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Dolphin Club Hopes To Expand To New Waters
Owners Mark and Sheila Cleveland have a plan to give Local Teams more Practice Space
By MELISSA WEBBCorrespondent
The Brentwood Dolphin Club has served the Brentwood community since 1972 when it was founded by Joe Sweeney, a six-term Mayor of the city and current member of the Brentwood City Commission. Since its inception, the Dolphin Club has served as a summer swim and tennis club. Owners Mark and Sheila Cleveland, who purchased the club about four years ago, have a vision to make the Dolphin Club an even more integral part of the community.
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Mark Cleveland, owner of the Brentwood Dolphin Club with plans to expand the club’s offerings.
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“In the past 10-to-15 years, there have been more sports played by more kids at younger ages than ever before,” said Mark Cleveland. “Schools just don’t have enough facilities for outside activities anymore. As a parent of two girls, I’m concerned about the availability of boys’ football fields as well as girls’ volleyball courts.”
The Cleveland’s daughters play volleyball and basketball. Because both sports require indoor practice arenas, the Clevelands know first-hand the difficulties of securing additional practice space.
“If you’ve lived that challenge, you have to do something about it,” Cleveland explained. “Sports are essential to a student’s confidence level. Sports give them a way to be involved in school, which studies have shown is directly related to happiness in school. Today, kids are at risk of not making the team if they don’t start early enough. There has to be space for teams of all ages to practice. As it is, some of these kids have to practice until 9:00 at night because that is the only time they can get a gym.”
The Clevelands are proposing improvements to the Dolphin Club that would provide a state-of-the art facility for kids to practice indoor tennis, basketball and volleyball at all times of the year. The club’s legendary swimming pool would remain. A new outdoor playground, landscaping, picnic tables, grills and over 200 new trees would be added to enhance the pool’s surroundings. A new 82,000-square-foot indoor court facility would replace the existing outdoor courts.
“As owners of the Dolphin Club, we have 11 acres of commercially zoned property in the heart of Brentwood, near the customers who would benefit most from having a new indoor court facility,” said Cleveland. “The location is near two arterial roads; Wilson Pike and Old Smyrna Road. We have already donated close to an acre of property to the city for improvements to the intersection of these two roads. Those improvements will take place no matter what decision is made regarding the improvements to the Dolphin Club. This intersection project will be a substantial improvement in making this integral part of the neighborhood safer.”
Local coaches agree that there is a great need for more indoor practice facilities in the city. Coach Scott Oatsvall has been the Head Girls Basketball Coach at Christ Presbyterian Academy for 16 years. He has also taught elsewhere at the high school and college level. He knows well the realities of the great demand for local practice space. With schools needing to use their own facilities for practice, there is little chance of outside organizations being able to scoop up practice time, too.
“I agree 100 percent that there is a need for more practice space in Brentwood,” said Oatsvall. “I believe in the promotion of youth athletics as a way to strengthen communities, families and individuals. There is always a great demand and high pressure put on recreational facilities. The demand for gym time only increases during the sports seasons. Another facility would be great for the community. As a K-12 school, there is a great amount of pressure for gym space just within the school. We have eight basketball teams that need to practice during the season and only two gyms. It is difficult to expand our offerings within our own school, much less be available to churches and independent leagues.”
Parent and Coach Chris Johnson agrees that it is a challenge to find practice space, especially for more competitive teams such as travel teams. Johnson currently coaches Youth Football and baseball and has coached basketball in the past.
“I moved to the Middle Tennessee area about eight years ago,” said Johnson. “I think it is a great attribute of this area to have such a number of youth athletic programs available. However, it presents a challenge because there is more competition for practice space. Especially during inclement weather, dozens of teams will have to compete for what is already limited space on a first-come, first-served basis. Plus, many of the facilities available are a good distance away, which takes away time for studying and practicing. I am definitely in favor of finding a way to have more indoor facilities available locally.”
The Clevelands have been working and talking with members of the Planning Commission and the community for two years to create plans for an expansion of the Dolphin Club. They will present their plans to the Planning Commission at its next meeting on Monday, Nov. 5. at 7:00 at the Brentwood Municipal Center.
Correspondent Melissa Webb can be reached melw@charterinternet.com.
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