Sorry about the length...but I lay it all out.
well I am not in school, and have a career and family, but I have considered the option of putting in a court for about 2 years now. I currently live in a town with decent, but not well maintained public courts that I can use for free. The only problem with them is that often times I travel to play, get on the courts for a few minutes and rain sends me packing. It can get frustrating with the rapid weather changes here. Another issue with these courts is the fact that there is no maintenance of them what so ever, so they are disgusting and dirty. It is not uncommon to show up there and find broken glass all over the courts from some bonehead the night before.
I recently decided to build a new home and the property I am building on has room for a court in the back yard. So the decision has been something to struggle with for a while now.
Here is why I decided to install a court.
1) Convenience. I am disabled and play wheelchair tennis. This makes the commute a bit more of a hassle in that I must load up a tennis chair, bag, and ball machine if I plan on drilling strokes. I can now be on the courts anytime I have free, with no commute time. Not to mention, finding a babysitter for my son so that the wifey and I can play. Also, if a shower does run us off of the court.....we can quickly wait it out, and resume play when the shower stops. That is not really an option when you have to drive 20 minutes to your courts. The idea of being able to roll my ball machine out whenever I chose is nice also.....it is a real pain to haul and unload a ball machine, hit about 200 balls and rain come in before I can pick all of them up.
2) Cost. I live along the gulf coast in Louisiana where most people are outdoors man that love to hunt and fish. The average guy spends around 30k on a fishing boat, and only uses it on the weekends. Most usually only fish every other weekend. I play tennis every day. During the summer it is not unusual for me to spend 4 or 5 hours a day either playing or practicing strokes with the ball machine. A court costs about the same as the average fishing boat, and the time I spend on this hobby is much greater. I think you can see my point about cost effectiveness.
3) Obsession. I like most people here am obsessed with tennis, and I don't believe it is a passing craze. The more I play, and better I get....the more time I want to spend on the court. This is basically a way of satisfying my insatiable drive to play tennis. The fact that my wife is about as hooked as me is a plus.
4) Longevity. I have a five year old who will no doubt want to play tennis also. If not just for the curiosity from our obsession. This court will allow me to give him lessons without much fuss, and also let him explore the sport long before he can drive himself to the courts.
5) Alteria motives. I also love basketball, and this court will allow me to have a nice place to play. The basketball courts here are filled with a bunch of hooligans who don't exactly understand how a guy in a wheelchair could play a sport dominated by 7 footers who can jump over the goal. So fighting for a basketball court is out of the question. The tennis court will be a two for one deal for me.
In the end it is a personal decision. 30k is a lot of money and I think one must consider all factors and how it will impact your life and love for sport. Not to mention the value of your home.
