Seven years ago, current Ocean View business owner Bill Burke was visiting his brother back in his native New York and came across a revolutionary idea: the backyard family recreational concept known as Sport Court.

His brother and brother-in-law were neighbors, and both were in the market for a pool where their kids could swim and hang out at a safe place. But after some thought it appeared silly for both of them to have a pool in their backyard, so they decided that one would buy the pool and the other would install a multi-use recreational sport court so their kids could have the best of both worlds and enjoy time as a family, instead of in fragmented groups. This way, their kids could get plenty of exercise as a family, whenever they wanted, in the comfort of their own backyards.

Burke loved the idea and when he discovered that Delaware didn’t have a Sport Court dealer — he jumped at the chance to bring this reality to families in the first state and Maryland’s eastern shore.

“I started out as a consumer and ended up a dealer,” Burke said. “This was something that I believed in as a product and basically our (Sport Court) whole concept is building home recreational centers where parents can watch their children.

“What we’re seeing today is that more and more families want to see their kids play and how they play and this way they can see them from their kitchen window or deck,” he said.

Sport Court started as a company in 1974 and prides itself in building specific and multi-use recreational sport facilities. They can build a court geared specifically to an individual sport such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, tennis, golf and or even skateboarding. And if one likes, the court can be set up to accommodate two or more of these sports — like the one at the Village of Bear Trap Dunes.

Burke’s Sport Court Delaware contingent installed a multi-use court last July, set up with basketball, short-court tennis and volleyball along with shuffle board and hop-scotch.

“The (Sport) court has been a huge asset to our community,” Village of Bear Trap Dunes Pavilion Manager Natalie Parsons said. “We’ll have 20 to 30 kids playing on it all day long during our operational hours. And on a nice day it gets more use than our tennis courts.”

And while the kids are playing their little hearts out, the adults can rest at ease, not only because they know they’re kids are playing in a safe environment but also because the Sport Court technology is maintenance free.

The court is composed of numerous foot-by-foot gauze-like tiles that allow water to sift through onto a concrete bottom to wash away any dirt or debris. The rain drains off so effectively because the court is raised ever-so-slightly in the middle. Normally, concrete-surfaced basketball and tennis courts hold rain like a sponge. And the puddles have to be sopped up, or you have to wait for them to evaporate before one can play on the surface again. Not so with Sport Court.

“All-around it maintains itself, almost,” Parsons said. “We can’t use our hard courts when it rains because of the puddles but the Sport Court is great. And hard courts can crack in five to 10 years and then you’ll have to replace the whole thing whereas with the Sport Court you might only have to replace a few tiles.”

The basketball hoop, tennis and volleyball nets can be easily adjusted to suit the age of the user and the court itself can range in various sizes depending on available land and budget.

A Sport Court is best suited for homes with an acre of land, but also as little as 1/3 of an acre, according to Burke.

“Throughout Delaware there are certain counties with minimum lot sizes. Up in New Castle County the lots are bigger. They might have a 1/2-acre lot which is more than enough land to build on. And the closer to the beach you get the lots are smaller. And they get bigger as you go inland. But we need at least 1/3 of acre to build,” he said. “Some customers in the Sussex County area have taken the approach that they don’t want any grass or land and want to build a recreational area. So maybe they’ll have a pool in half of their (backyard) area and a putting green on the other.”

Costs for a typical Sport Court can run from $8,000 to $25,000, depending on the size. And the smallest putting green “that is practical” costs as low as $3,000. And though the costs may appear to outweigh the benefits, further consideration would reveal a peace of mind of where one’s children are playing ... and it may even shed a few strokes from an inflated golf game.

Cripple Creek Country Club Professional Brian Trout has made it his business knowing how to whittle strokes off a round of golf and can attest to the Sport Court putting greens.

“I’ve never played on a Sport Court putting green but I have seen one and I have to say they’re pretty darn close as far as playability goes. The difference is that the Sport Court greens are synthetic. But anytime you can practice whether it’s on an artificial surface or not, you’re going to improve your game,” Trout said.

“Putting is where you cut an awful lot of strokes on a golf game,” he added.

The process of choosing, ordering, delivering and installing a Sport Court recreational facility takes about a month. Once a family has determined what they want, Sport Court goes to work. The first two weeks consist of taking up all the grass and removing any trees that might be in the way in order to grade the land. Next about 4 inches of concrete is poured, and by the time the concrete is done curing the product should have arrived. The court itself takes about two days to build and another to paint. And when it’s all said and done, the customer has a private recreational play-area where they can spend time hassle-free as a family.

Those interested can go to sportcourt.com for more information.