Welcome
MBTPA is an organized group of resident tennis players who work together to protect the quality of tennis in our community. We are currently focused on three main goals:
- Create tennis social events
- Provide updates on community tennis issues
- Keep a historical record of tennis on the beach
For The Women in Your Life
Join True Beginner Tennis at Flamingo Park in Miami Beach. A USTA sponsored program for women who have never played tennis.
For Women Who Have Never Played Tennis
Construction of Flamingo Tennis Courts
These small adjustments will improve tennis center:
* Build a 12 foot perimeter fence (proposed fence is 10′). At the very least, build 12 foot high fence on north side of courts 1 to 5 and south side of courts 14 to 17.
* Only 14 of the 17 courts have a dedicated gate entrace. Courts 2,15, and 17 should have a gate entrance too so as not to disturb play of adjacent courts
* The west side fence of courts 6, 10, and 14 should be 4′ high
* Cut corners are missing, south side of courts 6,7,8,9 and the north side of courts 10,11,12,13
SAVE MONEY, SAVE TIME
The public restroom which is attached to the new tennis building should be removed so that the tennis building can expand.
Besides, two new public restroom facilities have been added to the Master Plan. Why waste money building a total of 3 public restrooms all within a 250 foot radius?
Miami Beach Har-Tru courts have never been maintained to manufacturers specifications. I would like to see Green Square and the City of Miami Beach provide records of 80lb. bag purchases. Har-Tru courts lose several tons of material a year. City should try installing some cushioned hard courts.
Top Dressing
Sprinkler irrigated Har-Tru courts lose material over time. In Florida, courts lose 4-5 tons per year (100-125, 80 lb. bags). Proper maintainence requires top dressing on an annual basis. Follow these steps:
* Before top dressing, court must be dry
* Scarify the entire court surface using a tow scarifier.
* Patch low areas
* Apply court surfacing material using a spreader
* Level the material using straight edge.
* Hand water and roll the court
Top Dressing Tips
• You can either top dress using a small amount of material (8 bags per court) on a monthly basis or use 50-75 bags per court once per year
• Replacement of line tapes may be necessary.
Long-Term Maintenance and Upkeep
Har-Tru courts require 1″ of Har-Tru surface material. New courts are built with 40 tons (1,000, 80 lb. bags) of Har-Tru material. Each court has a 1″ in 30′ slope for drainage. Har-Tru material regularly washes off the court so a “laser-tapered” resurfacing is needed every 4-5 years to restore proper court slope.
I noticed those signs asking patrons to sweep after their done. Now’s it the players fault the courts aren’t in good condition? Flamingo is a joke. They cannot even maintain the battery powered golf cart and are now using a Gator 4×4 ATV to sweep the courts. Moving an unweighted brush at 15 mph does nothing but create larger and larger waves as it bounces as high speed. Call the contractor back and fix the damage that has been done.
Where did Hurricane Wilma FEMA money go? Why were the damaged lights at Flamingo tennis never repaired leaving 4 courts un-playable for the past 6 years? Why should I play higher tennis fees when the facility keeps deteriorating?
Miami Beach is raising tennis fees, membership and hourly rates. The rundown courts and dilapidated club house has not been renovated in 75 years!.
The Tennis Center is a public facility which should not be expected to turn a profit. So why is the city making tennis less accessible with rates increases when many customers are going through hard economic times?
The city imposed a “tennis tax” to raise money to help balance the city budget.
The fee increase will not be used to repair or upgrade the tennis facility.
Voting to raise tennis fees: Mayor Bower, Libbin, Weithorn, Exposito
Voting against raise: Tobin, Wolfson, Gongora