There is a long history of Tennis in Madison, South Dakota.
*See the image of the article at bottom.
1928 Boys Tennis started in Madison
1928 singles Robert Blewitt, and doubles Robert Blewitt and Robert McMillan. At that time, there was just one singles player, and one doubles team.
1969 Madison High School girls tennis started, the first team was 1970
1970
Madison had one athlete entered in the state tournament: Cindy Schultz.
Madison did not have any courts at that time. The players practiced on a cement slab from a quansite hut that had been removed from the foundation. They had a rope with towels tied to it for a net, and had to cross the barbed wire fence to retrieve balls from the nearby field. There were not any fences around the court.
1974 - 1975
Four new courts added to the high school
The city had added three courts around this time as well. Players would travel back and forth to utilize all the courts and play varsity/JV.
1990's
The current Madison Tennis Association was formed in 1994, and has been a non profit association since 1998, and was the USTA organization of the year 2005. The association has had a great influence on tennis in Madison, including building new courts, fences and shelters, providing balls, nets, racquets and wind screens, hosting coaches workshops and adult tennis nights, as well as hosting the summer Madison tennis tournament.Four new courts were added in 2004 (for a total of 8 courts). Existing courts were originally smooth concrete, but had been surfaced in 1986 (in time for the boys fall season).
Jeff Johnson, along with coach Doug Sims, and Coach Orlin Johnson, Madison Tennis Association lead the effort to build the North courts. Many players think we have the nicest courts in the state, Since we have the two sets of courts, and a grass viewing area, the courts are very popular for coaches and players.
2005
Due to the work on the courts, the Madison Tennis Association was voted the 2005 award of top association in the Northern division. We should thank Jeff Johnson, and the coaches Doug Sims and Orlin... for their help in creating those courts.
2002- 2009
Jerry Johnson, with help from Doug Sims, operated the Madison Summer tennis tournament, which was one of the largest in the state.
Due to the work on the courts, the Madison Tennis Association was voted the 2005 award of top association in the Northern division. We should thank Jeff Johnson, and the coaches Doug Sims and Orlin... for their help in creating those courts.
2007
Jane and RC Johnson donated funds to move 40 pine trees to block wind outside N fence.
Jerry Johnson, with help from Doug Sims, operated the Madison Summer tennis tournament, which was one of the largest in the state.
2012
The ground on the SE corner was higher than the court, so the Robb Graham and the tennis association paid to have 4 vertical feet of dirt removed and graded the ground, as well as putting in the large drain. We want to thank Michael Johnson construction for giving us a great value, it was $4k, but there were several truckloads of dirt, and the large drain is a full city water drain, which will not need any future maintenance. That drain allowed water to run off the South courts, and water runoff was required before we could resurface.
2013
Robb Graham raised money for the tennis association. MTA and the school split the cost of resurfacing both sets of the South courts.
Rob Graham, Roger Olson, and MTA upgraded the summer program to the different colored balls, and doubled the number of kids from 50 to over 100.
For high school tennis, Coach Graham of Madison provided the idea of creating the current online tracking system for high school tennis, so that stats and SDHSAA state tournament seeding could be viewed online.
2014
The school paid for the tennis shed and a lot of volunteers put in building time, including teachers Mr Swenson and Mr Bierschback, as well as Jeff Wray, Scott Staiger, Melinda Fedeler and Roger Olson and Dale Droge. Coach Doug Sims painted the shed, and many others put in a lot of time.
We worked with the scouts and had an Eagle scout project to add a new backboard to the courts.
2012- 2017
We operated the Madison One Day Classic for five years. The USTA took note, and is now recommending one day tournaments. One day tournaments allow players to get in and play, but not spend an entire weekend in travel. The coach from Mitchell really wanted that weekend, so we allowed them to have the tournament on that day.
2014-2018
Madison spearheaded the idea of having two divisions for tennis, making tennis more inclusive. More inclusive means more schools can have competitive tennis programs, hence growing the sport.
2018
We worked with the USTA to get half of the funding for the North court resurface, saving the school $10k. The school was able to use that funding to upgrade the stage lighting for the arts: band, choir, and plays.
2019
The ground on the SE corner was higher than the court, so the Robb Graham and the tennis association paid to have 4 vertical feet of dirt removed and graded the ground, as well as putting in the large drain. We want to thank Michael Johnson construction for giving us a great value, it was $4k, but there were several truckloads of dirt, and the large drain is a full city water drain, which will not need any future maintenance. That drain allowed water to run off the South courts, and water runoff was required before we could resurface.
2013
Robb Graham raised money for the tennis association. MTA and the school split the cost of resurfacing both sets of the South courts.
Rob Graham, Roger Olson, and MTA upgraded the summer program to the different colored balls, and doubled the number of kids from 50 to over 100.
For high school tennis, Coach Graham of Madison provided the idea of creating the current online tracking system for high school tennis, so that stats and SDHSAA state tournament seeding could be viewed online.
2014
The school paid for the tennis shed and a lot of volunteers put in building time, including teachers Mr Swenson and Mr Bierschback, as well as Jeff Wray, Scott Staiger, Melinda Fedeler and Roger Olson and Dale Droge. Coach Doug Sims painted the shed, and many others put in a lot of time.
We worked with the scouts and had an Eagle scout project to add a new backboard to the courts.
2012- 2017
We operated the Madison One Day Classic for five years. The USTA took note, and is now recommending one day tournaments. One day tournaments allow players to get in and play, but not spend an entire weekend in travel. The coach from Mitchell really wanted that weekend, so we allowed them to have the tournament on that day.
2014-2018
Madison spearheaded the idea of having two divisions for tennis, making tennis more inclusive. More inclusive means more schools can have competitive tennis programs, hence growing the sport.
2018
We worked with the USTA to get half of the funding for the North court resurface, saving the school $10k. The school was able to use that funding to upgrade the stage lighting for the arts: band, choir, and plays.
2019
We are working with several entities to improve line calls in tennis.
We are working to get the small school state tournament to be held in Madison, SD !
Early History
Below is an image of an article about the tennis tournament in 1908..jpg "Article about Tennis in Madison SD in 1908")
Sixth Annual Tournament
South Dakota Tennis Association
July 6-8, 1908
Chautauqua Grounds--Lake Madison
Madison, South Dakota
You and your friends are invited to attend the Sixth Annual Tournament of the South Dakota Tennis Association to be held on the grounds of the Madison Tennis Club at Chautauqua grounds at Lake Madison on July 6th and the following days.
The events will consist of gentlemen's singles and doubles, also a novel contest of singles and doubles, all are eligible who have never played in a state tournament.
The article goes on to say the entrance fee was $1, and all who were at the tournament last year had unanimous praise. Thank you to Jerry Johnson for providing this article.