Har-Tru Australia?

If you happen to read the Sidney Morning Herald you have probably noticed that Australia is making a major commitment to training players on clay. Take Robert Grant’s April 28 article for instance, titled, “Aussie Tennis Aims to Dominate on Clay”

(http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/aussie-tennis-aims-to-dominate-on-clay-20100428-trx1.html).

In this article the author reports that, “the move to encourage Australia's best players to devote as much time to the clay court circuit as the hard court events is the key to breaking back into the men's top 10.” The trick for the folks down under is that the climate is quite arid, water is a very scarce commodity, and managing real clay has so far proved impractical. Now however, Tennis Australia has officially approved the Har-Tru surface with the HydroCourt sub-surface irrigation system as an accepted product for facilities interested in installing clay. This mean that facilities that choose to install HydroCourt will be eligible for funding from Tennis Australia. No courts have been installed yet but there is considerable interest at facilities in Sydney, Tasmania and Perth.

How about a clay court circuit in the US played on Har-Tru in February? It's time.

World Class Standards

Our last trip to Beijing included meeting the head of a government committee charged to write construction specifications for the Peoples Republic of China. The committee requested assistance in writing a “standard” for clay tennis court construction for their country. What an opportunity! In an emerging market where GDP has increased by nearly 9% in the past year, clay tennis is just beginning to grow. Introducing standards now will help ensure the success of tennis long before projects get off the drawing board, into the ground and beyond.

I’ll bet you know the specifications and standards for your racquets and string. Did you know the American Sports Builders Association (ASBA) has construction standards available for your tennis court? If not, request a copy from your builder, the ASBA (www.sportsbuilders.org) or the manufacturer of your tennis surface today. Understanding basic construction is the first stop on the “road map” to success for your facility. Long-term success of the court begins with a foundation and build from there, just like your game. And making the most of any opportunity to help ensure the success of the game is another standard worth aspiring to.

Ed Montecalvo
Director of Consulting Services
Lee Tennis Court Products

China

During the last three years I have been traveling in China quite a bit trying to set up a network and create demand for our Courts in China. When I tell people about being over there they ask about lots of the usual things like food, language barriers, getting around and etc. One of the most interesting things to me however is how the culture works from a business perspective and how they get things done. As you would imagine it is a double edge sword, no pun intended, those were the old days. Things are for the most part dominated by the government and the government agencies you deal with on the front end. Most of us who have had experience with our own government associate that process with delays, paperwork, unreasonable red tape and crazy demands. Well China has all that as well except the process is quite different when you are dealing with the decision makers. One of my first experiences was to have dinner with the head man in charge of building the highway system in the Beijing area. During dinner I asked him a question that points out quite a difference, I asked him how long was it before they began construction on the 4th ring road (which he was in charge of) once the decision was made to build it. My question was prompted by the fact, that 39 years ago when I came to Charlottesville word was that a connector road or bypass was going to begin right away connecting downtown to route 29 north of town. As you might guess from this example it is just now getting started and I still have my doubts whether it will be finished based on all the special interest groups that have fought it for at least the last 39 years. Anyway, my friends answer may not surprise you based on this long set up, but he looked at me like I had three heads and very matter of fact said “We started construction the next day”. They displaced several million people and basically gave them notice to vacate the next day. Neither of these systems seems quite fair but in a Communist World that’s the way it works.

The good news is when they make decisions it happens quickly as you can see from the two photos below. The first one shows the building just beginning in the last of August this year while I was there. The second photo shows them playing tennis in a finished facility basically 90 days later. Business happens fast in China and you win or lose quickly when you are selling to them. The good news is they are extremely loyal and friendly people and they do like Americans, unlike what you may have heard. The total experience of introducing them to Clay courts has been a joy and a great overall experience. If you ever get a chance to go there, take it; China is a fascinating place to go and the best news is we now have our courts scattered around the countryside and Tennis is alive and well in China.

The pictures below show Construction in late August ’09 and Playing in late November ‘09

Progress happens fast in China and they love American Red Clay.
John Welborn, Lee Tennis Court Products

Building a Clay Court - Learning First Hand

These are exciting times for Lee Tennis! We are installing a HydroCourt at our manufacturing facility and we are doing the work ourselves. In fact the surface went down Friday and the tapes will go down today.

One of the reasons for installing the court is to be able to test new products and new technology. This court will be a learning laboratory for us for everything from maintenance equipment to irrigation systems. We have very generous clubs in Charlottesville, VA that have aided us with our testing on many occasions but this can be burdensome for them and inefficient for us trying to monitor things from a distance. Now we can test and make adjustments at any time quickly and efficiently.

We also used this experience so associates could learn first-hand how our products are used by tennis court builders, tennis court owners, teaching professionals, maintenance professionals and tennis players. We believe that this will lead to innovations in our practices and products that will make the experience of building and owning a clay court simpler and more rewarding for everyone involved.

Lastly, this court will provide a platform for our associates to learn more about the game of tennis. Tennis has such a large impact in the health and well-being of people of all ages and backgrounds. It brings tremendous joy, good health, treasured friendships and character to individuals' lives. We want to have a piece of that internally to help us become better students of and advocates for the game.

For pictures of the court at various stages of construction visit our Facebook page - Lee Tennis. It can be accessed directly from www.playtheclay.com.