Sage Hill debuts tennis center

The microphone kept dropping out Friday afternoon at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new tennis courts on the Sage Hill School campus.

Nobody in the crowd really minded too much. The courts speak for themselves.

After 15-plus years, Sage Hill School finally has six tennis courts on campus. Gone are the days where the Lightning had to go off-campus for practices and matches, most recently to The Tennis Club Newport Beach.

Sage Hill’s players debuted the courts following the ribbon cutting, as the Lightning are hosting Oaks Christian, Windward and JSerra this weekend in the Prep Classic tournament.

“They look really, really nice,” Sage Hill senior tennis player Kenan Torlic said. “I’m really excited to be able to play on them for my last year, and I think everybody’s really happy with how it turned out. We were discussing if we were going to start having morning practices too, so we can come and hit for an hour. Kids can come and hit during their free blocks. For the tennis team, it opens up a lot of possibilities for us. It gives us all a designated hitting area when we need one.”

This is just one of two major changes for the Lightning tennis program this season. The second is the head coach.

Mark Watkins, who was formerly an assistant coach, is taking over as the Sage boys’ and girls’ tennis head coach for A.G. Longoria. Longoria, who has been the Lightning tennis coach since the school was founded, is staying on as tennis program adviser and tournament director.

Longoria, who battled cancer and underwent successful chemotherapy last spring, was able to attend Friday’s ceremony. He knows that the on-campus tennis courts are a long time coming, but he also knew that they were in fact coming. Sage Hill’s tennis program has consistently been one of the strongest for the Lightning, both on the boys’ side and girls’ side.

“I knew the longer that we waited, the better facility we would get, because we’d be that much stronger,” Longoria said. “By winning two [combined] CIF championships and 10 Academy League titles, I knew that the board could not just give us some tennis courts. That maybe was a gamble, but I think it paid off ... It’s fantastic. The seating is good, the lighting is good. I can’t even believe how good it is.”

The tennis courts are located just south of the football field, where there used to be a parking lot. Courts No. 1 through 5 are tiered, providing easy visibility. Court No. 6 serves as a sort of stadium court, with spectator seating on each side.

The tennis center is part of a $13-million campaign that will also bring an aquatics center to the Sage Hill campus. Just before the ribbon-cutting, Sage Hill President Gordon McNeill announced that the campaign had received a $1.5-million donation earlier Friday, bringing its total to $10 million.

That means that there’s still $3 million to raise before the aquatics center, which will be east of the tennis courts in the middle of campus, is complete. But, Sage Hill Head of School Patricia Merz said, it also means that Sage Hill now will be able to break ground on the aquatics center in June. It is expected to take a year to complete construction.

“It will complete our master plan,” Merz said. “The school’s original master plan had tennis and aquatics as part of the vision. For us to be able to have an aquatics complex that will have additional space for a trainer’s center and a support building, it allows us to have all of the athletic facilities here on site. Up until this point, we’ve had to go off-site for tennis and to find pools for water polo and swim. For them to now all be centrally located in one place on campus, it will be pretty amazing to be able to be in the pool, have lacrosse or soccer happening at the same time as a tennis tournament. We’re excited.

“When students are coming out of play practice or town square, it’s literally this place where all of our students can come and support one another. That’s a part of who we are.”

Merz said roughly 80% of Sage Hill students participate in a team sport or the arts.

“They need to be able to come out of what they’re participating in and be able to go support a peer,” she said. “[Now it’s] a little more easier to do. [This is] the hub.”

C.W. Driver was the general contractor for the tennis center, which took about seven months to complete. Zaino Tennis Courts constructed the courts. Richard Zaino said they are 60-foot-by-120-foot slabs that are reinforced with cables. The surface type is called “Plexipave.”

“The cables compress the concrete to keep it from cracking,” Zaino said. “If you walk on all of these courts here, you wouldn’t see one crack. They’re just beautiful.”

After Friday’s ceremony, as he coached his team at the Prep Classic, Watkins said he’s excited about being the new Lightning head coach. He is a former Division 1 college tennis player at BYU and also is active as a lawyer.

“The facility shows the Sage Hill community’s support for the sport, which I think is very helpful in attracting quality players and families that are looking for this type of environment,” Watkins said. “For me personally, my background is academics and athletics. I love the balance here ... to me the complex shows a tremendous commitment on the part of the Sage Hill community to that scholar-athlete. I’m just thrilled to be part of this phase of the Sage Hill program and development.”

Sage Hill Athletic Director Megan Cid was one of those who spoke at the ceremony, albeit with the microphone cutting in and out. She said having tennis courts on campus “just makes sense” at Sage Hill.

“It just takes it to that next level that we’re looking for, to really give that overall student experience that we want our student-athletes to be able to have,” Cid said. “It’s really exciting. I think it’s even better than expected. Once those construction fences came down and you saw the reality of it, it was like, ‘Wow!’ It’s kind of breathtaking almost, you know?”