Pasadena tennis academy tries to push seven seniors from tennis court

Full story: Pasadena Star-News

When tennis enthusiast Henry Shaw discovered that four of the five public courts at Brookside Park were booked pretty much all day for the summer, "it felt like they were pushing us off" the facility, he said.

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PASHOFPAL Los Angeles, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #1 Jul 27, 2010 Judged: 1 This is exactly what I was talking about when the issue regarding the building of a new park came up a couple of weeks ago. Pasadena, has given exclusive contracts to organizations like I-Tennis and this contractor to literally have free reign over all the tennis courts in the city - not just Brookside; thus creating a shortage for recreational play. I'm all for competitive play, but the city and its parks department need to do a better job managing it park facilities and really need to reconsider whether or not its in the best interest of the city that only "2" private organizations can monopolize tennis play in the city. Laurence Todd President www.pasadenasportshalloffame.org
what Los Angeles, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #2 Jul 27, 2010 Judged: 1 It all comes down to money and how much the city is making!
Steve Lamb Los Angeles, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #3 Jul 27, 2010 Judged: 1 ALl of this crap about not letting THE PEOPLE who pay for the parks use them and leasing them to corporations, Profit and Not for Profit has to end. Pasadena is short on parkland and has none to offer to coroporations against the interests of the people for casual unorganized unplanned recreation. If teh corporations want game fields let them purchase teh land and build the fields.
TennisEnthusiast Canada	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #4 Jul 27, 2010 Judged: 1 It's just hideous! Me and my wife have been pushed out a few times from court 2 that is supposed to be OPEN TO PUBLIC and we stopped going there. ITennis just cares about money. They have pros who are not even certified and they charge $75 for an hourly private lesson! Same price at the expensive country and tennis clubs in the area! Is this a rip off or what? We are even discouraged to sign our kids up for their so called summer camp! Last week we passed by the courts to see how is it being managed and all we saw was the pro sitting on the bench in the shade while poor kids had to pick up 500 balls in the sun! And all they do is yell at them "pick up". I think our city was way better off without iTennis!
Lisa W Corona, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #5 Jul 27, 2010 Judged: 1 This seems like a bad deal for Pasadena and its citizens. $2000 for 12 weeks of instruction, with only 6 kids out of 150 receiving free instruction?! With so few low income kids enrolled, the city has basically turned over the tennis courts at Brookside to an expensive kids' summer camp -- and pushed out its own residents. Even if it was motivated by good intentions, this plan seems like the worst kind of privatization, and should not be renewed.
Bellisimo Canada	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #6 Jul 27, 2010 Judged: 1 That is so true! Before I signed up my son for a private lesson, I went on Rose Bowl Tennis's website.. Boy! Some of those coaches barely have ANY tennis experience! We signed up with one of them just for the experience sake of it and I promise this guys said maybe 5-6 words throughout the entire hour of the lesson! And he charged us $70!! Very disappointing..
PASHOFPAL Los Angeles, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #7 Jul 27, 2010 Lisa W wrote: Even if it was motivated by good intentions, this plan seems like the worst kind of privatization, and should not be renewed. I have to agree. The intentions in the beginning were truly honest i.e., bringing Tennis back to Pasadena - let's not forget, Pasadena alumnis have won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open (Stan Smith, Ellesworth Vines, May Sutton). However, unlike the organizers who wanted to revamp the pool at Brookside into a world class Olympic pool - who actually encouraged the residents to use the facility for recreational purposes, neither I-Tennis or the Rose Bowl/Brookside Tennis have done so. I agree with Mr. Lamb, if you want to make money teaching competitive play then rent/lease/buy/build your own facility....leave the public courts, fields, tracks and what have you alone. I know, I know...that sounds impossible. True, but the city of Pasadena's recognition that play is "big" in this town and the need for it's Parks/Recreation Department to manage and operates its facilities is, at this point, unacceptable. This is a problem that is not "impossible" to fix. Not tomorrow or some distant future, but today. Laurence Todd President www.pasadenasportshalloffame.org
Pasadenan Corona, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #8 Jul 27, 2010 Judged: 1 Public parks ... should be for the public. Not for a few rich kids whose parents can spend $2000. Seems pretty obvious. How much money is the city making off this? Can't believe it's worth it. And that Rose Bowl Tennis then illegally extends their hours keeping the public out for two more hours every day -- that is just icing on the cake.

