Dear Honourable Mayor, Oak Bay Council, Director R. Herman and Manager C. Hyde-Lay,

The strong and passionate tennis community is saddened by the proposal to remove tennis courts at Carnarvon Park as we have enjoyed these courts for many years. The courts need to be re-surfaced, but not torn out. With a fast-growing tennis community in Victoria, this is a loss for the community and for our competitive tennis youth players. We need increased access to free outdoor tennis courts in our community, rather than less access. With such a controversial proposal being tabled for public comment, no one in the tennis community was consulted prior to its development and no proposal has included maintaining the tennis courts as an option.

Tennis is famously known as one of the only “lifetime sports.” A no-contact, no concussion sport, playing tennis on a regular basis has many health benefits to a child’s physical, emotional and mental development. The psychological benefits may help children learn to develop positive character traits, build self-esteem and support confidence in everyday situations. Playing tennis regularly strengthens the bones of young players and has been proven to help prevent osteoporosis later on in life. I hope this new council is concerned for children’s sports and the healthy development of youth.

Please reconsider the elimination of the tennis courts at Carnarvon Park.