“They were getting pretty bad,” Sevall said.
Sevall knows what can happen when tennis courts get in bad shape. When Sevall coached at Hudson’s Bay, those courts had to be completely rebuilt. A similar project today at River could cost in upward of $250,000.
That makes the $32,000 price tag of resurfacing more reasonable. Still, with Vancouver Public Schools facing a budget shortfall last spring, that price tag remained too steep.
“And that’s when Michelle stepped in and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse,” Sevall said.
The coach was talking about Michelle Rudi, who in addition to being River’s assistant tennis coach, is also the co-president of the VTC Foundation along with Kim Hamlic.
For the past six years, the foundation has been raising money to provide scholarships for youth tennis lessons, equipment and shoes for high school tennis players as well as helping with the maintenance of public courts around Vancouver.
“We consider to be more like asset preservation,” Rudi said.
Armed with that experience, Rudi approached Vancouver Public Schools last spring to see if it would be willing to pay for the resurfacing of River’s courts if half of the costs could be raised through fundraising.
VPS took Rudi up on that offer.
On behalf of the Foundation of Vancouver Public Schools, Rudi spearheaded the effort to raise $16,000 to contribute to the project. The Firstenburg Foundation and Keller family made significant donations to the effort.
Work on the courts began in June and was completed in July.
The project followed other resurfacing projects that Rudi worked on through the VTC Foundation.
Courts at Marshall and Lincoln elementary schools have been resurfaced, and the four outdoor courts at the Vancouver Tennis Center, which served as Fort Vancouver High’s courts, were completely redone, thanks in part to the work of the VTC Foundation.
“These projects benefit not only the schools, but the public as well,” Rudi said. “There aren’t a lot of public tennis courts available in Vancouver. These courts are getting used. If we come out for a 10 a.m. practice on a Saturday (at River), we’ll find these courts in use.”
In addition to raising funds, the VTC Foundation also collects new and lightly-used equipment, which it distributes to high school players every year.
This year, the VTC Foundation has handed out 100 rackets and 75 pairs of court shoes to high school tennis players. And that makes life easier on coaches, like Sevall, when they go searching for players.
“A lot of players we get to come out for tennis are just athletes who play other sports,” Sevall said. “We’ve got some basketball players, baseball players, who come out and make our team better.”
But many of those players don’t have the equipment needed to play tennis. And that’s where the VTC Foundation helps out.
With River’s blue-and-green courts looking like new again, Rudi already has her sights set on the next fundraising project.
“We like to get a ball machine for the players, and also a shed to store all of the equipment,” she said. “Because right now, our storage unit is my car.”
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep editor for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com or follow his Twitter handle @360TMart.
