City Bans Roller-Bladers From Tennis Courts

The City Council this week banned roller-bladers from public tennis courts because of complaints from local residents about damage done to the courts.

Police say that youths on roller-blades have been removing nets from the tennis courts at Rose Drive Elementary School and using the courts to play roller hockey, despite “No Roller-Blading” signs posted on the courts.

When the city began securing the nets with locks, the youths cut them off the posts, Brea Police Lt. Jim Winder said. The Brea department patrols Yorba Linda.

“A number of tennis players reported to police that they were intimidated by the roller-bladers when they tried to use the courts for the intended purpose,” Winder said.

The city does not provide any facilities specifically for the growing sport of roller-blading, as it does for a number of other recreational activities, acknowledged Steve Rudometkin, director of parks and recreation in Yorba Linda. But he said tennis courts should nonetheless be off-limits to roller-bladers because they destroy the surface of the court.

Rudometkin said there are no other city facilities that would accommodate roller hockey, which is similar to ice hockey. Roller-bladers like to play on tennis courts because they are enclosed, eliminating the need to chase down hockey pucks.

As more youths become involved in the sport, several cities and school districts around the county have faced similar problems. Mission Viejo, Cypress, Fullerton and the Capistrano Unified School District have all evicted roller-bladers from various existing park and school facilities.