PPA Profiles: Kingsley Selly

July 20, 2015

Kingsley Selly, a Senior Maintainer with the Prospect Park Tennis Center, moved to New York from Ghana just over ten years ago. He was brought to the United States by his father and has lived on Cortelyou Road in Brooklyn ever since. A regular jogger in Prospect Park, Selly joined the maintenance crew at the Prospect Park Tennis Center six years ago.

He enjoys the friendships he has made with the staff and regular tennis players. “I love the cooperation this job requires,” he said. “Everything goes much better when the maintenance crew and players work together.”

Court maintenance isn’t easy. Selly and his crew work through the night to get the Center ready for action every morning. They apply clay to each court, then pull a large broom over the surface and clear the lines. This surface is watered, dried, leveled and swept again. The entire process takes approximately six hours. The weather plays a major role in determining court treatment. Rain can present huge setbacks for the maintenance team. After each storm, the courts need to be dried and swept.

In addition to his responsibilities as Senior Maintainer, Selly also plays at the Tennis Center. He picked up the game about three years ago. “I figured, I worked here,” he said with a laugh. “I might as well learn how to play.”