Manhattan's upgraded CiCo Park tennis complex backed by $220,000 USTA grants

The City of Manhattan Parks & Recreation Department has been working on some major upgrades to the CiCo Park tennis facility. And with those upgrades now completed, the end result is bigger and better than expected.

The refreshed eight-court tennis complex at CiCo Park was opened to the public on Aug. 29 following a ceremony. At that grand opening, an oversized check was presented that celebrated the USTA’s $220,000 Tennis Venue Services grant contribution toward the project.

USTA National contributed $200,000, and USTA Missouri Valley chipped in an additional $20,000. The improvements were also made possible through the City of Manhattan’s Quality of Life Sales Tax and a partnership with Manhattan-Ogden Unified School District 383.

Aaron Stewart, City of Manhattan Parks and Recreation director, said the new tennis courts — complete with lights and scoreboards — create an opportunity for programming to grow. That’s for all ages and skill levels, from junior play to more expansive tournaments.

“The courts expanded from three to eight, which is more conducive to tournament play,” Stewart said. “And we have junior tennis lines on four of the eight courts to improve facilitation of lessons for our younger age groups.”

Fueling Youth Development

Stewart said the City of Manhattan actively partners with leaders in the local tennis community. That includes USTA Kansas representatives as well as Brody Queal and Olga Shaw from Peakform Sports and Wellness Center.

Serving Every Player

Another interesting aspect of the tennis programming efforts is the city’s homeschool physical education program. It gives homeschool children the tools and knowledge they need to learn tennis, creating a potential pathway to playing for a high school team.

The new courts and facilities at CiCo Park have helped the efficacy of this program. Looking ahead, Stewart sees even more opportunities to grow tennis in Manhattan.

“We want to be careful and work with our partners that offer leagues and events for our community,” he said. “Our goal is to fill the gaps we believe exist — such as expanding the introduction to the sport, providing local tournament opportunities and having a great facility that will support all of the above, as well as drop-in use.”