Quinnipiac University recently made a donation of $152,000 to Hamden High School to help repair their tennis courts. The town hasn’t repaired the courts on Mix Avenue in decades. The donation and some of the town’s bonding money will restore the courts and open them in 2025.

These courts are the home of Hamden High School tennis athletes. But, they haven’t been able to use them because of the conditions. The students have been using the middle school’s courts for practices this past season and were not able to hold any games on their high school courts.

Safety concerns are one of the major issues of these courts with multiple cracks and uneven surfaces. Hamden High School’s girls tennis coach, Peter Finch, always made his athletes’ well-being a priority. Finch is glad these courts are finally getting the repairs they deserve.

“If you were running and you’re not looking at your feet while you’re running, you know, you could stop laterally and there would go an ankle,” Finch said. “And it might be a grievous-like injury, so they were pretty bad.” 

When told about this donation, Hamden High School boys tennis coach, Adam Raffone, felt “like a kid on Christmas morning” with how much excitement he felt, especially as a former tennis athlete at the high school. Raffone hasn’t seen these courts fully repaired from when he was a student there in the early 2000s.

“At first it was excitement and then it was just gratitude,” Raffone said. “I’m just so grateful that these kids are going to get a chance.”

In an article posted by Quinnipiac Today, Bethany Zemba, Quinnipiac’s Vice President for Strategy and Community Relations, said “We believe that these improvements will not only benefit current players but also inspire future generations to embrace the sport. Together, we are building a healthier, more active community.”