S. Windsor athletes call for more facilities

SOUTH WINDSOR — With South Windsor officials considering a plan to build a new track, turf field and grass field in town, athletes and residents are saying that not all sports play outside on a field and are asking for new tennis courts and an aquatics facility.

South Windsor High School tennis player Sophia Chin has been heading off to the town’s courts since she was 10 years old. Seven years later, she doesn’t like what she sees in terms of the surface’s playability and overall lack of courts.

“The disrepair and overall appearance of the courts does not properly reflect South Windsor High School or our community,” Chin said. “Some of the hopeful hitters are turned away and not allowed a chance to play because of the insufficient court space.”

Chin and her teammates have been collecting signatures and speaking before the board of education and town council to get support to improve the courts at the former Wapping Elementary School, where the high school team plays its matches. Only six of the eight courts are deemed playable with the surface in need of repaving.

Others are calling for an aquatics center in town. Terry Yanaway has four children in the swimming program. Currently the high school team practices and competes at pools outside town.

“What a pool could bring to this community is vital,” Yanaway said. “Learning to swim is a critical skill. It is an important community piece and well overdue.”

Resident Ritu Goel said if the town is going to be comparable to Avon or Glastonbury, it needs to have a pool.

“This pool is going to bring our community, our town, at the level of those towns and put us on the radar. I think it will bring us one notch up. A good aquatic facility is for all,” Goel said.

High school swimming coach Laura McLaughlin said the team has been very successful in the state open and state finals.

“Having a pool on our town turf would give kids an opportunity to have a pool to call home and also have their classmates come and participate in the success of the program,” McLaughlin said.

Lee Garvey helped selffund the high school’s swimming and diving team for three years when the teams were formed in 2010. There are more than 50 athletes in the program.

“If the town is considering investing in athletic facilities, then I respectfully request they invest in teams that don’t have any facilities to practice their sport in our town,” she said, adding almost all teams they compete against have pools or a facility in their town.

Peter Marteka can be reached at pmarteka @courant.com.