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USTA presents tennis assessment to St. Mary's County, urges dedicated courts and stronger programming
Summary
The USTA Mid-Atlantic presented a 2024-based tennis assessment showing above-average local tennis participation (about 9.8%), identified five high-impact parks for investment and recommended expanding dedicated tennis courts, pursuing indoor courts and reviving community programming to grow participation.
Shell Wood, senior director for the USTA Mid-Atlantic, told the St. Mary's County Recreation and Parks Advisory Board that a USTA Park Agency Tennis Assessment of county facilities shows a stronger-than-average tennis base and concrete opportunities to grow both facilities and programming.
"Your local participation is estimated at about 9.8% of your population," Wood said, contrasting that with a national participation rate she described at roughly 8.3%. The assessment used 2024 data and multiple sources including census and court-utilization metrics, Wood said, and identified five parks as highest-impact sites for investment: Dorsey Park, Seventh District Park, Farragut Park, Jarvis Mill Park and a site described as Fifth District.
The USTA recommended several actions: expanding court inventory at the high-impact locations; prioritizing sport‑specific (tennis‑only) courts rather than mixed multi‑striped courts; evaluating the potential for a six‑court or larger indoor facility (Wood cited a Wicomico/Wickham site as a candidate); and strengthening programming through youth red‑ball tennis, a revived Community Tennis Association and a qualified vendor list to accelerate instructional offerings.
Wood said the assessment is provided to the county at no cost and that USTA offers follow‑up help including coach training and facility grant support for resurfacing or indoor construction. "We can help from engineering to selection of a vendor," she said.
Board members asked how USTA views pickleball and whether high‑school courts were included in the survey. Wood said the Mid‑Atlantic office does not treat the two sports as adversaries: "We are not against pickleball at all. It's a racket sport. We want everybody to be healthy and playing," she said, and recommended a hub‑and‑spoke approach that funnels new players from small, local try‑it events to larger sites for ongoing programming.
Dave McDonough asked about USTA relations with pickleball organizations; Wood said the Mid‑Atlantic office seeks open communication with other racket sports and recognizes many providers teach multiple paddle sports.
The board thanked USTA for the work; no formal county action was taken during the meeting beyond accepting the presentation and noting potential grant and planning follow‑ups. Next steps discussed on the record included staff review of the slide deck and consideration of prioritizing listed sites for investments and programming pilots.
