ARE PRESCOTT HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS COURTS TAKING OVER AFTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE FIRED LONG-TIME TENNIS PROFESSIONAL ICON CHRIS HOWARD IN MARCH?

Major physical improvements, five certified professionals ready to teach, and a reservation system that guarantees a court will be available to residents at a nominal price now make the high school courts a first choice for many in the tennis community.  In addition, there appears to have been a migration of tennis professionals away from the College’s tennis complex to the high school facility following Mr. Howard’s firing

The firing of Dennis Howard in March deeply disturbed the local tennis community. Howard, a revered coach at Yavapai Community College, was dismissed for reportedly breaching a College policy. He had gone to the College’s tennis complex on snow days to check its condition while the Campus was officially closed. As a result of this infraction, the dedicated coach was fired and also prohibited from accessing the College’s tennis courts for several months

Despite pleas in April by most, if not all, of the local tennis community asking the College and District Governing Board to reconsider the firing, the College remained as unyielding as a block wall in its decision. Now, the College and the Governing Board might be reaping the consequences and paying a price for stubbornness and in the minds of many a lack of judgment.

One significant outcome appears to be the professional tennis community’s migration away from the College’s tennis complex. Their attention has turned to the freshly upgraded six-court complex at Prescott High School. This shift in focus serves as a stark indicator of the firing’s stain on the College’s reputation and its ripple effect through the local tennis scene.

Moreover, the Phoenix High School facility has been recently renovated, updated, and modernized.  The old asphalt six-court tennis facility was rebuilt with post-tensioned concrete, new LED lights, side fencing between courts, benches and chairs, wheelchair access, clean restrooms, a daily junior tennis academy, weekly lessons, and five open clinics. The facility has five certified tennis professionals available to work with local residents seven days a week.

The transformation process was driven by Prescott High School coach and USPTA Tennis Professional, Sterling Fetty, and Athletic Director Missy Townsend. They created a program that allows everyday use for students and the general public. They also created a unique reservation system that guarantees a court will be available for residents at a nominal price. Additionally, tennis professionals in the community volunteer at the High School tennis center to maintain it, lock and unlock gates as needed, keep the courts cleaned off and ready, and help with any needs that take place there.

Kudos to Fetty, Townsend, and the many local volunteers for their efforts in rebuilding and renovating the Prescott High School tennis courts. The facility is now open for public use day and night, and offers an opportunity for first-class instruction to tennis enthusiasts. Prescott’s tennis fans can now look forward to a bright future with this new and improved facility.  Meanwhile, those same fans may well have turned their backs on Yavapai Community College because of its treatment of Mr. Howard and the refusal to simply consider the tennis community’s request for a careful review of the circumstances involving the decision.