Staff photos/Jane Howard County Commissioner Jim Johnson cuts the ribbon at the grand opening of the new tennis courts west of Cook County High School Saturday, September 19, 2009. Standing to his right is Cook County Tennis Association member Mike Carlson. Gene Glader and Rod Wannebo are behind him.
Cook County Tennis Association (CCTA) President Gene Glader welcomed about 70 people to a dedication of the new Cook County tennis courts on the west side of the high school Saturday, September 19, 2009. Over $250,000 has been raised toward the project over the last four years. “It’s been a great cooperation between a nonprofit and a government entity,” Glader said.
” Finishing touches such as landscaping, a water supply, a fence around the hitting practice area, and a rain garden, will be done as money and weather permit.
County Commissioner Jim Johnson said he grew up playing tennis on courthouse grounds by the old jail. Nancy Benson across the street kept balls, rackets, and a net at her house and would loan them out to people who came to play tennis. The court had no fence around it, so balls went everywhere. “Talk about getting exercise!” Johnson said.
The county has contributed $74,000 toward the project. Johnson pointed out that the county gets about $100,000 a year from the state as payment in lieu of taxes, and they are required to spend it on recreational infrastructure.
Lee Bergstrom serves cake at the celebration of the new courts in Grand Marais.
Commissioner Johnson later cut the ribbon on the entrance to the new courts.
ISD 166 Superintendent Beth Schwarz spoke on behalf of the school. “I’m not a tennis player,” she said. “I think it has something to do with ‘love’ or something!” She said she supports
the sport and thanked all those involved in bringing the new courts to fruition.
Mike Goldhammer, executive director of the USTA Northern Section, said that the Cook County Tennis Association is the best example of a community tennis association in the country. Theamount of work that has been accomplished by the association “profoundly” affects the Northern Section. “It’s very impactful,” he said.
The USTA Northern Section, with 16 employees based in Bloomington, Minnesota, covers North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and western Wisconsin.
Rod Wannebo, Cook County Tennis Association vice president of administration and marketing, sweeps goose droppings from the new courts before demonstration play begins.
Goldhammer read a letter from David Slade, national manager of USTA community tennis associations, who said that Cook County is one of the first places in the country to install Quick Start lines for young players, something courts in other places around the world have been doing for some time. CCTA “had the foresight to be ahead of the curve,” Slade wrote.
After the opening ceremony, Becky Cantellano, director of USTA Northern Section tennis programs and services, said that the new Quick Start teaching method is expected to bring American players back into to the forefront of the competitive world tennis scene and commended CCTA for using it. The method uses a smaller court that helps young players focus on more specific moves. “We use [CCTA] all the time as a model of best practices,” she said. Cantellano thinks that tennis players would come to Cook County to ski and play indoor tennis in the winter if the county had adequate indoor facilities.
Leif Anderson was one of several Cook County Tennis Association youth who demonstrated their skills for those attending the grand opening of the new tennis courts.
A multi-purpose indoor gymnasium would be a boon to the CCTA as well as other sporting groups in the community, according to CCTA Vice President of Administration and Marketing Rod Wannebo.
The Community Education gym floor, used by CCTA in the winter, makes balls move too fast, he said, and is smaller than regulation size. He was injured playing tennis there last winter when he hit the wall. Theother school gymnasiums are a little bigger, Wannebo said, but they are used by the school district for volleyball and basketball.
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