Court Conundrum

On a sunny, warm Tuesday afternoon, the Bill Vaughey Memorial Tennis Courts, located at Elks Park were busy. Kids of all ages were running around, hitting tennis balls and generally having a great time.

The reason was, the Havre Tennis Camp, put on by longtime Havre High head coach George Ferguson, the coach of the highly successful Blue Pony tennis teams for the past 14 springs.

While the camp was well attended once again, with nearly 40 boys and girls ranging from grades 3-12, right under their feet was a reminder of why some work will need to be done in the not-so-far-off future — work that will ensure not only that the Blue Ponies will have a place to play tennis for years to come, but also that the sport which has always been popular in Havre can be one that everyone can enjoy long into the future.

The Bill Vaughey courts, which are part of Havre’s Parks and Recreation Department, are not in as good a shape as they look from the street. In fact, they have been resurfaced just twice since Ferguson started coaching at HHS and haven’t been redone, that is to say completely torn up and built new, for more than two decades.

By tennis court standards, especially in a climate like Havre’s, that is entirely too long and, especially in the last couple of years, they’ve started to really show signs of their aging with large cracks on all the courts and some of the sub-surface starting to crumble away and inward, among other issues that passers-by just wouldn’t see.

During the period in which the courts have started to show their age, Havre High has always stepped up to the plate, and this spring and summer, the courts received some much-needed TLC, with a large crack-repair job being done.

“I’m lucky,” Ferguson said during his camp this week. “I have a great athletic director and administration at Havre High, and Dennis Murphy understands the importance of us needing good tennis courts, of us needing a good facility. Whenever the courts have needed maintenance, he’s got it done, and they really needed some big-time maintenance this year. So I’m very grateful, and our program is very lucky to have an AD who cares enough to make sure our facility is up to the standard we want it to be.

“But, we are starting to see a situation arise with the courts where you’re like “How many more band-aids can we put on them?” From the street, they always look pretty good. But what we don’t see is what’s underneath, and we know that sub-surface is not in good shape, and with the weather we get, the cracks, no matter how many times you repair them, are going to keep showing up. So it’s definitely a concern.”

“Right now, the tennis courts are good and they are playable,” Murphy said. “It took a while for them to get there after what happened last spring, but we have them back in good shape. The question is, for how long? We might get two or three years out of them; we might only get one. So eventually, that is going to be something that we have to look at doing.”

Of course, the need for new tennis courts may have gotten even greater this past spring, when a motor vehicle crashed into the courts, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage. Despite that, the courts are back up and running, and even though they are far from perfect, Murphy said that, for right now, they will have to do.

And while Ferguson agrees that, at least for the rest of this summer and most likely the 2017 HHS tennis season, the courts will do just fine, he has a vision and a dream that goes well beyond continuing to fix up the courts that are named after lifelong Havre tennis fanatic, and generous donor, the late Bill Vaughey.

“Ideally, and I’m biased, as I should be, I would like to see these ones get redone but, ultimately, my dream has always been for us (Havre High) to have our own courts, right on our campus. It’s something that Murph (Murphy) and I discuss often. Tennis has always been a very well-participated sport at Havre High. And it continues to be. Our numbers were great this past season, and we have a lot of kids who are very enthusiastic and passionate about our sport. And the condition of the courts they play and practice on is not lost on them. They see it every single day. So my ultimate dream scenario is to have courts across the street, on our campus. I think we have some of the best athletic facilities in the state. We, as Blue Ponies, are very proud of our facilities, and I think courts on our campus would only enhance things. So that’s what I envision and dream of every day.”

Of course, Ferguson knows better than anyone the price-tag that comes with building courts from scratch. He’s seen it at many of the schools and tournaments he and his Ponies travel to every spring. He’s done the research, and he understands the economics involved, and that’s why he is patient with the situation.

“Tennis courts are expensive,” Ferguson said. “There’s no way to sugar-coat that. They just are. So believe me, the situation we have here, I understand it. I understand that the city has many different obligations and new tennis courts aren’t the highest priority. That’s not lost on me. And I fully understand funding issues in local school districts. So it's not a simple issue. It's an expensive issue actually. But, at the same time, it is an issue that will need a solution down the road for sure.

“It’s kind of like an old car,” Murphy added. “You can keep fixing it and keep getting parts for it, but eventually, you have to get a new one. And that’s what we will need to look at doing at some point down the road. Right now, they look good driving down the road, but once you get up close to them, you can see some of the cracks and things that aren’t so good. Now, we are doing our best to fix them and make them the best we can, but again, it goes back to that old car, eventually it just needs to be replaced.”

Replaced, start over, whatever you want to call it, at some point, somewhere in Havre, newer better tennis courts will be needed. The popularity of the sport is still present in Havre, as you can see on a daily, and nightly basis at the Bill Vaughey courts, and at the newer MSU-Northern Courts. And while at present time, the Blue Ponies will continue to work hard and make due with what they have, Ferguson will still look for answers and look to the future.

“Again, I’m biased, but, new tennis courts is something that will be necessary eventually,” Ferguson said. “We have a very proud high school tennis program, with great kids, who love it, and work hard, year-after-year. That started long before I played at Havre High myself and long before I started coaching. And it will continue long after I stop coaching. I know that by just looking at the turnout for camp this week. So, my hope is, one day we can find a solution to the situation we are in with our courts. I know I’ll continue to help look for solutions, and continue to work on it. Because this game, this sport in Havre, it’s one of my biggest passions, it’s a huge part my life”