Freedom Center Racquetball Court Removal Could Prove Beneficial to Community

Recent discussion over the possible closing of the Freedom Center's racquetball courts has prompted advisory board members, racquetball enthusiasts and even the Manassas City manager to question the move.

But the proposed expansion of the university's SMART lab—which would replace the courts—from 1000 sq ft to 2500 could prove beneficial to the community, university officials say.

That's because the  Sports Medicine Assessment Research & Testing Laboratory is the primary research facility for the university's Athletic Training and Sport's Medicine programs, and the proposed expansion would  include the installation of over $350,000 worth of cutting edge research equipment.

Grants  received through the College of Education and Human Development has brought in some very high tech research equipment that could provide a major facelift to the SMART lab as well as get the community involved.

The equipment and research focuses on "Motion and Impact Studies" that include day-to-day life, advanced fitness services, highly scientific body composition measurements, falls and risk assestments and youth sport-related injuries, concentrating in concussions.

There's  been a spike in head injuries among young athletes over recent years, some resulting in serous injury and even death. With the university having an expert in the field, the upgrades to the lab could prove an advantageous opportunity to put the equipment to the test.

But what about the racquetball players? Initial reporst indicated the university had made an "ultimate decision" regarding the future of the racquetball courts without consent of the county or city.

But campus officials say the discussions about replacing athletic space with academic space began last December and continues today.

"The tri-parteid agreement clearly lays out that the city, county, and university share in the management decisions," said Kathleen Johnson, assistant vice president for regional campuses.

Johnson said the university was going through the process of evaluating the move when some racquetball players heard inaccurate information, including  that there had been an official vote to move forward with the change.

"We value our relationship with the county and the city, we certainly wouldn't try to undermine them doing something that draconian," she said.

The expansion of the S.M.A.R.T lab to the Freedom Center has been a topic of discussion at recent advisory board meetings held quarterly.  There are 14 advisory board members;  seven from the county, three from the university and four from the city,  to which one is currently vacant.

The center also scheduled and held informative sessions earlier this month "in an attempt to be pro-active of the racquetball players concerns," Johnson said.

"No decision was on the short horizion," she added.

Racquetball players and board members attended the 'informative' meetings to express their concerns about the removal of the courts.

Still, no alternative proposal has been made thus far to relocate the courts. But with racquetball on a decline nationwide,  the closest health club to participate in the sport would be the Chinn Center, 10 miles away in Woodbridge.

The alternative proposal is very important to Manassas City Manager, Larry Hughes who serves on the board as a city member and openly opposes the removal.

"I believe the university is trying to devise a strategy that gets to a win-win scenario. I don't know what that means, exactly, but clearly if it is a "win-win" then we have some racquetball, so how?"

The racquetball courts take up alot of space and go unused for a good portion of the day and the  equipment for the lab needs to be installed on a solid ground floor, making the current racquetball courts location ideal. 

Installation on a second or third level is simply not cost effective, even though the university is proposing paying for the renovations.

According to Leslie Shinner, Freedom Center general manager, the goal of some of the meetings has been to"find out the financial impact and what the ramifications would be."

"The bulk of the renovation costs were going to be proposed to be paid by the university and that was still part of the discussion," she added.

With the resources available,  the lab extension could prove to be a very beneficial research program for the Freedom Center and the surrounding  community.

"This is a great opportunity for a pretty unique university research iniative that we thought could benefit the membership and community and a real plus for the overall profile of the center," Shinner said.

An  advisory board meeting is scheduled for this evening; stay with Patch for any updates.