WESSON, Miss. – In a private ceremony held on Tuesday, September 1, members of Co-Lin’s administration, athletic department, former coaches, representatives from Wier Boerner Allin Architecture, WGK, Hemphill Construction, Austin Electic, and Tommy Sasser, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, cut the ribbon to officially open a brand new, eight-court tennis complex. The courts are located on the old soccer field at the corner of Mission Hill and Lake Road on Co-Lin’s Wesson campus. The new complex is just another example of the college’s vision of excellence in all areas of campus and student-life at Co-Lin.

“We are so proud to be able to open this state-of-the-art facility,” said Co-Lin President Dr. Hulon Sims. “I want to personally thank all of our corporate sponsors and private donors that support us through our Back The Pack capital campaign and our Board of Trustees for all the hard work that went into this project.”

The complex features eight new playing surfaces divided into groups of two, allowing more matches to be played at one time and limiting disruption of play due to the separation. All of the courts are lighted by a brand new LED system that allows custom scheduling and the ability to instantly power on or off with no delay.

Along with the courts, the new construction includes a 400 square foot storage building for Co-Lin tennis equipment, as well as a paved parking lot that will be shared with the softball program.

“This complex is so impressive and will be instrumental in recruiting our local talent,” said Co-Lin men’s and women’s head tennis coach Dana Hale. “It will have an immediate impact on the college, the student-athletes, and our community as a whole. The board of trustees, our president Dr. Jane Hulon Sims, and donors are commended for their commitment and hard work. We are all excited for the upcoming season and the future of our tennis program at Co-Lin…we hope it is as bright as those newly lit courts at night!”

Former Co-Lin coaches were also thrilled to see the new upgrades taking place on campus.

Brenda Smith, who coached both men’s and women’s teams over numerous stents and served as Dean of Students said, “It is an exciting time at Co-Lin, a facility like this is something myself and former coach Mike McIntyre dreamed about back in the day. It is so great to see the support to our programs and I can’t wait to come back out and watch some matches here.”

The Wolves and Lady Wolves will utilize the courts in the fall for numerous scrimmage matches before starting the 2020-21 season in the spring of next year.

For more information on Co-Lin’s athletic teams, please follow @colinathletics on Twitter, facebook.com/colinathletics, or visit colinathletics.com. 

Written by: Lucas Calvert, Sports Information Coordinator

MageeNews.com is an online news service covering Simpson and surround counties as well as the State of Mississippi.