Missouri Valley / Missouri

New tennis courts constructed in Marshfield; high school teams being formed

David Smale | July 01, 2025

Rotary Park in Marshfield, Missouri recently received a significant addition with the building of four beautiful tennis courts.

In connection with Park and Recreation Month taking place in July in the United States, USTA Missouri is highlighting Rotary Park in Marshfield.

It’s amazing how much good can happen when two government entities work together.

The city of Marshfield and the Marshfield R-1 School District recently partnered to build four new tennis courts in Rotary Park to provide state-of-the-art facilities for the brand-new tennis programs at the high school.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the grand opening of the facility in March. The girls’ tennis team will launch its inaugural campaign this fall, while the boys’ program will be added in the spring.

“The school district and the city wanted to have a partnership where our community wins,” said Mike Henry, superintendent of Marshfield R-1. “That’s kind of what we did with the tennis courts. We’re excited about it.

“One of the things that’s special about Marshfield is how well all the organizations work together. Obviously, each one is focused on what its mission is. But right behind that mission for all of us is supporting one another.”

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Rotary Park—one of 10 parks in Marshfield, which is located in southern Missouri near Springfield—has had tennis courts for as long as anyone can remember.

But over the years, the condition of the courts decayed to the point they were not safe for use. City Administrator Sam Rost wanted to tear them out and build new ones, but there wasn’t enough money in the budget to build more than one.

Henry and Rost began to talk about working together to benefit both sides. The district didn’t have the funds to build the necessary courts, but they could chip in some. Adding that with the budget the city had allocated allowed for four courts to be built.

Community & School Usage

Citizens of Marshfield have full access to the courts, but once the school year begins and the tennis teams need them, the school will get first dibs. When the high school teams don’t need the courts, there are four beautiful courts for anyone who wants them. Rost believes they’re good enough that the district can hold MSHSAA-sanctioned events there.

Rotary Park's tennis courts will soon be the home facility for the Marshfield High School boys' and girls' tennis programs.

“That would be fantastic, right?” Rost said. “It might even bring in a little bit of ecotourism for the city of Marshfield. The census puts us just under 8,000 people, but we’re right on I-44 and we have somewhere between 10,000 to 20,000 people stopping, getting something to eat, fueling up and heading on down the road.”

By being able to save the costs of completely rebuilding the four courts, the city can focus on possibly adding other park amenities.

“You want to be able to stretch and value your dollar as far as what you can,” Rost said. “This is such a good opportunity for our citizens, just for the quality of life. We feel our role is going to be in the recreational league area. We don’t do highly competitive stuff. That’s the stuff you’ll see at the high school level or beyond.

“Our goal is to help gear success for that competitive cycle later on down the road. I mean, they’ve got to start somewhere, right? We want to try to consistently put something fresh and new in that park to keep people wanting to come back.”

High School Tennis Teams

The immediate goal is to get the tennis programs up and running. Marshfield R-1 has hired a tennis coach for both programs. More than 30 kids showed up for the first interest meeting.

“The research is very clear that students that are involved in extracurriculars have an exponentially greater chance of being successful at school and at life, so we’re trying to make sure that all of our students have something that they’re passionate about,” Henry said. “Adding tennis gets us closer to our goal.”

The school district also uses the baseball and soccer fields in Rotary Park for practices, but tennis is the biggest impetus for the latest partnership.

“We have a long-range plan, and tennis is part of that,” Henry said. “We started talking about sharing some costs and making sure that our community was the beneficiary of it. We haven’t even started a tennis season, but right now it feels like it’s been a significant win for both sides.”

Check out additional USTA Missouri Valley stories for Park and Recreation Month by clicking here.

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