Cornhusker State Games

The 2020 USTA Nebraska Cornhusker State Games tournament wrapped up on Sunday, July 26, with an increased number of participants.

In 2019, there were around 221 participants, and this year brought close to 260 to Lincoln’s Woods Tennis Center.

“With everything happening surrounding COVID-19, everyone is ready to get out of the house and play a tournament,” said Fungai Tongoona, Cornhusker State Games Tennis Commissioner.

This is the fifth year Tongoona has helped organize the tennis portion of the State Games tournament. Some changes to it included adding the wheelchair section to the event, and making the junior portion unsanctioned, which brought more novice players to the event.

“I think people had a good experience this year, everyone’s happier and I’ve had less complaints this year,” Tongoona noted.

Another noticeable change was hand sanitizer stations throughout, and the mandate of masks inside the tennis clubhouse. Tongoona said most everyone was respectful of that rule, since the mayor issued the mandate earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, Tongoona is already planning for next year’s event and hopes each year is better than the year before.

One thing he hopes to improve upon next year, is more women’s singles events. The only section of women’s singles was 3.0 this year.