Profiles

At age 13, Matthew C. Jacobs ’94 rode his bike to the Hillcrest Racquet Club, just outside of Reading, every day to play tennis. At age 23, he not only continued to play at the club, he owned it.

Six years later he began what is today called Sport Builders, the area’s premier sports-based construction company.

Jacobs’ love for sports began at an early age but he didn’t take up tennis until he was 13. By the time he reached Exeter High School he led their team to a Berks County Championship in 1990.

After politics at Boston University left him sitting on the bench his freshman year, Jacobs was recruited by Albright men’s tennis coach J. Dale Yoder ’57. “Originally I had planned on staying at Albright for only a semester, but I liked it. Coach Yoder really motivated me and didn’t over-coach, so I stayed.” That motivation stayed with him, says Jacobs. “He moved me to want to be successful.”

Coach Yoder thought a lot of Jacobs as well.“In my 35 years he was one of my really good ones,” says Yoder. “They called him a bulldog. He just worked and worked and got better each year. We’re proud of him; we knew he would be successful.”

Two months after graduating from Albright with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, Jacobs purchased the Hillcrest Racquet Club. “The first few years were tough,” he says. “We were really grinding to keep things going, but I was able to use the things I learned at Albright to make the club grow.”

To save money, Jacobs learned how to resurface tennis courts so he could do the work himself at the club. Club members then began hiring him to work on their courts, and in 2000 he created Sport Builders. The first client of the newly formed company was Sandy Solomon, owner of the worldfamous Sweet Street Desserts in Reading.

Sport Builders began primarily working on old asphalt courts from the 60s and 70s. New coatings and techniques were available to make the old courts like new. As business picked up, the company grew to 12 employees and began work on other types of courts like basketball, volleyball, in-line hockey and multi-sport courts. In 2006, they worked on more than 300 tennis courts plus dozens of other types of courts across the Mid- Atlantic states, Connecticut and New York.

Jacobs has designed and worked on courts for private clubs, municipalities, schools and private homeowners. The company was recently selected to create the surfaces used by the Philadelphia Freedoms and the Delaware Smash. Both teams are a part of the World Team Tennis Pro League.

Jacobs’ credibility and experience sets his company apart from others. “Having been a serious tennis player, I can relate to the customer. I can relate if a surface isn’t playing well, while other contractors may not have that same ability,” says Jacobs.

The company continues to grow. “We are now starting to work on artificial turf surfaces which are very similar because it’s all grading and excavation.” The next steps will be football and baseball fields, says Jacobs.

Hillcrest is now a familiar place for Albright tennis players. Many former players are part of the club’s 1,100 members. This includes Dale Yoder and the newly appointed Albright men’s tennis coach Jeremy Speicher ’06, who also works as a pro for the club.

While Sport Builders is on the rise, Jacobs has no plans to let go of Hillcrest any time soon. He plans to keep it in the family. “My wife Jennifer and I have eight-month-old twin daughters; possible future doubles partners for Albright.”

– David S. Johnson