Ava Meinhardt | editor in chief
Tennis and pickleball players will soon have brand-new facilities in Alma. Construction is underway in McKnight Park to build two additional tennis courts and put pickleball lines on all four courts.
Project manager Josh Huske spearheaded the job after watching the tennis team struggle with practice space. “It started with the girls on the tennis team. They needed more room. From there, I talked to a lot of people who loved pickleball, but don’t have a place to play it outside,” Huske said.
The process wasn’t easy. “I started with the city, asking them how to go about doing it. Then I started thinking about how much in pledge donations I can come up with, and maybe the city will match it, or the school will match it. I went to a lot of city council meetings, a lot of school board meetings, made a lot of phone calls with businesses wanting to advertise, as well as donate in the same process, and it all kind of came together to where we all helped each other.”
The Wabaunsee School district agreed to contribute $30,000 to the project, to be paid over five years, with the rest to be funded through the city of Alma and donations.
Huske’s goal is to exceed $50,000 in donations before completing the project.
“The biggest challenge is having so many entities involved, and having everyone come together, and work out a deal to get it done. It takes a lot of time for everyone to figure out where they are at, and what they can and cannot do. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
Huske said the community support for the project has been encouraging. “I’ve learned through this process that people want to help, they just don’t know how.”
Work started in February, but has progressed quickly in the last few weeks.
“The site was pretty flat when they set it up 20 years ago. They set it up to have two courts, so that work we had to do was pretty minimal. Hafenstein construction donated gravel. So I spread it out for the concrete guys so it would be ready,” Huske said. Concrete should be poured this week.
Huske is hoping to have the courts done by June 1, so the tennis team can use the courts for summer practices.
Wabaunsee tennis coach Brendan Praeger said the impact to the high school program will be enormous.
“It’s going to be a huge benefit to the team. Just having two courts, even in years that we have a small team, it’s just not really enough. When we have a large team, it’s really difficult. We lose so much practice time,” Praeger said.
Additional courts will also allow the team to host meets, something it hasn’t been able to do in more than two decades. “We’re looking into hosting duals and a couple of quads to give everyone an opportunity to compete at home. Any time we can bring more people to town and showcase our programs, it’s beneficial.”
The current two courts will also be resurfaced with pickleball lines, giving the community a chance to play one of America’s fastest growing sports.
“Some tennis coaches get territorial about pickleball,” Praeger said, “but we want the courts to get used. They can serve both groups.”
Huske is continuing to accept donations to complete the project. “People can go about donating by contacting me, they can contact the city, or they can contact alma area foundations,” Huske said.
Anyone who donates at least $1000 will get a sign on the new courts. Smaller donors will also be included on a sign when the courts are complete. The first round of signs are already hanging on the courts.
Huske is grateful for the donations, and hopes to get more people involved.
“I just want to thank everybody, not just in this community, but in the surrounding communities. Everyone from Wamego, to Topeka to Manhattan, and everywhere in between. They have reached out and supported this project. It takes more than one community to help another out,” Huske said.
The city’s plans for McKnight Park don’t stop at tennis. Next, plans include building a KSHSAA regulation soccer field and two junior fields at the North end of the park. More than 80 Pre-K and elementary students are playing in Alma’s soccer league this spring. They currently compete in a small grassy area near the parking lot. Eventually, the tee ball field could become a permanent softball field, which would make Alma a better host site for KSHSAA postseason play and other tournaments at all levels.
“You don’t have to have a million people, or a million dollars to do something. It takes one or two people with a little initiative, and people want to be a part of that,” Huske said.
This story was published initially in the Wabaunsee Signal-Enterprise.
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