The Comerford Pavillion tennis clubhouse is making steady progress to open in the fall of 2024.
Construction for the $8.1 million project began in April of 2023.
The new tennis facilities include brand-new locker rooms, coaches’ offices, a viewing deck of the courts, a conference room, and more.
The plan also includes a nutrition center and new lighting on the courts, which will allow regular-season matches to be played at night.
This video from Cal Poly Athletics reveals the design for the building.
How the facilities affect players’ day-to-day life:
The men’s and women’s tennis teams will each have their own locker rooms and the coaches will have their own space to convene.
To men’s tennis head coach Nick Carless, having a “home base” for everyone to get in the headspace for tennis or develop relationships with teammates outside of tennis will be essential for the players.
Junior women’s tennis player Eliza Bates agrees that it would be “nice to have our own space.” As of right now, the tennis teams share their locker rooms with other teams on campus.
In addition to amenities for the tennis team, the Comerford Pavilion will feature a nutrition center for student-athletes in all sports to grab healthy food and drinks.
How the building will increase fan attendance
There are not enough courts for Cal Poly to host an NCAA championship tournament, but the new lighting will allow the tennis teams to play matches in the evening and at night. The later game times will also be more convenient for fans to attend Cal Poly games.
Many families are busy during the workday due to school and work. Holding matches in the evening when school and work are out will open up the courts for children and families to watch Cal Poly tennis matches.
The prospect of playing at night may create a more flexible schedule for players and coaches, as there are more available times to play a match.
“Not a huge fan of playing at night, but it is great because [sometimes] we can be here until five or six o’clock at night or the match runs even later,” Bates said. “It does get dark, so that’s great to have that option [to play later].”
The new viewing deck on the second floor of the pavilion will also increase the number of seats for fans and supporters to watch the games. Normally, when the bleachers are overflowed, fans sit in the grass surrounding the courts or stand above in the Grand Avenue Parking structure.
“There isn’t capacity for that many people to come watch and I think with the facility, so many more people can come and it’ll be sick when it’s bringing more people together,” freshman men’s player Wian Roothman said.
Comerford Pavilion’s impact on this season’s recruiting class
Roothman, along with fellow freshmen Sean Kamyshev and Chris Koeberle, agreed that the construction and future occupancy of the Comerford Pavilion influenced their decisions to play for Cal Poly.
“It was in the early stages, so [the coaches] showed me a picture and sketches of the building,” Kamyshev said. “[After] I was like, ‘oh, okay, that’s where I’m definitely going to go.’ But now I appreciate the building much more than before I came.”
Sophomore transfer student Amy Leather also joined the program after the announcement of the pavilion. The support from the community makes her “proud that [she’s] here.” Along with the other new recruits, she also admits that the future building had an influence on her decision to transfer to Cal Poly. Carless and women’s tennis head coach Ellie Edles Williams hope to build upon their recent success. The men’s team won the Big West in 2021 and 2022, and the women’s team reached the Big West Championships in 2021 and 2023.
According to Carless, schools with Division I athletics are “constantly building.” Whether it be new sports facilities or dining halls, schools are competing to provide the best resources for athletics to obtain the best players and perform well.
“Cal Poly is doing an amazing job of trying to keep up and to stay with the new age of athletics,” Carless said. “It’s going to allow us to have a facility that matches the location, matches the degree and then matches the reputation of the school.”
How the project came to be
The spark that made this project an instant possibility proved to be the Comerford family. Kevin Comerford, a Cal Poly alumni and owner of multi-million dollar company Service Champions, donated the initial $2 million to the project.
Comerford and his wife, Carolyn, wanted to make valued connections to the Cal Poly community. Kevin and Carolyn both love to exercise, and their children play competitive sports. Kevin loves tennis and actively plays, so they decided to give money to the athletics department to build the new tennis clubhouse.
“I took my kids there many, many times, and it was perfect for us to be able to give back to what we love, which is Cal Poly and athletics.”
Although he did not make the tennis team at Cal Poly, he kept tennis as his hobby and feels fulfilled with his decision to give back to the Cal Poly community. Comerford worked with Steering Committee Chair John Ronca to fund, and they completed the budget through these donations.
“It’s turning out to be one of the top three or four decisions I’ve ever made in my life,” Comerford said.
The tennis teams are heavily involved in the San Luis Obispo tennis community, which also helps to get more people to donate to the program. The women’s team spends time during the weekends competing in “Pro-Ams” (professional versus amateur matchups) against local players and “getting them excited about Cal Poly tennis,” according to Bates.
“It really helps us build relationships with the people outside of Cal Poly and brings us closer to the community.” Bates said.
Carless believes that the Cal Poly tennis players deserve the clubhouse, and their diligence makes Comerford Pavilion a positive investment despite the sport typically not having as many fans as sports such as football or basketball.
“I know all the hard work that these athletes on the men’s and women’s teams do on a daily basis to try to master their craft along with the very heavy and challenging class schedule,” Carless said. “I know that the journey of an athlete and as a tennis player is worth investing in, but I think having these boosters and these alumni that have chosen to give and share that belief that I have is special.