Tennis community eagerly awaits facility upgrades

The Wheat City Tennis Club is looking to work with the City of Brandon to revamp their outdoor courts in the near future as part of an effort to expand the local tennis community.

Chris Fortier is playing a large part in the project. He has been a member for the past two years, but took on the role of president last year.

“It’s been good,” said Fortier about his time in an executive position with the club. “It gets you more involved with the tennis and the community, the membership itself and you get to know everybody.”

Tennis season is in full swing at the moment with several more weeks until weather shuts down outdoor courts around November or December.

The Wheat City Tennis Club, which runs four courts behind the Wheat City Golf Course clubhouse, currently comprises 70 to 75 members who love to get out and play their favorite sport as often as possible during the months when they are able. Those numbers are growing as more people get into the sport.

“Right now, the tennis community is thriving,” said Fortier. “It is a somewhat aging community, but there are a lot of younger members coming onboard right now, so it’s great to see.”

To match the growing interest, the club hopes to renovate its courts, which are need of repair due to general wear and tear.

“The courts are aging. They’re five to 10 years old now, which usually means that the surface and cracks will start to wear,” said Fortier. “We are looking to get funding for resurfacing next year which will help hopefully bring more members in and help the current membership in playing and enjoying the courts.”

Like many other sports, tennis is heavily impacted by the integrity of court. Ruts and bumps have the potential to throw off the trajectory of the ball in ways that the player base would seriously lament.

The degradation of the courts isn’t fully apparent from a distance, but once you get closer, large cracks on some of the courts become apparent. While they don’t yet make the courts unplayable, it’s easy to imagine how they might in the future.

“We’re hoping to get some operational funds as well to do some nets and some fencing upgrades and things like that, but the bulk of the money will be put towards resurfacing the courts,” said Fortier.

EXPANDING TENNIS IN BRANDON

While an upgrade to the facility is at the top of the club’s priority list, Fortier also hopes to initiate a junior program with the help of Tennis Manitoba and Tennis Canada.

“It gets kids out being active and also the funding through Tennis Manitoba and Tennis Canada allows us to put on programs and camps that aren’t available in Brandon right now,” said Fortier. “You can either go to Winnipeg or other places to do it, and it would be great for Brandon to have that sort of opportunity for kids.”

The youth are the lifeblood of sports programs in any city. Children who grow up playing tennis because of these kinds of programs are much more likely to turn into tennis loving and playing adults.

“The hope is that through Tennis Manitoba and Tennis Canada we can kind of develop a junior program as well so that we can bring the membership up from the junior level,” said Fortier.

INDOOR TENNIS IN BRANDON

The presence of courts in parks around Brandon and places like the Wheat City Tennis Club are great for the community, but they are limited by Manitoba’s winters. At the moment, the community can really only play their sport for six months of the year.

The much-anticipated arrival of the Wheat City Tennis and Pickleball Hub is set to change that. When it opens, it will be the first indoor tennis facility in the city; allowing residents to play tennis throughout the year at the cost of a membership.

“It’s a great opportunity for people to play throughout the winter time where there isn’t any accessible tennis courts,” said Fortier who says he and many others Wheat City Tennis Club members are likely to purchase memberships. “It will give a lot of people the opportunity to enjoy tennis throughout the entire year instead of just the six months in the summer time.”

The opening of the new facility has been pushed back several times since construction began in December of 2024. The tennis community around Brandon is hopeful that they will be able to see the facility for themselves in the near future.

The advent of year-round tennis in the city is another factor that will push the growth of the tennis community. More access usually results in more participation.

Until the opening, which could be as soon as this November but hasn’t been determined, the Wheat City Tennis Club will take advantage of every moment they can out of the court before winter sets in.

On Sept. 19, the club is hosting their pie tournament. During the event, 16 teams of mixed and non-mixed doubles will compete, not for a trophy but for pies. That’s right, the winning teams get to go home with their choice of apple, cherry or pecan pies at the whimsical event.

“It’s just a really fun tournament for the membership,” said Fortier.

Last year, the tennis community stayed active through November due to a late onset of snow and relatively mild weather. The growing group will hope for the same this year, while looking forward to enhanced tennis opportunities in the future, including enhanced courts at the Wheat City Tennis Club, depending on whether the club can acquire funding.

“It’s great to see the city coming together with the membership and our community just to reiterate that the tennis courts are great for the city, the membership needs them and there’s a lot of public interest in tennis,” said Fortier. “We’re really looking forward to working with the city to get an upgrade on the courts in the near future.”

» rmccarthy@brandonsun.com