tennisluvr
New User
So the public courts are getting pretty packed recently, especially since there's nothing else to do during these COVID times. Coaches are taking on more students than ever, new people are picking up tennis for the first time, older players are returning to tennis after a long time away from it, and the people who already were playing regularly are back to doing that.
So I was going to hit with my friend last week. My friend showed up early, and was first in line for a court. I showed up a bit later, and then another group showed up at around the same time as me. Once the current occupants of the court are about to leave, the other group walked onto the court, basically cutting in front of us. They claimed that they "didn't see him" (my friend), so they thought he left the park and came back, which would've (rightfully) relinquished his place in the queue. The thing is, my friend never left. Granted, it was kinda hard to see him since it was dark out (but he was still there). The previous occupants of the court were nice enough to speak up and vouch for us as they were leaving, but this new group just wouldn't budge. They just kept saying that they "didn't see him, so he must've left and came back". Eventually, we just walked away and gave them the court in order to avoid further escalation. We were pretty upset though. This group wasn't wearing face masks/coverings (which was against the court rules), and weren't wearing proper tennis shoes (also against the court's rules), which ultimately isn't that huge a deal, but it just adds to the frustration.
What should we have done differently? Were we in the right? What kind of recourse do we have? I would like to avoid this kind of situation in the future. I reached out to the city since they own and maintain the courts, and their suggestion was to call the Sheriff, since they're the ones contracted for enforcement of park rules. Honestly, I'd rather not call the cops for something so trivial, it seems like too much.
Sorry for that wall of text, part of it was me just venting. But I do genuinely want to hear some tips/advice on what to do in this situation. I was originally going to post this in Odds & Ends, but I figured since this is tennis related and I am asking for help, it could fit here.
So I was going to hit with my friend last week. My friend showed up early, and was first in line for a court. I showed up a bit later, and then another group showed up at around the same time as me. Once the current occupants of the court are about to leave, the other group walked onto the court, basically cutting in front of us. They claimed that they "didn't see him" (my friend), so they thought he left the park and came back, which would've (rightfully) relinquished his place in the queue. The thing is, my friend never left. Granted, it was kinda hard to see him since it was dark out (but he was still there). The previous occupants of the court were nice enough to speak up and vouch for us as they were leaving, but this new group just wouldn't budge. They just kept saying that they "didn't see him, so he must've left and came back". Eventually, we just walked away and gave them the court in order to avoid further escalation. We were pretty upset though. This group wasn't wearing face masks/coverings (which was against the court rules), and weren't wearing proper tennis shoes (also against the court's rules), which ultimately isn't that huge a deal, but it just adds to the frustration.
What should we have done differently? Were we in the right? What kind of recourse do we have? I would like to avoid this kind of situation in the future. I reached out to the city since they own and maintain the courts, and their suggestion was to call the Sheriff, since they're the ones contracted for enforcement of park rules. Honestly, I'd rather not call the cops for something so trivial, it seems like too much.
Sorry for that wall of text, part of it was me just venting. But I do genuinely want to hear some tips/advice on what to do in this situation. I was originally going to post this in Odds & Ends, but I figured since this is tennis related and I am asking for help, it could fit here.
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