The tennis and pickleball courts located adjacent to the Jefferson Boulevard Parking Structure are now closed to make way for the development of new Athletics facilities, the USC Recreational Sports website announced Tuesday morning.
The University had originally announced the removal of the courts Jan. 22, initially stating they would close in May of this year. However, the courts were accessible throughout the summer before the official closing Tuesday.
Students frequent the courts for pickleball and tennis, with organizations such as the club tennis team depending on the space for practice. On Feb. 12, Khai-Ly Tran, a junior majoring in business administration and a member of the USC club tennis team’s executive board, started a petition calling for ensurance that USC would secure replacements for the courts by the start of the fall semester. The petition currently has more than 1,300 signatures.
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In the Jan. 22 update, the University wrote they were actively looking for a replacement for the courts. In Tuesday’s update, however, they did not provide more information on the status of a possible replacement.
The Daily Trojan is awaiting a response from USC Athletics.
While awaiting an announcement from USC about where a potential replacement might be, students have had to look for other options for available pickleball and tennis courts.
“It’s a lot harder to just play with friends, and it needs to be more of a planned trip versus something that can be done spontaneously,” said Josh Cohen, a senior majoring in business administration. “Like today, I was looking to see what the closest pickleball courts are, but there’s not even great pickleball courts anywhere near us.”
Ben Ertl, a sophomore majoring in biopharmaceutical sciences, would visit the courts to play tennis and pickleball with his friends.
“Removing a space where students can be outside enjoying the weather just kind of isolates us more,” Ertl said. “It makes me sad that they closed that space because, over the past year, it has become a source of community for a lot of people.”
