The final piece: Mt. Vernon tennis courts in midst of major changes

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Mt. Vernon tennis coach Gabe Muterspaugh and Olivia Spicer program a serve machine during his tennis camp in 2018. (Tom Russo | Daily Reporter)

FORTVILLE — Heading into the main entrance at Mt. Vernon High School, going toward all of the various athletics facilities, the first things you see are the gym on your left and the tennis courts on your right.

The tennis courts have stood out in recent years, and not in the best of ways.

Several of the courts have seen varying levels of damage and cracks, rendering some unusable in the past few seasons. They were badly in need of repair.

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Drive by now, and you won’t see them at all. A major overhaul was approved on June 17 at a school board meeting, a $715,250 project that will see 10 damaged tennis courts turn into 12 brand new ones.

The old courts are now gone. The new courts are in the process of being constructed.

“We love hosting the sectional, we love being a place where we can host big tournaments, it’s a place where other teams like to come to us, but we weren’t comfortable anymore,” Mt. Vernon tennis coach Gabe Muterspaugh said. “I think everybody came together and said, ‘We’ve got to find a way.’ I’m super appreciative of what everybody has worked toward to get to this point. We have such a wonderful … we call it the Taj Mahal of athletics. Everything from our football fields, to our basketball courts, to our soccer fields are amazing, and we’re sitting out there like a sore thumb.”

The tennis courts are about to step up and join the ranks of the surrounding Mt. Vernon facilities. Both Muterspaugh and athletic director Brandon Ecker view the upcoming new courts as the missing piece to the Marauders’ puzzle.

“It’s extremely exciting. You’d be remiss if you didn’t thank our school board, our administrative team, our superintendent for supporting this project,” Ecker said. “It takes a lot of effort and financial assistance to make something like this happen. It’s also absolutely fitting for a program that has seen a lot of success. It kind of rounds out our athletic facilities. It’s kind of the one missing piece.”

The school used to have two sets of five courts and a set of two. That’s going to jump up to sets of six, divided by a walkway between the two decks that coaches can use. There will also be pickleball courts added where the old set of two tennis courts were.

When they were planning the upgrades, Mt. Vernon administrators looked around at other elite programs, other elite facilities, and took bits and pieces from many.

Fencing will be adjusted down the baselines, tapering down from 10 feet to 4 feet, allowing an uninhibited view of matches, letting spectators see more clearly and take better pictures. That’s something Ecker and Muterspaugh saw at Zionsville and adapted for their new courts.

“The middle walkway is going to be wonderful. There’s a lot of walking, especially when you have big tournaments,” Muterspaugh said. “It’s going to help coaches be able to get to more players — that’s going to be one of the best things ever. I think the lowering of the sideline fencing, we saw what Zionsville had and we’re going to do that so fans can see better.”

The process of transforming the courts will take some time. The plan is a late September completion, barring any major weather delays.

That means the Marauders boys tennis team will likely be on the road for the majority of the season.

“We’re going to go through a situation now where we go through a season as road warriors,” Muterspaugh said.

The schedule was already fairly road-heavy, but the construction complicates things beyond just the scheduled matches.

“It’s more difficult on the practice front than anything else,” Ecker said. “You’ve got to talk about getting kids there. There’s some logistical things you’ve got to really work through to make that happen. There’s really no perfect time to do tennis courts, but you’ve got to get it done before the winter thaw. We’re excited to get it done — we’re going to make things work for this season because we’re so excited for what the end product is going to be.”

Muterspaugh said he expects the finished product to be one of the state’s nicest facilities. It will be usable for the community and school PE classes, along with the tennis program.

He also expects that this year will require some of the best coaching of his career due to the unusual circumstances and scheduling challenges.

“I’ve had multiple conversations with our players already, talked to our parents. I said you know what, you guys can be part of something special,” he said. “It’s going to be a challenge, but embrace it. I’ve already got the mindset of, I’ve got to do my best coaching job ever. If you don’t embrace it, it could eat you up this year.”

If things go perfectly, the school hopes to have the tennis courts available by sectional time. Whether or not that happens, no matter how challenging the short-term is due to the upgrades, the focus is on the long-term benefits of the project.

“We pride ourselves on protecting the shield. You want to be proud of where you play. You want people to come in and think these courts are awesome,” Muterspaugh said. “I’m super excited. I’m excited for all the players that have come before to come back and see them, and for all the people after them. It’s a fantastic thing. I’m starting my 24th year, I bleed black and gold, and it’s going to be a place where people want to come and play.”