A San Francisco dad says he was warned he could face a $192 fine after park rangers approached him while he was playing tennis with his own children a public court.
Sam Dogen said he was practicing with his six-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son at Golden Gate Heights Park when two San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department rangers approached and asked whether he had a permit to teach tennis.
Dogen was never cited, with the interaction ending after one of his children confirmed he was their father.
Park rangers questioned dad over tennis permit
Dogen told Fox News he had taken his children out for an afternoon of tennis and was feeding them balls while they practiced, saying the courts were empty when the rangers approached roughly 20 minutes into the session.
“It’s just a situational awareness thing,” he said. “I’m not making a racket; there’s not a lot of noise, there’s nobody waiting, and it was just a surprise to me,” he said.
One ranger warned Dogen he could face a $192 fine for teaching tennis without a permit. San Francisco’s rules prohibit tennis instruction without a permit, although the Recreation and Parks Department says the restriction is intended to prevent unpermitted paid instruction.
“This was a routine interaction,” spokesperson Tamara Aparton told the San Francisco Standard, explaining that rangers sometimes ask questions to determine whether someone is providing commercial instruction or simply “coaching their kids.”
Dogen was unconvinced, questioning why rangers needed to interrupt “a perfectly nice afternoon with a father and his children.”
Whether he was serious or not isn’t clear, but Dogen said that in future, he planned to print out his children’s birth certificates and carry them with him as proof, but said he won’t be applying for a permit.
“I don’t think I’m gonna be applying for a permit to teach my children. I think the property taxes I pay and being a good citizen should be good enough to use the public parks,” he said.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
