The Osten and Victor Alberta Tennis Centre is about to get bigger. Since opening 10 years ago, the tennis court in teh city’s Acadia neighbourhood has been a huge success story. The court’s owners knew it could grow, but didn’t think it would happen this quickly. “I think we’ve grown and far exceeded expectations,” CEO Danny Da Costa said. “It’s a testament to the great community we have.” Over the weekend, the tennis centre announced they’ll be expanding. Da Costa says that next phase will include an added eight indoor, year-round tennis courts. “(That) will improve our accessibility by 62 per cent (and) actually add about 150,000 hours of court time to Calgarians year round.” The tennis centre currently services 50,000 pepole annually, and booking court time can be a challenge. Patrick Thomas has been an member since the club opened and is also on the board of Tennis Alberta. He says booking indoor courts can be difficult. “People are always complaining, ‘I can’t get a court,’ and it’s a common complaint right across Calgary or across Alberta,” he said. Kirsten Smith loves to play tennis and sys the expansion is going to help ease the demand. “There’s a lot of players who would love to play tennis, but it’s so hard to be able to actually get a court at a reasonable time,” she said. “A lot of people opt out, so I think having mor access to the courts… we’re going to see a lot more people coming out to play tennis and I’m really excited about it.”
