Hello everyone,
This is Julio, speaking on behalf of the tennis community to save the Vellano Tennis Court.
Over the past couple of days I have been doing everything in my power to rally the tennis community in Chino Hills, in attempts of saving our beautiful, unique tennis court here at Vellano Park.
Here is the entire story behind the fight to save the Vellano Tennis Court:
Do you believe in miracles?
When is the last time it rained here in Chino Hills? Or even in Southern California for that matter? I woke up on Monday feeling really hopeful since there was some rain that morning & in turn, I knew that the city would probably not start construction (which was the planned original start date) because of this.
I thought maybe this could buy us some time to atleast get them to reconsider & put a pause on their permanent, unnecessary plans to change the tennis court into exclusively a pickleball court.
However, after speaking for 2 hours with someone from the city of Chino Hills who was pretty much doing damage control, we were told there is nothing we can do to stop the conversion of the pickleball court. (Keep in mind they still had not started the project yet).
She somewhat heard us out & informed us about how they have gone through a lengthy process to determine this location for the pickleball community.
My main rebuttal throughout the entire phone call was when did they ever talk to ANYONE from the tennis community about how we would feel about this conversion? When did they ever go to the other tennis courts in Chino Hills & actually talk to people within the tennis community? They didn’t.
They felt as if “no one” plays here at Vellano, (which they are wrong about) & decided to give the pickleball community their court at the expense of the tennis community. We were a lost cause at that point, I guess.
The city put up a sign in front of the tennis court at Vellano about 10 days before the start of construction, essentially giving the tennis community no time what-so-ever to voice their opinion or do anything about this. Everything that we are doing is “too late” because they already have their plans in place to appease the pickleball community. It’s all about those people, right?
I had been in contact with the vice mayor Ray Marquez these last couple of days & he said he would make it out to the Vellano Tennis Court this past Saturday in hopes of speaking to the tennis community that actually plays here. He said he wanted to see it with his own eyes. Our tennis community rallied together atleast 20 people & were so excited to speak to someone who can actually do something about this.
We waited out there for 7 hours playing tennis & speaking to others within our community who felt confused, saddened, & shocked to hear about the conversion of this court.
He never showed up.
I called him towards the end of that 7th hour of us being there (as people were dwindling down because it was a hot & humid day) to see where he was at & he revealed to me he never really planned on coming out to speak to us. He said he honestly didn’t want to be bombarded by a bunch of people who wanted to speak their mind. He was on speaker & when he said that to us, all of our hearts just sank. Sitting there feeling heartbroken, unheard, & worthless, we quickly packed up our stuff & went home.
He never had any intentions of coming to see how we really feel. In his defense, he is one of the only people who got back to me about any of this up until Monday, but at the end of the day, he still did not show up.
He also hung up on my girlfriend & I when we were on the phone later in the day on Monday, because we were expressing how we felt about him not showing up on Saturday like he said he would. He couldn’t handle the heat, so he left the kitchen.
Also, city council member Cynthia Moran BLOCKED my 14 year-old little sister, Lauren, (the creator of this petition) on Instagram when Lauren started tagging her in all of the posts that were speaking up for the tennis community.
It’s honestly devastating that a woman in position to “represent” our people here in the city really tried to take away a little girls voice here within our community. Well, now you all know.
Sadly, these are the types of people who are in the position to represent the citizens of Chino Hills. We were given false hope, lied to, blocked, hung up on, & completely neglected throughout this entire process. All of this is what makes everything so much more frustrating than what it already is.
We will not be silent, however. Our community deserves better than this. We deserve to be represented by people WHO CARE ABOUT EVERYONE, & not just certain communities. We deserve to be heard & respected.
It’s heart-breaking that the city of Chino Hills can’t & doesn’t seem to want to find a way to make both the tennis community & the pickleball community happy.
I am all for inclusion. I think it’s great that they are being innovative & adding something new, like a pickleball court. But why does it have to be on a tennis court that is used regularly within the community? There are over 40 parks here in Chino Hills, & only 4 have tennis courts. There is more than enough space in this city to accommodate both communities! Their plans for this project are cheap, lazy, & inconsiderate.
There is almost always a wait at the other tennis courts here in Chino Hills. By removing the Vellano Tennis Court, they are turning that number into 3. The city of Chino Hills has completely turned their back on the tennis community. Also, they have now created a problem within the tennis community here in Chino Hills, as the other courts will now be even more crowded than they already are.
I will leave you all with this:
This is on the front door of the tennis court:
Rule #1: Vellano Park Tennis Court is for tennis & pickleball.
It is already a pickleball court.
With all of this happening the way that it has these last couple of days, it has shown me that we truly do not have much of a say with what goes on within our community. Even if it is “too late” or “last minute”, we feel unheard.
I can honestly say that I have no hope in our local government. They were trying to tell me that they need voices like mine to speak up for the tennis community more often (which I am doing right now),“so that I can help them build more tennis courts in the future”, but all this is doing is really pushing us further away. What makes them think I would want to have anything to do with them after they have done this to our community? The damage has been done.
We have been sending emails, making calls, getting signatures, & doing EVERYTHING in our power to try & change their minds. Currently as I’m writing this, we’re sitting at 584 in about 5 days. That is a significant number of people who have decided to take a stand & agree that it is unfair of them to do this to the tennis community.
But they simply do not care.
If you have read this far down, I love you. You are appreciated & you mean something to this community.
Thank you all so much for your signatures, comments, e-mails & posts about our cause. It has proved to me that even during the toughest times, we all have each other’s backs.
This past week has been really tough for me. I literally gave my heart & soul in attempts of saving the hidden gem of Chino Hills. The tennis community really does love this court. It is devastating that we are losing one of our homes & it has honestly brought me to tears thinking about how we will never get to play tennis on our favorite court ever again. All we have now are the memories, which will live with us & be a part of us forever. I gave everything I possibly could, & I am sorry that it still wasn’t enough. I would like to truly thank you all from the bottom of my heart. All of the support that we have received in these last couple of days means everything to me. I fell in love with tennis here & I know that a lot of others did, too.
We will not be silent, we will rise up & make ourselves heard, no matter how hard they try to look past us.
#SaveVellanoTennisCourt forever.
Sincerely (with love),
The Tennis Community