The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1941-06-05
Sport
Wags
BY Chuck Rattle

~ USS ANY,
BY Chuck Rattle
Minnesota Tennis
Survey $50 Courts
Local Courts Stack
Well In State
Handicapped For
Tournament Play
Private Courts Listed
As Rarity in State
S. C. Lights Are
Among Field Leaders
Paul Kedahl-Gordon Hedin
Co-captain For Track
At Last! Canned Angle
Worms Boon To Fishermen
Privately organized and conduct
ed, at times under great handicaps,
Sank Centres Town and Tennis
Club stacks up fairly favorably in
the state according to announce
ment of completion of a state wide
tennis survey. The survey was
conducted by Mort Roam, in charge
of park tennis, for the Mime
apolis park boards. 1t required
two years to complete the survey
and its purpose is to catalog in
formation to support major tourna-
ments which may be brought to
Minnesota.
Information on Sank Centres
courts is listed in the survey.
From the published infOrma-
ton on the survey it would in
dictate that tennis in Minneso-
ia is big-but not big bust
ness. 396 inquiries were
mailed; PCS cities replied with
1874 towns possessing courts.
81 cities had none. The 1S4
towns report a total of $50
courts. Minneapolis tops the
state with 24O courts. ;.
Sank Centres courts rank among
the popular type of construction.
SO percent of the courts in the
state are concrete, and "a percent
are clay in which latter class falls
the local courts. Only a per-
cent of the total are of dirt con-
struction. Management of courts
shows it is not big business. 57S
of the courts are controlled by
municipal park boards, school
boards control 166, colleges u, 9th
er institutions 10 and private clubs
125. It is interesting to note
that if city administrations control
any courts at all it must fall in
the classification of only 10 out of
the $50. E.
There are 20 Minnesota towns
with five or more courts, and
% Of them conduct tOurna-
ments. OF the % with three
or four courts, Is have tOurna-
ments and 90 smaller towns run
city meets. 1t Is this bust
ness of not enough courts that
cramps tournament play. Two
is almost insufficient. Inter-city
tournaments should be conduct
ed on a day basis and in that
event four courts are almost
necessity. Sank Centre
could have tournaments in linn
tied entry numbers with one or
two towns at a time for the
setting at the country club is
favorable and there are areas
for spectators.
l.. l.; nf ~ Cd
ministration that is a peculiar one
and one that labels it not big bust
ness. Park courts are almost al
ways free of charge for play. So
are college courts to its students.
Tennis hasn't seemed to go
the way of many games, like golf,
in which private clubs have been
able to make a go of it. Priv
ate clubs control only a ninth of
the states courts. Local courts are
privately conducted. But the big
bug bear in the whole ointment Is
the fact that the traffic won't bear
what tennis should be worth to the
individual player. Fees are scaled
down to a point where maintenance
and even sustenance become grave
problems here as in other points.
. The trouble lies largely in the
fact that tennis players are usual
ly young, often youths in high
school. Their insufficient funds do
not permit them to pay fees con-
sistent with good maintenance. =. {.
Sank Centres court problems fol-
low these lines. -.
Published portions of the survey
list only a scattered number Of
towns boasting lights for night
play. It is on this score that Sank
Centre ranks high. When lights,
though it is realized by the players
themselves that those now used
are inadequate, were first put in
here, Sank Centre was among the
first to boast of them. . Tennis
is hard game to promote. Once
the courts are in players flock in
readily. But it has a quick turn
over. A strenuous game, it doesn't
hold its enthusiasts as long as golf
or other types of hobby games. =.
1t looks like it's solidly implanted
in Minnesota now :. Tournaments
coming into many of these towns
may solve a lot of the interest and
money problems.
High school athletic setup
was completed in its initial or
ganization for 1941-42 seasons.
At meeting last week of the