Howard County's swimming and tennis communities have long wanted facilities of their own. I remember when the swimming folks pushed for a 50-meter pool. Their effort proved unsuccessful and they have not revisited the project. The tennis people, on the other hand, have put together a proposal to build a $28 million tennis facility as part of the 108-acre Troy Hill Park.

The tennis facility, located between Route 1 and Interstate 95 in Elkridge, would be run by the Howard County Tennis Patrons, an organization formed in 2004 to promote the growth of tennis in Howard County.

This would be a nonprofit venture with all revenues going back to the facility. According to Art Tollick, president of the HCTP, his group has spent more than $150,000 on legal, financial planning and other fees to get the project going.

The Tennis and Learning Center at Troy Park, as it will be called, would occupy 16 acres and include eight indoor courts, 16 outdoor courts and one championship court. The majority of the courts would be hard-surfaced.

The facility would also include offices for the United States Tennis Association's Maryland Division, conference rooms, locker rooms, in-house storage, a tennis shop and parking.

Bob Anderman, HCTP program coordinator, told me that this new facility would have a major impact on the entire Mid-Atlantic area.

The Patrons have a tentative commitment from the Women's Tennis Association to bring one of its six major Tier-I tournaments to this facility should it be built.

"Getting one of those would be a major coup for Howard County tennis and for the county as a whole," Anderman said.

If everything goes as hoped, the Patrons are looking for the facility to be ready for play by 2011. They held a meeting April 15 to energize supporters, both financially and politically, to gain the all-important support of members of the county council.

My major concern is the $28 million. Tollick, who has been involved in this project for years, told me that the Patrons have already formulated a financial plan and that bringing in a major tournament could bring in as much as $6 million, and attract national television coverage as well.

If the women's tournament comes in and likes the facility, which is highly likely, I would expect that a men's tournament would not be that far behind.

There are a number of other revenue streams that could prove profitable. The Patrons have reached an agreement with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Howard Community College on use of the facility.

I like people and organizations that think big. The Patrons have done that and then some.

Metal bats unsuited for youth

I know that I will be stepping on toes on this one, but my No. 1 peeve has been the use of metal bats by youth teams and high school baseball and softball players.

I have seen too many people get hit by line drives because they aren't able to move out of the way quickly enough. I know that people can take shots off wooden bats as well and I have read the arguments on both sides of the spectrum.

Still, I don't like the use of metal bats and I certainly do not like young people using them. I know that the metal bat is probably here to stay, but I just hope and pray that somebody out there playing against those bats doesn't pay the ultimate price.

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