United Township School District tennis gets a bounce-back boost with refreshed courts

When Ryan Cahalan played tennis for United Township High School in East Moline, Ill., in the early 2010s, he noticed that the courts could use resurfacing.

There were a few cracks in the asphalt surface and a couple of other areas that could use some touching up.

So when the United Township High School District resurfaced all nine courts this past summer, Cahalan, now the boys’ and girls’ tennis head coach at United Township High School, was thrilled.

“It was definitely very much needed,” he said. “I’m really happy that it was done.”

The courts are used by the high school — and the five middle schools that feed into the high school — as well as the area communities that form the district.

Getting Things Rolling

The total cost of the resurfacing was just over $145,000, with $60,000 coming from USTA National and $3,500 from USTA Missouri Valley in Tennis Venue Services grant funding. The rest of the funds came from the district’s operating budget.

The district was aware of the need, but an alum of the school is the one who really got things rolling.

“John Feehan, who is very involved in the local tennis community and in USTA, was aware of the availability of grant money,” said Janice Roome, comptroller of the school district. “He knew how much our courts were used by the community as well as the high school students, and he also was aware that they were in poor shape. So, he came to us with the information and contacts to get things going.”

As a coach, Cahalan did his best with the condition of the courts. But it was hard to watch when a player would set up for a shot, and the ball wouldn’t respond as expected.

“There were cracks and dead spots all over,” he said. “Court No. 2 had a whole strip of dead asphalt near the baseline where a lot of modern tennis is played. That happens with asphalt tennis courts, where the ball just simply doesn’t respond, doesn’t bounce back. Eventually, the asphalt just kind of folds in on itself a little bit.”