Show-Me State Games Tennis a Hit

The tennis portion of the 37th annual Show-Me State Games recently took place during the course of two weekends at Cosmo-Bethel Park in Columbia. The Olympic-style games — which happened to run almost concurrently with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this summer — featured three days of tennis for adults followed by two days for juniors.

Louis Schnoebelen, who has worked as tennis commissioner for the Show-Me State Games for nearly a decade, said player turnout was strong among juniors — particularly on the boys’ side — while he also enjoyed spending time with the adult regulars.

“A lot of these men and women I see year after year after year,” Schnoebelen said. “For me personally, it’s kind of a neat thing to just hang out with tennis people for a few days. Catch up on old times, play a little tennis, get really sweaty and have a good time.”

The Opening Ceremony of the Show-Me State Games occurred July 16 at Mizzou Arena, and the adult tennis festivities kicked off that day, too. Singles action took place all day Friday with solid participation numbers, especially on the men’s ledger. Saturday was doubles day while the weekend wrapped up with seven teams competing in mixed doubles.

Leslie Echols — USTA Missouri adult league coordinator — captured the gold medal at the women’s singles tournament. Echols said she had such a wonderful time at the event she is going to attempt to gather a group from her hometown of Springfield to join in on the fun next year.

“I loved it,” Echols said. “I was so impressed. It was a lot of fun. It’s really nice to have opportunities for players from different areas in the state to get together and just meet. It’s good, competitive tennis.”

Schnoebelen has been a frequent participant at the Show-Me State Games ever since he learned how to play tennis in 1999. That was also the year he was hired to coach the Fulton High School boys’ tennis program. His son is now a sophomore on the Fulton team. Schnoebelen also chips in coaching the Fulton girls’ tennis program as needed.

Schnoebelen — who tries to avoid having byes at the Show-Me State Games and likes to ensure participants get to play at least two matches — competed in singles, doubles as well as mixed doubles at this summer’s event.

“Everybody seemed to have a good time. They gave pretty positive feedback. If there was anything negative, they kept it to themselves,” Schnoebelen said with a laugh.

The junior tennis portion of the Show-Me State Games took place the weekend after adults on July 23-24. Singles action began July 23 while the following day featured doubles play. Schnoebelen noted he actually had more singles participants than available courts for a stretch, forcing him to shift the start time of some matches.

A couple of the participating juniors are active USTA Missouri Valley players, Schnoebelen said. The majority, though, are more recreation-level players competing in their first-ever tournament or the only tourney they’ll play each year.

States across the U.S. annually host a similar Olympic-style sporting festival to the Show-Me State Games. Some years, champions at the state level earn advancement to a National Games. The Show-Me State Games also hosted a Senior Games for individuals 50 and over in mid-June.

The nonprofit Show-Me State Games was hosted by the University of Missouri and is a program of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Health. According to the Show-Me State Games website, better than 32,000 athletes visit Columbia throughout the year to take part in the athletic festivities. That includes individuals from 113 of 114 Missouri counties.

Sport offerings range from basketball to archery to mini golf, with more than 40 sports to choose from.

“They have so many different sports — I think it is really great,” Echols said. “You could go with family members or friends who are doing other things. There’s something for everyone. I was really, really impressed and just had a great time.”