Berkley High School has a great variety of sports opportunities for students. However, it’s inevitable that some teams get ignored more than others by getting less hype or lack of posts from the Bear Pack. Berkley’s Boys’ and Girls’ tennis, both successful and thriving teams here at BHS, don’t get the recognition they deserve. Unfortunately, they receive very little support from the Berkley student body, as few students attend their matches compared to football and soccer games, which garner huge support and cheering crowds. Part of the problem is that the tennis facilities are lacking, as opposed to the newly renovated Hurley field. There is no place for people to sit at a tennis match, and there are limited courts at their facilities. This results in longer matches and very few home matches because the high school does not have its own updated courts. Unfortunately, these things were not included in the bond.
The $88 million bond that passed in 2023 gave funding to almost every other Berkley athletic program. This bond is a proposal to improve many things in the district, like new classroom furniture, new theater facilities, technology for classrooms, and new athletic facilities, such as a field house and improved track and field spaces. Many sports are included in the bond, like football, soccer, and swimming, but they are doing nothing to improve the tennis courts, which are outdated and have not been resurfaced for a long time. Many tennis players feel that it is not fair that other sports that work just as hard as the tennis programs get new facilities.
I spoke with senior Ethan Frank, a Boys Berkley Varsity Tennis Team member this past fall. Ethan has been on the team for 4 years and played 2 singles his junior and senior years. I was able to get his opinion on the programs and their recognition. The main reason they aren’t able to get lots of recognition is because the players don’t have their courts. They have to use the Huntington Woods Community courts to practice, which are about a 5-minute drive from the school, not including traffic, along with the Berkley Community courts to play matches, which are also a 5-minute drive from the school. In addition, the Varsity practices at the Huntington Woods courts and the JV has to practice at the Berkley community courts, separating the two teams for most of the season, causing the girls from both teams to not be able to get to know each other and to feel isolated from each other. If one facility had enough courts, it would be helpful so the tennis programs would not have to practice at two different locations, it would help to solve a big problem of organization for the coaches and it would be nice to have one place to unite. In order for the tennis program to grow and thrive holding both varsity and JV practices would be beneficial.
Ethan also discussed how having a better facility, or at least a place for viewers to sit, affects the team. He mentioned, “I think it would affect the team in a good way because tennis is a sport where cheering is a morale sport you need to care about. It’s an individual sport that also can be very mental. You need to be in a good mindset to play well. And it can be tough sometimes if you don’t have people cheering you on, and you don’t have a place for people to cheer you on.” If there were more people in attendance at the matches, then the atmosphere and energy would be better for players and the cheering from the people would benefit the players. Having more spectators to support tennis players would also show them the athleticism of tennis, along with the excitement of a match.
As I played on the team myself, I played 4 singles, and at times, if I was ever down points, it would have been nice to have people to cheer me on and motivate me. Tennis is an important sport that I love to play and I wish more people in the Berkley community would recognize the true value the program adds to Berkley High School, and to the athletes who play tennis.
I was able to talk to Berkley Girls Tennis coach Lenny Waldman to get his opinion on why he thinks tennis should be included in the bond to get updated facilities. Coach Waldam has been running the girls’ tennis program for over 20 years and has won multiple titles. I asked him how not being a part of the bond impacts the team. He said, “Although our sports facilities will truly get a terrific boost for many of our teams, it is a tough pill to swallow as nothing was able to be earmarked for the tennis program. In fairness to the district, the courts and facilities lie on city property, which makes it more difficult to determine fiscal responsibilities when it comes to improvements and desperately needed upgrades.” Though it might be difficult to include tennis in the bond, it would have been nice if they were able to get recognized for all of the team’s accomplishments because they are desperate for updated facilities.
Recognition for high school sports positively improves and impacts sports programs. Berkley Boys and Girls Tennis teams deserve more recognition so players can feel honored and recognized for their accomplishments throughout the season. Some major accomplishments that teams have done are multiple league championships at both the Blue and White division levels, a Regional championship, and more trips to the State Championships as an entire team with both the Boys and Girls. Many tennis players hope to see improvements in both programs in the future.
