Fairfield's Brooklawn Country Club Helps Gather Used Tennis Balls to Restore Springfield, MA, School

Tennis Balls to Find New Life as Floor Protectors

When Erik Horwedel visited Springfield, Mass. to tour Cathedral Catholic High School he could not believe the devastation caused after a tornado ripped through the city. On a tour of the site with Service Master, the company handling restoration efforts at the 450,000 square foot complex of buildings, Horwedel asked if there was anything he could do personally to help get the school up and running.

One of the oddities resulting from the Tornado’s violent water and wind damage occurred when hundreds of table and chair legs on the children’s furniture, which had been fitted with tennis balls to protect the floors, were discovered to be embedded with millions of chards of glass left behind by the shattered windows. And, the glass was virtually impossible to remove by conventional cleaning.

Tennis balls that lose their bounce are generally discarded.  But cupped on to legs of tables, chairs and furniture they find new life protecting the floor finish against scuff marks and cracking thereby making cleaning and maintenance easier and less costly. 

During the tour, Service Master of Greater Bridgeport president Paul Plouffe wondered aloud where he was going to find thousands of used tennis balls to replace the damaged ones as it would not be cost effective to clean them. That is when Horwedel spoke up.

As general manager of the Shorehaven Golf Club, Norwalk, Horwedel has access to hundreds of used balls normally discarded by the club’s pros and players who use their tennis courts. Beyond that, Horwedel reached out to other clubs throughout Fairfield County, including Fairfield's Brooklawn, to see if others would join in. So far, Horwedel said, the response has been overwhelming.

Finding used tennis balls to protect the floors is just a tiny part of overall efforts to restore the facilities. The multi-million dollar restoration will continue for several months and is bringing together other restoration specialists from Service Master’s Large Loss Division under the direction of Steven Wills, SRM franchise owner, Stamford.

Wills said, “Getting the complex of buildings restored quickly and safely, in conformance with all local, state and federal regulations is a high priority for us.”

He added that although tennis balls are just a small part of the overall project, every little bit helps and he appreciates the fact that golf and tennis pros throughout the region were generous in responding the need.

Horwedel said he will accumulate as many used tennis balls as he can and then deliver them all at once when they are needed at Springfield’s Cathedral High.

Anyone wishing to contribute used tennis balls to the project may call Service Master of Greater Bridgeport at 203-386-1565.