Latest news with #outdoorcourts
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
10 sporting homes with outdoor courts
If the good weather and anticipation of tennis at Wimbledon makes you want to get outside and start practicing your serve, finding a home with its own sports facilities will help you raise your game. All these ace properties come with tennis or other types of outdoor courts, enabling you to keep fit while having fun in the sun. Studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments are available at this large-scale development, incorporating parkland, play spaces and a new cultural and creative hub called Parkside Yards. Here you'll find padel courts – slightly smaller than tennis courts – where private and group lessons can be booked. Via Berkeley Group Newton House is a beautifully restored, Grade II listed Georgian farmhouse with five bedrooms, an open plan kitchen, breakfast and family room, a formal drawing room, dining room, study and conservatory. The 4.65 acres of grounds contain outbuildings, an orchard, woodland, paddocks, a swimming pool and a walled boccia court. This tactical sport is related to bowls and pétanque and can be highly addictive. Get in touch with Sowerbys Read more: 8 homes with film and TV links With sweeping views over the Wye Valley, elegant interiors and a floodlit tennis court, Grade II listed Birchfield House is bound to make a good impression. The versatile accommodation includes five bedrooms, three reception rooms and a self-contained two-bedroom annex with holiday letting potential. A coach house and stables has planning consent to be converted into a three-bedroom cottage, which could provide another source of income. Through Fine & Country An all-weather tennis court blends seamlessly into the lush mature garden of this Grade II listed Georgian house. Built in 1750, the classically proportioned property has eight bedrooms, four reception rooms and is packed with period features such as fireplaces, wooden shutters and oak floors. A two-storey extension added by the current owners contains a utility and laundry room and a bedroom and bathroom above. From Winkworth This five-bedroom, five-reception room Victorian villa is in a lovely rural spot and includes a detached one-bedroom coach house, run as a holiday let. The house sits in over four acres of beautifully gardens, containing a lake, lawns, well-stocked borders, and mature trees. In the centre there's a hard tennis court complete with practice wall. Get in touch with Knight Frank Read more: 11 homes with spectacular swimming pools Move to this modern house and you'll learn to shoot hoops in no time, as it has its own basketball court and a pool, jacuzzi and sauna to relax in afterwards. One of the five bedrooms is used as a dressing room but could be changed back, and the extended ground floor comprises a double-height hall, two reception rooms, a 35-foot kitchen, breakfast and dining room, a study and cloakroom. Through John D Wood Set within the Peak District, Bents House was built by Charles Booth, son of Henry Booth, the creator of Pinewood Studios. The 8,000 square feet of floor space includes six bedrooms, a drawing room fitted with panelling from HMS Mauritania – once the world's largest ship - and four more reception rooms. A tennis court – previously a swimming pool – flanks one side of the house and formal gardens, and a detached two-bedroom cottage is tucked away on the other. By Carter Jonas Read more: 9 apartments with impressive outside space Around 34 acres of land surround Jacobean-style Chambers Court, though you won't have to walk far for a game of tennis as the all-weather court's very close to the house. A kitchen/breakfast room, orangery, study, drawing room, sitting room, and dining room occupy the ground floor, and there are seven bedrooms on the first floor, plus three more and a state-of-the-art cinema room at the top. For more information contact Savills After being in the same family for over 100 years, Whims, a six-bedroom coastal home, is seeking a new owner. It sits above Pentireglaze Haven (known as Baby Bay), and a footpath leads down to the surf and sand at Polzeath Beach. The only drawback when playing tennis on its grass court – installed when the local council courts were turned into a car park – is that the views are a constant distraction. Via John Bray Estates There's no better place to host a tennis party than Longchase, a substantial seven-bedroom house with an all-weather court discreetly screened by a hedge. The drawing room, dining room and conservatory all connect to form a vast entertaining area that spills out on to the vast patio, and an adjoining leisure complex incorporates a bar, pool, sauna, steam room and Jacuzzi. From Strutt & Parker Read more: 8 homes with film and TV links 9 scenic homes set in national parks Lenders drop mortgage rates as regulator pushes rule changesSign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The WNBA's 'Line 'Em Up' program is banking on the 3-ball
Colors are often used as symbolic cultural tools that evoke soul-stirring emotions. For the WNBA, its signature orange hue has accomplished that and more for the 29-year-old professional sports league. It's also become synonymous with representation. The phrase "If you can see her, you can be her" is woven into the DNA fibers of that striking shade of orange, and its reach is growing beyond the hardwood. On June 9, the WNBA launched 'Line 'Em Up', a nationwide campaign that seeks to paint the official WNBA 3-point line on outdoor courts across the country. The hope is that it will create a designated space for women and girl athletes on public courts, one of the most accessible areas within basketball. Advertisement "When a young girl walks onto that basketball court and sees the WNBA orange 3-point line, they know that they're being represented in a democratic community space where they once were not," Phil Cook, the league's chief marketing officer, told USA TODAY. As simple as the concept sounds, Cook revealed that the idea to paint the orange line developed into something more, the longer the WNBA dove deeper into the possibilities for young players. The league pondered: "What if we just painted an orange line on every outdoor basketball court in the country?" Then it became, "And that orange line is the actual 3-point distance of the WNBA's 3-point line." Finally, the WNBA's front office landed on the