Tennis teams will use unfinished tennis courts for the upcoming season.

“There’s one last layer of paint that still needs to be put on,” District Director of Buildings and Grounds Tim Kline said. “It’s a really thick paint with that kind of spongy texture. In order for it to cure and adhere correctly to the asphalt underneath, it needs to remain at a constant temperature of around 55 degrees for about two weeks.”

The courts are slated to be done by early summer.

The tennis court improvements began last fall. Major work involved covering the cracks with a flexible material and eliminating areas where water collected by pouring a new asphalt layer on top of the old one.

“We came into this knowing that we wouldn’t be able to finish it in time for the tennis season,” Kline said. “But it was something that was discussed and agreed upon [among administration and coaches].” Lines were painted on the courts last fall in anticipation of it not being warm enough this spring to put down the paint layer.

The teams started practice March 11. Their first meets are April 4.

“We had already made some renovations to the old court, mostly filling in cracks that had started appearing,” Kline said. “[That will] happen to the new courts too, but that’s just a given as it ages.”

The logistics of playing tennis, however, could be affected by the lack of paint on the courts.

“The ball doesn’t really seem to bounce as high, I think,” junior Vaibhav Srikaran, a member of the boys’ tennis team, said. “I’ve gotten used to it personally, but it’s probably a problem for [some of the other players], and the transition could be a little disorienting.”

Shipp agreed. “It could represent some problems for our teams trying to practice,” boys tennis coach Leslie Shipp said. “The ball bouncing on asphalt is different from the ball bouncing on the paint coating.”

Things are not all bad, however. “It’s still much better to be playing on our home courts,” Shipp said. She said that Valley had the same situation last year and played on asphalt the entire season.

Kline said doing the job right is a good idea. “It’s better [to wait] this way, anyway.” Kline said. “If we tried to get it on quick, then it would peel away much quicker. Best to wait and make the court quality than have it done sooner and only last a few years.”