Remodeling done on courts at Spanish Oaks Tennis Club

By Christopher Drexel

Friday, Oct. 10, 2008 | midnight

Gone are the unsightly cracks and dated green color. In are new, bright blue colored courts and ambitions for new players.

The Spanish Oaks Tennis Club on West Sahara Avenue completed renovations of all six of its tennis courts earlier this month. The process, which began in May 2007, came at a cost of $50,000 to the homeowners' association of Spanish Oaks.

After seeing increased wear and tear to the old courts and a decrease in outside membership to the club, the price of the renovations was worth it, said Sam Aparicio, tennis director at Spanish Oaks.

"The courts had gone down in their quality and now we've put some money into them," Aparicio said. "We're trying to reinstate this club, which has been here for years, back to the status it once had."

The club has 25 outside members and 20 to 30 residents of Spanish Oaks who play on a regular basis.

Longtime members of the club are confident the refurbished courts will be a draw to newcomers.

"This tennis club once was the biggest deal in town — it was the most popular club," said Pat Flanagan, a resident of Spanish Oaks since 1990 who regularly plays tennis there. "They used to have 100 members as well as home owners. Even as long as six to eight years ago I remember they had 70 to 80 members."

Flanagan, 78, said one of the highlights of the renovations is the royal blue courts, which has been a hit with younger and older players alike.

"The blue is a very good contrast. It's fresher," Aparicio said. "All the top tournaments in the world now have the courts in this configuration with some version of blue. You can track the ball a little bit better at night with the blue."

Van Bohrer, a 76-year-old northwest Las Vegas resident, has been a member of the club since 2002. After a year of waiting, Bohrer said he is impressed by the redone courts.

"It is a vast improvement over what we had before," he said. "The cracks were getting bad. Before there were a couple real usable courts and the other four were marginal. And I love that blue. That is what you see at the U.S. Open."

The renovation has yet to be completed as a small gym adjacent to the courts is in the planning stages.

In another effort to bring membership back to the club, Spanish Oaks hosts regular tennis clinics. Morning and afternoon clinics for adults are offered for $15 per hour. Clinics for junior players, some as young as 4 years old, are often offered on the weekends.

"Tennis is a lifetime sport," Aparicio said. "If you can capture young players' attention on it, they'll play it all their lives. "

The cost of membership for non residents is $50 for a single player, $65 for two people and $75 for a family of four. Spanish Oaks resident play at no charge.

Christopher Drexel can be reached at 990-8929 or [email protected].