By Kavin Mistry (@kavinm95):
After opening the new golf facility on South Campus, Athletic Director Marie Tuite promised it would only be a matter of time before other new facilities follow.
Just two months later, construction has begun on the next new facility — a tennis complex next to the football practice field.
The San Jose State women’s tennis team, winners of the Mountain West title this past season, had been playing all home matches at the Almaden Valley Athletic Club — about 20 minutes from the SJSU campus.
Safe to say the defending champs deserve a home court on South Campus.
According to Tuite, the project is slated to be finished by October and will be ready for the athletes use shortly after completion.
Tennis courts are only the beginning of a long list of facilities developments that are in the works at SJSU. Talks over the past few months have raised questions about a new softball stadium, baseball stadium and some upgrades to the Spartan training facilities.
Tuite said the next project after the tennis courts will be the new softball facility. The stadium is projected to be ready in time for team to use during the 2018 season and will be located next to the tennis courts on the corner of 10th Street and Humboldt Ave.
However, while the project is much needed, former Spartan softball player Chelsea Jenner believes this is only a dream and needs to see the effort before the praise.
“Basically you can say that I’ll believe it when I see it actually started and I’ll be surprised if the softball team even has a home field for the beginning of season,” Jenner said. “But I’m hoping that Marie stays true to her word and that the construction starts soon.”
Last season head softball coach Peter Turner said it was imperative that the team have a home field before the 2018 season and that the team could not go through another season without a home base.
In 2017, the softball team played the majority of its home games at Mission College, a field that is not conducive to live game video and lacks reliable WiFi, which made the Mountain West title run by the Spartans played in the shadows.