SicknTired Canada	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #9 Jul 29, 2010 And the most disturbing part is that when you call the iTennis's office for any kind of complain or disagreement, any person who picks up the phone says "Those are company rules, sorry we can't do anything about it". Yet when you mention that you'll call the city, they all of the sudden either hang up on you or start mumbling this and that. I had called the city twice to complain about the shortage of public courts available for use but nothing changes! CIty at the end doesn't give the slightest crap about us- the general public because they get paid thousands of $ from iTennis to keep their mouth shut and let them do what they wanna do..
Read closer Los Angeles, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #10 Dec 17, 2010 I just looked at their website,$2000 was for unlimited access to their 12 week summer camp. The camp runs 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, if you do the math it comes to 480 hours. This comes to $4.17 an hour for tennis, golf & swimming. Seems reasonable to me. Looks like you can sign up week by week too. There are early registration discounts and scholarships for PUSD students. I don't see how this is only for the "rich" kids. Pasadenan wrote: Public parks ... should be for the public. Not for a few rich kids whose parents can spend $2000. Seems pretty obvious. How much money is the city making off this? Can't believe it's worth it. And that Rose Bowl Tennis then illegally extends their hours keeping the public out for two more hours every day -- that is just icing on the cake.
What Los Angeles, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #11 Dec 17, 2010 Judged: 1 I just look at the iTennis website www.rosebowltennis.com , everyone is USPTA certified. Where did you get your info? I know for a fact that private lessons at Tennis Clubs will run you anywhere from $100-$200 an hour. TennisEnthusiast wrote: It's just hideous! Me and my wife have been pushed out a few times from court 2 that is supposed to be OPEN TO PUBLIC and we stopped going there. ITennis just cares about money. They have pros who are not even certified and they charge $75 for an hourly private lesson! Same price at the expensive country and tennis clubs in the area! Is this a rip off or what? We are even discouraged to sign our kids up for their so called summer camp! Last week we passed by the courts to see how is it being managed and all we saw was the pro sitting on the bench in the shade while poor kids had to pick up 500 balls in the sun! And all they do is yell at them "pick up". I think our city was way better off without iTennis!
What about South Pasadena, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #12 Feb 12, 2011 Judged: 1 PASHOFPAL wrote: <quoted text> I have to agree. The intentions in the beginning were truly honest i.e., bringing Tennis back to Pasadena - let's not forget, Pasadena alumnis have won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open (Stan Smith, Ellesworth Vines, May Sutton). However, unlike the organizers who wanted to revamp the pool at Brookside into a world class Olympic pool - who actually encouraged the residents to use the facility for recreational purposes, neither I-Tennis or the Rose Bowl/Brookside Tennis have done so. I agree with Mr. Lamb, if you want to make money teaching competitive play then rent/lease/buy/build your own facility....leave the public courts, fields, tracks and what have you alone. I know, I know...that sounds impossible. True, but the city of Pasadena's recognition that play is "big" in this town and the need for it's Parks/Recreation Department to manage and operates its facilities is, at this point, unacceptable. This is a problem that is not "impossible" to fix. Not tomorrow or some distant future, but today. Laurence Todd President www.pasadenasportshalloffame.org Do you feel the same about soccer, football, soft ball and baseball? Leagues use these public faculties for practice and games. The reality is there there is no space and its not cost effective to build private sporting facilities. Makes sense to me that these private sports partner with the city to utilize their facilities.
What about South Pasadena, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #13 Feb 12, 2011 Judged: 1 Bellisimo wrote: That is so true! Before I signed up my son for a private lesson, I went on Rose Bowl Tennis's website.. Boy! Some of those coaches barely have ANY tennis experience! We signed up with one of them just for the experience sake of it and I promise this guys said maybe 5-6 words throughout the entire hour of the lesson! And he charged us $70!! Very disappointing.. What are you talking about? I just visited their website, every coach is USPTA certified. Check it out for yourself! http://www.rosebowltennis.com/instructors Seems like there is a hidden agenda here. Sounds like you are the one that wrote the article and are now just spreading lies.
just a tennis player Pasadena, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #14 May 30, 2012 This is a shame for a city to have this situation at the expense of its taxpayers/residents. When someone files a case in the civil courts against the city, the liability will be more than the city can bear/afford. City should stop this shameful nonsense.
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