Pictured are the tennis courts at the North Webster Community Center. The courts are slated for renovations as part of a partnership between the center and the Staley Tennis Academy. (Photo by James Costello)

NORTH WEBSTER — This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

The North Webster Community Center will soon be partnering with the Staley Tennis Academy, and that partnership looks like a win-win for both parties, as well as the Wawasee-area community at large.

The tennis courts at the NWCC have fallen into disrepair in recent years, and, although they have a maintenance budget provided by the Shoop Foundation, that budget hasn’t included enough money for any major overhauls to the aging courts. Thanks to Staley Tennis Academy owner and Wawasee High School Girls Head Tennis Coach Shane Staley, however, the community center courts will be getting a total facelift with a brand new surface, new nets and windscreens and other new equipment.

“We were patching and repairing, but with Shane’s assistance we were able to pursue a larger all-over resurfacing than just patch work and repair work,” explained NWCC Director of Operations Erin Smith.

“He’s splitting the cost with us for the resurfacing and the replacement and purchasing of items. And then he will pay a monthly rent, which will go back into maintenance so the courts will always be able to be maintained and kept up.”
Resurfacing work could begin as early as this week if the weather cooperates, said Smith. As Staley has already committed to give instruction at other area venues through this year, full operations won’t get underway until June of 2018. Staley will begin moving into the NWCC this summer, however, and he’s contracted to remain through 2022.
“When we finally get the green light — which should be happening in the next two weeks — we’ll probably plan on for the rest of the summer and fall of expanding on more than what we’re doing right now, which my focus has been on private lessons and the middle school prep program,” said Staley.

“I think the programs will be building a lot there as soon as we get everything settled. We’re spending this fall kind of moving into that facility. When everything comes in line — courts are resurfaced and everything falls into place — then I think we’ll start building the different programs that we really need around the community.”

A lack of tennis opportunities in the area is a major part of the reason Staley chose to reach out to the NWCC in the first place.

Since joining the Wawasee tennis coaching staff as a boys assistant roughly five years ago, the U.S. Professional Tennis Association-certified coach quickly recognized the need for early instruction in the sport as Warrior tennis struggled against a loaded Northern Lakes Conference field. Partnering with the NWCC is part of a larger effort on Staley’s part to give tennis players an early initiation into the sport, and it’s an effort that’s already paid dividends: This spring the Wawasee girls earned their first IHSAA tournament win since 2000 on the way to a strong 24-7 overall record and sixth-place finish in the NLC, the first time in more than a decade the team didn’t place dead last in the conference. Staley is hoping his new partnership with the NWCC can help take Wawasee’s feeder systems to the next level.

“If we were going to expand on the business of the academy, there are other places that would be probably a little bit more profitable to do that. But right now it’s kind of more about the Wawasee area, kind of the lakes area and just getting a better culture in the sport,” Staley said.

“Part of my obligation for being a high school coach at Wawasee is to try to build up the feeder system and try to improve the quality of the community when it comes to the sport of tennis. I think that’s probably the biggest foundation for moving the academy to this area.”

The new location in North Webster will also give Staley a break from the long commutes between his home in Warsaw and work in Syracuse and North Manchester.

“I train a lot up at Wawasee High School, and I still do all my coaching stuff up there, but it’s literally a 20-, 22-minute drive up there back and forth. When you’re doing privates three or four times a day, and you’re going back and forth to your house, to your office, it adds up, so I wanted something a little bit more local,” said Staley. “Those courts are probably like a five-minute drive for me so it’s a lot more convenient.”

The new courts won’t only benefit young players, either. Staley offers instruction to adults through the USPTA, and, besides, the courts will still be available to the general public when not in use by Staley, so even those not affiliated with the academy will have a chance to take advantage of the new facilities.

“It’ll still be available to the public, but there will be public hours and there will be academy hours,” said Smith. “Shane has also said even if he has a lesson going on one court, if the other court is available then even if it’s not official public time, people can use it. He’s not trying to keep anybody from having access to the courts.”

Pickleball has become a popular pastime at the NWCC courts, and Smith also explained that area pickleballers will still have a home at the center, too. Once the tennis courts are resurfaced, the basketball courts are scheduled for their own resurfacing, and pickleball lines will be drawn on the new basketball surface.

“To ensure that the academy can run unaffected and the pickleballers have plenty of pickleball time, we will be resurfacing the basketball courts at the community center and adding pickleball courts up here so the pickleballers will have basically their own courts and facilities to play on with access to the building as well,” Smith said.

The partnership between the Staley Tennis Academy and the North Webster Community Center has provided a means to give the area two totally refurbished courts, and it should be a boon to both as well as Wawasee youth tennis.

“Personally, I am very excited about it. I was a tennis player. I have a daughter who has an interest in tennis, and we have to go elsewhere for her to receive lessons and instruction,” said Smith. “So to have it so closely related to what I do here and basically in our backyard, I’m thrilled for the people of North Webster and surrounding areas to have access to Shane’s knowledge and ability. And they’ll have nice, new courts, basically, to be playing on.”

“When you have brand new courts and they’re showing interest, and you get good facilities for kids, I think it really does impress upon them that the sport is a little bit more important. And I think tennis is a really important sport,” said Staley. “Not to really rank it with other high school sports, but I know tennis is one of the sports where you can play the rest of your life. And a lot of people are doing that, so it’s a life sport.”