It was April 2007 when girls’ basketball coach Mike Davey first strolled across a promotion for the “Sport Court” at the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Final Four while chatting with his father, then-Santa Clara University head coach Dick Davey. At that moment, the solution to several years of gym space issues and overlapping seasons for SHS basketball and volleyball players hit him: Right then he knew the school had to build the “Court of Dreams.”
“We have a lot of kids who want to play at lunch and after school, and there is no place to play,” said Davey. “There are also seasons that overlap to a certain extent of volleyball, basketball and badminton.”
The “Court of Dreams” will be built next to the track, behind the scoreboard, adjacent to Herriman Avenue. The construction is planned to start in late July and be finished by the beginning of the next school year. The school initially estimated the cost of the courts to be $100,000 but the cost has been finalized at about $400,000 for two courts. Part of the money was funded by the school and Saratoga Sports Boosters and the remainder was fundraised by Davey.
Davey believes that the courts will not only be advantageous to the teams themselves, but also to the physical education classes and the community.
“The courts are also for people in the community who want to come over any time during the week and just play,” said Davey. “It will be open to the public.”
He feels that the courts will enhance the look of the school, replacing the “ugly area of dirt in the front of the school.” In addition, the Sport Court is a cheaper alternative of building a new gym.
He hopes that with the courts, the McAfee Center, a new Media Arts building, new weight rooms and the planned remodeling of the front of the school, SHS will fulfill its “vision of a modern and state-of-the-art school.”
Davey believes it will specifically help basketball players because it will give them more time to practice and they will not have to worry about space conflicts with other sports teams.