CAMPUS: City of Laredo Tennis Complex at TAMIU opens

By Kaily Olivo
Assistant Sports Editor
Published Wednesday, April 9, 2025

After five years of ongoing construction for the tennis courts, TAMIU welcomed the Laredo tennis courts on Thursday, Jan. 30. 

With the help of Texas A&M International University Athletics Director Griz Zimmermann, Laredo Tennis Association President Tina Treviño, Tennis Director Jaime Donjuan and many other supporting individuals, the City of Laredo Tennis Complex at TAMIU came to life.

For Zimmermann, with 12 years at TAMIU, this was an exciting development.

“Ever since I came onto campus, there’s been discussion about tennis courts being built … with the community in mind … to share into that,” Zimmernmann said. “So, for this to be a reality, it’s wonderful. It’s great for TAMIU. It’s great for TAMIU athletics. It’s great for the community of Laredo and Webb County.”

His excitement stemmed from everyone involved who helped bring these courts to life, including Treviño.

“I am excited … I feel like I had another baby and it really came out great,” Treviño said. “The community deserves these courts. I want to see these courts taken care of, maintained and be used every day. I want to see the TAMIU students be able, on any evening, …  come out and hit and play and the camaraderie, the friendships [and] the physicalness—all of that to be there for the TAMIU students, but then the same thing with the city of Laredo’s people and then everybody coming together to be one on the tennis court.”

With the initial completion date planned for 2022, questions arose about what caused the considerable delays. One of the major factors included the coronavirus pandemic.

“Whenever you do a project like this, you’re gonna have hiccups all over the place,” Treviño said. “However, each time there was a hiccup … they didn’t really want to address it, so it would kinda sit there for awhile until Tina started ruffling the feathers and then they’d get up and then they’d fix it … So it moves slowly because of that.”

Still, the importance of completing and providing these courts stems from giving back to the community.

“The commitment was there. Maybe the time wasn’t there, or for whatever reason, but the whole thing was about completion for the community,” Treviño said. “… I think they saw as we progressed that we need to get this done because we’re not gonna be here forever and we want to leave this for the community and we want to see these people playing on the courts.”

The design of the facility flows with NCAA varsity tennis in mind and has six NCAA Championship courts, which should allow TAMIU to host NCAA-sanctioned tournaments.

“It’ll be probably immediately the best tennis facility in the Lone Star Conference and we compete in the Lone Star Conference,” Zimmermann said. “So, that would put us right at the forefront in being able to host in the Lone Star championships for men and women ‘cause we’d have plenty of courts in order to do it.”

Despite the new status of the courts, various schools and events have already reached out to schedule tournaments.

“It’s amazing how many students have come out,” Donjuan said. “Some of them already know how to play. Some of them just want to learn how to play. So, I think it’s great for the TAMIU students and, of course, it is also great for the city as well because we also have … the best tennis facility in Laredo and one of the best in Texas …”

The facility’s student workers recognized this exciting moment and welcomed students and the community to come play.

“I feel like as a community we needed this … to bring people together from not only Laredo, but all over Texas … This is a great opportunity to grow as a whole,” senior student worker at the facility Romina Hinjosa said. “As a tennis player, I’ve been playing my whole life …  I feel like as a community we needed this to see the sport prosper.”

This optimism also branched out to include more student opportunities on campus. 

“It will give—especially for our students—it will give them another outlet to have some type of physical exercise,” junior student worker Abed Ponce said. “… [If] you’re not into weightlifting or not into basketball, you can come here. If you’re a student, you come in for free. So, you get to come in, play tennis … get to learn a new sport. It’s very exciting. And for [the] general community, it’s the exact same thing.

“Even if you don’t like tennis, just come try it out … If it’s not for you, that’s fine. At least you tried it, but if you fall in love with it, we’re here for you.”