Walk past the new pickleball and tennis courts at Taylor University and you’ll probably hear the thwack of ball on racquet, voices and laughter.
Taylor students frequently use the new courts, which are located behind the Kesler Student Activities Center and next to the maintenance building by the softball field.
“It is so fun to go by there in the evening, at night, and every one of those pickleball courts are full. It's just great,” said Skip Trudeau, vice president for student development and intercollegiate athletics.
The official groundbreaking was on the morning of July 12, and dedication took place the Friday of homecoming weekend. Gould said the courts were able to be built through generous gifts from alumni and friends.
The new courts were built this past year after the school had initially decided to not remodel the existing courts. Trudeau said that seven or eight years ago, the university was in the process of deciding where to put money.
Remodeling the tennis courts by the LaRita Boren Student Center was pricey, so they decided not to.
“We were in a place where we were making decisions on, do we put money into that facility?” Trudeau said. “And it was actually quite expensive to do that, and we weren't sure what to do with that, so we put that on hold.”
That choice to not remodel the courts was compounded when Taylor dissolved the tennis team in 2020, Kyle Gould, the director of intercollegiate athletics, said.
The condition of the courts was part of that resolution.
“Tennis was cut in March of 2020 (before COVID) during a restructure of the athletic department,” Gould said. “It was budget related, and the new condition of the tennis courts was a major factor in the decision to cut the two programs.”
Taylor wanted tennis courts, if for nothing other than recreational purposes, Trudeau said. However, the school’s plan to expand the LaRita Boren Campus Center would push the building into the parking lot and the old tennis courts so they resolved to relocate the courts. Pickleball was added because of how popular the sport has become among students, said Trudeau.
“We needed to relocate the tennis courts because we knew we wanted (it) for at least recreational purposes,” Trudeau said.
Seeing how pickleball exploded gave Taylor the determination to do something, Trudeau said. They started designing and fundraising for the new courts, a process which culminated in the summer with the construction of the courts, said Trudeau.
Soon after choosing to remodel the tennis courts and add pickleball, Taylor University decided to bring intercollegiate athletic tennis back, Trudeau said. The school hired a coach and has started signing recruits.
“With how Taylor is exploding… they knew it was a good time to bring tennis back,” Josh Grubbs, the new tennis coach for Taylor University, said.
Gould and Natalie Young, the assistant director of intercollegiate athletics, were heavily involved in the design process for the courts. Trudeau said the process of designing, building and opening the courts took about a year.
Grubbs said the new courts are better than most Division I schools. Getting prospective students on campus is key when he’s trying to sign recruits.
“If you can just get recruits on campus, like, it's pretty easy to sell Taylor after that,” he said.
Freshman Maddie Stults is a tennis recruit. She’s excited about the new courts. On the old courts, tennis balls occasionally got snagged on uneven pavement and spin, making it difficult to play, said Stults. The new courts eliminate that problem.
Stults said she has spent a lot of time on the new courts.
“I think they're beautiful,” she said. “I'm so excited about them.”
Taylor University hosted a giveaway on Instagram to celebrate the new courts. The school gave away three Chick-Fil-A pickleball sets.
