Dodge ball vs. tennis: Where should 'emerging' games be played?

The signs have been posted for years at Seattle's Cal Anderson Park, spelling out what the tennis courts there should be used for — tennis.

But that hasn't stopped dodge-ball games from happening every week, Tuesday and Friday nights, on the fenced-in courts. The games are popular, draw big crowds from the Capitol Hill neighborhood and foster a streetside camaraderie.

Parks-department officials say they don't want to destroy that but at the same time insist the courts weren't made for these other uses.

So they face a dilemma: What's the best way to accommodate trendy and "emerging" sports now taking place on tennis courts — such as dodge ball, bike polo and street hockey — and ensure tennis players also get their due?

The city in 2008 had explicitly banned dodge ball on tennis courts. But the popularity of the game and other sports prompted officials to look again at the issue.

A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at parks headquarters at 100 Dexter Ave N. during the Board of Park Commissioners meeting.

The city oversees 140 tennis courts. This month, the parks' athletic director issued a memo asking the board to allow "non tennis court activities" in certain parks where the courts don't get used much by tennis players.

These "low-use" courts, which would be determined by staff research, would then be set aside — or possibly devoted entirely — to other sports, said spokeswoman Dewey Potter. The board is expected to make a recommendation on the plan to Christopher Williams, acting parks superintendent, on Oct. 28.

Bill Rumpf, a lifelong tennis player in Seattle, said he's concerned that sharing tennis courts with other sports, such as in-line skating, could cause major damage to the surfaces. He's also worried it would leave tennis players with less access to the better-maintained courts.

As it is, he said, "A third of the courts either have so many cracks or debris on them, they're not usable."

Potter agreed. She said the parks-capital-improvement budget for tennis-court upgrades this year is $100,000, which allows one to three courts to be renovated.

The amount proposed for 2011 and 2012 will be half that.

The courts at Cal Anderson were upgraded in 2005. For dodge-ballers, these are the most coveted.

"There is just a lot of foot traffic in that neighborhood," said Lucas Boyle, organizer for Seattle Street Dodgeball. "We get kids from the Central District, people going to a bar or a restaurant and they stumble upon the game. It's entertainment."

The high fence prevents balls from tumbling out. And, Boyle said, each court is ringed by its own fence — which means the game is contained from, say, a tennis match going on a few feet away.

The location also draws an eclectic mix of players. There are kids as young as 11 to even the occasional baby boomer, Boyle said. Most, however, are high-school age to their early 30s, he said.

Boyle says the excitement is palpable before the game even starts.

By 8:30 p.m., the person in charge of the large rubber balls shows up and spills them onto the court. Sometimes, kids will be jumping rope in one corner, and music will be blaring from a stereo or nearby street performers. Weather, he said, is unimportant.

Around 9 p.m., the game is on and balls are flying.

"It's an amazing kind of adrenaline rush," he said.

If they had to move, he said, his fellow players would be "devastated."

"The tennis courts at Cal Anderson are the lifeblood of this amazing community event."

Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com