doesn’t have the money, you have to do it yourself.”
The courts at Mills are used by more than just th school’s tennis teams. Selig said senior-citizen groups use the courts in the morning, P.E. classes use them in the afternoon. Then there are Millbrae park and recreation programs that use the courts, as do the Taylor Middle School teams. Add in just the general public that uses them and the Millbrae Tennis Club and the Mills courts are some of heaviest used courts around.
“We leave our courts unlocked all the time (so people can play on them),” Selig said, adding that it’s been about 10 years since the courts were re-surfaced.
“It’s usually done every seven year,” Selig said. “When your facility gets run down, it hurts all the programs.”
Selig said a committee to re-do the courts at Mills started at the beginning of the school year and the school has already raised $70,000, which is enough to re-surface the courts, “take care” of tree and root problems and re-configure the courts to better take advantage of the space. To do a full-blown makeover, however, they still need $30,000 to $50,000 more. That extra money would be used for new, vinyl-covered chain link fencing around the courts as well as new wind screens for those blustery Millbrae afternoons.
“We’d like to keep it (the fund raising) ongoing so we don’t have to just [re-surface] the courts,” Selig said.
While the extra money would be nice, Selig is happy to have raised the $70 grand already. He said about $20K came from private donations, while the Mills boosters and City of Millbrae have also kicked into the kitty. Selig is hoping once they get to 80 percent of their goal, the United States Tennis Association will kick in the final 20 percent. And while SMUHSD district doesn’t have the money to fully fund the renovation, Selig did say the district will fund about $10,000 worth of work.
“[Millbrae] is a big tennis community. Some of the people donating are people I’ve known for over 20 years,” Selig said. “[The community is] a big help in raising the money.”
***
A couple weeks ago, I said in this space that I had no inside knowledge about the NCAA basketball tournament. Now we’re at the Final Four and I lead my office pool by a comfortable margin. I have it all but wrapped up, but there is an outside chance one other person can catch me, provided UCLA wins it all and Georgetown doesn’t make it to the finals.
Here is the update on my brackets through the Elite 8:
• In the first round, I got 26 of 32 games.
• In the second round, I moved 12 winners into the Sweet 16.
• Of the eight Sweet 16 games, I guess correctly on seven of them.
• Of the four Elite Eight games, I correctly predicted three of four.
• I have three of four Final Four teams: Florida, UCLA and Georgetown.
Maybe I do know what I’m doing.
Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117. What do you think of this column? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.
Yet Mills High, one of the best tennis programs over the past decade, has courts that need a serious facelift. The courts themselves need to be re-surfaced, the fencing surrounding the courts needs to be re-done as well as several other projects.
The San Mateo Union High School District, however, doesn’t have the necessary funds to upgrade the courts at Mills. Instead of whining and complaing, the Mills tennis program, school and the Millbrae community at large, has stepped up to fund the changes themselves.
OK. There’s a little whining.
“The biggest thing is, every school seems to get their courts rebuilt and we have to do it all on our own,” said long-time Mills coach Scott Selig, who graduated from Mills in 1982 and has been the boys’ and girls’ coach since 1993. “It’s kind of interesting, (considering) we have one of the top programs around. At least we’re getting it done. If you want to re-do anything and the district doesn’t have the money, you have to do it yourself.”
The courts at Mills are used by more than just th school’s tennis teams. Selig said senior-citizen groups use the courts in the morning, P.E. classes use them in the afternoon. Then there are Millbrae park and recreation programs that use the courts, as do the Taylor Middle School teams. Add in just the general public that uses them and the Millbrae Tennis Club and the Mills courts are some of heaviest used courts around.
“We leave our courts unlocked all the time (so people can play on them),” Selig said, adding that it’s been about 10 years since the courts were re-surfaced.
“It’s usually done every seven year,” Selig said. “When your facility gets run down, it hurts all the programs.”
Selig said a committee to re-do the courts at Mills started at the beginning of the school year and the school has already raised $70,000, which is enough to re-surface the courts, “take care” of tree and root problems and re-configure the courts to better take advantage of the space. To do a full-blown makeover, however, they still need $30,000 to $50,000 more. That extra money would be used for new, vinyl-covered chain link fencing around the courts as well as new wind screens for those blustery Millbrae afternoons.
“We’d like to keep it (the fund raising) ongoing so we don’t have to just [re-surface] the courts,” Selig said.
While the extra money would be nice, Selig is happy to have raised the $70 grand already. He said about $20K came from private donations, while the Mills boosters and City of Millbrae have also kicked into the kitty. Selig is hoping once they get to 80 percent of their goal, the United States Tennis Association will kick in the final 20 percent. And while SMUHSD district doesn’t have the money to fully fund the renovation, Selig did say the district will fund about $10,000 worth of work.
“[Millbrae] is a big tennis community. Some of the people donating are people I’ve known for over 20 years,” Selig said. “[The community is] a big help in raising the money.”
***
A couple weeks ago, I said in this space that I had no inside knowledge about the NCAA basketball tournament. Now we’re at the Final Four and I lead my office pool by a comfortable margin. I have it all but wrapped up, but there is an outside chance one other person can catch me, provided UCLA wins it all and Georgetown doesn’t make it to the finals.
Here is the update on my brackets through the Elite 8:
• In the first round, I got 26 of 32 games.
• In the second round, I moved 12 winners into the Sweet 16.
• Of the eight Sweet 16 games, I guess correctly on seven of them.
• Of the four Elite Eight games, I correctly predicted three of four.
• I have three of four Final Four teams: Florida, UCLA and Georgetown.
Maybe I do know what I’m doing.
Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117. What do you think of this column? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.