Jan. 29, 2004
Formal dedication of the new TCU Tennis Team Building will take place Friday, January 30, at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center on the TCU campus. The dedication ceremony will begin at 12:15 p.m. following the TCU Board of Trustees meeting.
The new team building, located just west of the indoor tennis courts, was completed in late fall 2003. It includes office space for both men's and women's coaches; men's and women's varsity squad locker rooms; a team meeting/lounge area, an athletic training room; equipment rooms and storage. The building is approximately 4,000 square feet and was funded by the Mary Potishman Lard Trust.
"First, let me say how thankful I am to the Friedman Family, especially to Walker and Alan Friedman, for their support of TCU tennis over the years," said TCU men's coach Joey Rivé. "With the addition of this building, in my opinion we have the best tennis facility in the country. As a recruiting tool, it only adds to the already rich tradition we've established with our teams through the years. It also provides a wonderful place for our current squad members to build team unity."
Women's tennis coach Dave Borelli said, "I think the new building satisfies two areas without a doubt. First, it is a first-class facility which can only help in our recruitment of the top student-athletes. Second, and more importantly, the facility will help create more of a family situation between the men's and women's programs. It really becomes a second home for the players and helps the bonding between the two teams."
The tennis team building is the latest addition to the Bayard H. Friedman (formerly the Mary Potishman Lard) Tennis Center, which is considered among the finest facilities of its kind. In 1998, it was selected as one of the outstanding public tennis facilities by the USTA Facility Award Committee. In 1990, Tennis Magazine listed the center as one of the top 25 tennis facilities in the country.
"The Friedman family has been a cornerstone of the success we've had in our nationally recognized tennis program," said TCU Athletics Director Eric Hyman. "Without their generous philanthropy, we would not be where we are today."
The Tennis Center annually hosts both the ITA/Omni Hotels Southwest Region and Region VI Championships each October. It has also recently been home to the Conference USA women's tennis championships and was host to the Western Athletic Conferennce women's tennis championships.
The Tennis Center features 22 championship outdoor courts and five indoor courts. Sixteen of the outdoor courts are for public use, while the six Bernard "Tut" Bartzen Varsity Courts are reserved solely for the Horned Frog teams. The outdoor section of the facility includes a pavilion with a seating capacity of nearly 1,500, a fully-stocked pro shop and complete locker room facilities.
The Tennis Center was named in 1999 for the late Bayard Friedman who was Chair of the Board of Trustees at TCU and former mayor of Fort Worth.
