By Liza Horan

New York—Two weeks ago I was in the company of a group of guys that could fix the one thing I don't love about living in the Big Apple. It's not the congested sidewalks, deafening bus horns, and increasing taxi fares that I mind—I figure they're the trade-offs for such luxuries as 24-hour delivery, top-quality cuisine, and exposure to world cultures outside my doorstep. Rather, my beef is with the supply of tennis courts.

Oh, there are plenty of courts—public and private—just not enough to keep up with all the players. And because demand is such, prices run the gamut. I've paid $0 to play on a cracked-asphalt public park court, $24 an hour at the pristine USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (also public), and $100 an hour on clay at the Roosevelt Island Racquet Club (member club, open to the public).

You can play affordably in New York City. The best way is by getting a City Parks permit, which allows you to play free for an hour at park courts, and longer if nobody is waiting (rare). A season permit costs $100 for an adult, or you can buy a single play ticket for $7. Click here for all the details for NYC and click here for "Tennis in the Parks" nationwide.

However, one hour of play is a tease, so I sign up for 90 or 120 minutes at a facility that's open to the public. Once you figure out the packed schedule of clinics, parties, and leagues, you can manage to get on the schedule.

Too many players, too few courts is a wonderful "problem" to have in the scope of the game's growth, but I'm not playing as much as I'd like.

So, back to the group that could solve my condundrum. They are members of the American Sports Builders Association. They know everything about how to build, resurface, and repair tennis courts.

They gathered recently in Daytona Beach, Fla., for the annual ASBA Technical Meeting—and they mean "technical." For example, Randy Futty of Lee Tennis and George Todd Jr. of Welch Tennis Courts, Inc., delivered the "Update on Subsurface Irrigation"; David Mehard of Putnam Tennis & Recreational joined Lee Frank and Mark Vercammen of Fieldturf Targett for "Sand-Filled Tennis Turf"; and "Asphalt" was presented by consulting engineer James Scherocman.

Most of the content presented was over my head, but I appreciate their expertise. And wish they were building here in Manhattan.

But that's where Geoff Norton and his colleagues at USTA Community Development come in. Together with the National Recreation and Park Association, they offer grants for facilities (building/repairing courts) through the "Public Facility Funding" initiative. Click here for all the details on that program, as well as grants for programming and marketing efforts.

The program (originally called "Adopt-A-Court") is expected to distribute $1.2 million from the USTA—and $12.5 million overall—to local tennis efforts in 2006. The USTA funds a maximum of 20% of any project, and other funding often is provided by the city government, a sponsor or other agency.

This is one way the USTA is putting U.S. Open revenues toward growing the game.

So, wherever you are—and especially if you're in one of the five boroughs of NYC—start the paper trail to get a grant. Let's keep the ASBA guys and gals busy!

I'd like to see Mayor Mike Bloomberg make a New Year's Resolution to turn New York City "green." He could start by banning cars (except taxis!) from Manhattan. Then we could turn all the parking lots into tennis courts.

Now that would make this town a slice of heaven on earth.