true heart of the matter: "And we allowed young girls to go out and imagine them taking the same shot as their WNBA heroes at the park." USA TODAY Studio IX: Check out our women's sports hub for in-depth analysis, commentary and more all season Bingo. Advertisement With one proverbial brush stroke, the WNBA is potentially painting the early legacies of future pros, something that current Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles understands. "Growing up in Queens, New York, at that time, it was really hard to be a female to get on the court, " Charles said in a short film developed as part of the campaign. "I know I had something to prove. We've all been through it. All the greats.""You think this line just showed up one day?" challenged WNBA legend Sue Bird, who also makes an appearance. "Generations of women worked hard for every inch of that arc." Players like Bird, the recently retired Diana Taurasi, Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride, and Indiana Fever forward DeWanna Bonner, who all sit on the top-ten list of the most made threes in WNBA history, drained shot after shot to get this moment. Their hard work built a foundation for today's specialists, like Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, who will, in turn, inspire many athletes who step behind the orange lines. Still, as important as WNBA 3-point arcs across the country will be, the concept of creating access and safe spaces through representation isn't new. The MLS maintains mini-pitches in each club's city. The NFL has the "Play Football" initiative, which engages youth through camps, activities and flag and tackle football. There are also numerous court refurbishment projects across the country. So, what makes this initiative different, a cut above the rest? "I think what makes us unique is that this was the one simple kind of initiative or action that differentiated just an upgrade. It's an upgrade in that it represents a league that was ignored in this space," Cook explained. "The entire WNBA was not represented in this space. Dropping that line down now represents an entire league's identity and can drive participation and authenticity in this space." Advertisement What's more, Cook shared that the increased visibility by bringing professional women's basketball closer to communities and parks could provide a glimpse into just how far-reaching the WNBA's impact is becoming. "When we start seeing young athletes, young women chalking up their driveways with orange chalk to represent that 3-point line ― when we get to that virality of scale, we'll know we're onto something." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WNBA 'Line 'Em Up' program: What is it, and why does it matter?
Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Outdoor courts and influencers — a whole new ballgame for squash
In the Eighties and Nineties it was often the squash court where business was done. Such was the racket sport's prominence among the elite that Gordon Gekko, in the 1987 filmWall Street, used his prowess on the court to slap down a young stockbroker hoping to rise up the ranks. But the number of people playing squash has since dropped. Participation is down 10 per cent on pre-pandemic levels, with the growth of so-called 'trendy' racket sports such as padel and pickleball partly to blame. But squashis planning a resurgence, with sports organisations seeking promotion from social media influencers and a plan to build outdoor courts. 'Outdoor courts really could be the future,' said Mark Williams, chief executive of England Squash, the sport's governing body. 'There's no reason you can't play outdoors in England, we just don't have those facilities.' The UK has only a handful of outdoor facilities. These are perspex or fenced mini-courts aimed at schoolchildren. Instead, a new outdoor court prototype, recently unveiled in Chicago, is the big hope. Developed by a Dutch engineer, the modular court has glass walls, a steel frame and a rubber floor that drains rainwater easily. It is also soundproof, unlike padel, which has residents living near courts comparing the sound of the ball hitting the racket to gunshots. Williams said plush outdoor courts could also help address squash's 'image problem'. Some of the UK's estimated 3,500 courts are set in the basements of 'tired' leisure facilities built in the 1970s and 1980s. By comparison many of the UK's 900 padel courts are set in more salubrious locations from the Hurlingham Club in Fulham to Queen's Club in West Kensington. Mike Dale, a journalist specialising in padel and squash, said: 'Padel is very on trend. Lots of celebrities are playing, the padel club is a place to see and be seen. 'Look at Padium in Canary Wharf. You've got a nine-court padel club in the middle of skyscrapers in plum bankers territory. Fifty years ago that would have been a squash club. 'I think squash has a massive opportunity to rise on wings of padel and pickleball. Their growth doesn't have to be at the detriment of squash.' The actress Emma Watson, the Princess of Wales and the rapper Stormzy have all been seen playing padel, and squash is hoping to capitalise from celebrity enthusiasts in a similar way. Williams said: 'If we are able to have a few celebrities and social media influencers playing squash and talking about squash in a positive light that will be really good for us. 'If David Beckham wants to play squash we can make that happen next time he is in the UK for sure.' He added: 'Martin Freeman used to be a good squash player but the celebrities tend to play it on the quiet.' • Pickleball or padel? How to pick your new favourite sport Authorities also hope the decision to include squash in the Olympic Games for the first time in 2028 will boost participation, especially if a Briton brings home gold from Los Angeles. England Squash's youth engagement programmes such as 'Squash from the Mosque' are also seeking to attract a new audience to the sport. However, others are more sceptical about the longevity of padel's popularity. 'Padel will go through the same curve as squash is going through at the moment,' said Markus Gaebel, an expert in squash facilities. 'The trend will be combining facilities with padel, squash and pickleball because they all help each other.' For Gaebel there is no doubt which sport is the most challenging: 'Those who want to be more athletic are squash players. Squash is a physical type of chess.'
