Aldermen ban dodgeballers from Jackson's upper tennis court

Weekend tournament of up to 250 players was canceled because of board's action.

A spur-of-the-moment decision by the Jackson Board of Alderman forced organizers to cancel a long-planned dodgeball tournament in a city park.

The board voted Monday to restrict the use of a newly refurbished tennis court. The action, which was not on the board's agenda, directed city parks workers to bar anyone who isn't playing tennis.

The dodgeball tournament, planned for Saturday, would have been the third annual contest.

Alderman Phil Penzel, who made the motion, said he sought the ban to protect the city's $40,000 investment to repair the upper tennis courts at Jackson City Park. The courts should be for tennis players, he said.

The repairs will be finished this week, Penzel said.

The dodgeball tournament, sponsored by the Jackson Underground Dodgeball League, has used the courts for pickup games and tournaments for the past two years. It was not sanctioned by or associated with the city's parks department.

Penzel said he wasn't against the tournament, just at the upper tennis courts location.

"That's not what these are for," he said. "We don't know what kind of damage could occur by playing dodgeball on there."

The ban doesn't have the force of law, Penzel said. "We can't actually go and arrest anybody."

The vote just directs to city employees how the courts should be used, he said. The dodgeball players are free to use other facilities, such as the "lower" tennis courts near the low water bridge in City Park, the basketball courts by the baseball field or the tennis courts in Litz Park, he said.

None of those locations is acceptable for tournament play, said Josh Tomlin, an organizer of the dodgeball league. They are either too remote from good parking or too small to complete the tournament in a single day as planned, he said.

The upper courts are the only tennis courts that have enough room to play two games at the same time, he said.

From 200 to 250 people, both players and spectators, were expected to attend, Tomlinson said. Most are from the area, but some players were traveling from as far away as Columbia, Mo., and Horn Lake, Miss.

"I don't think we got a fair shake," Tomlinson said. "I know what they think of us, that we're a bunch of hooligan kids. But we are a positive group of kids. This is a fun, recreational activity."

The tennis courts got some attention, Penzel said, because he attended a Jackson School District tennis match and was embarrassed by the playing conditions. The surface was cracked, with balls taking crazy bounces.

Penzel won approval from fellow alderman for the rehabilitation work. The work didn't begin until recently, and was still underway on Wednesday.

The first school tennis match is Monday and Tuesday, Penzel said, and he wanted to be sure students had a chance to practice on the upgraded courts this weekend.

Banning activities other than tennis at the upper courts will come up again, said Penzel, who plans to introduce a formal ordinance imposing the ban.

The board's action has nothing to do with dodgeball, he said. "If I had a problem with dodgeball, I would have made a motion for all tennis courts," he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 126