Tennis in Lexington sees a comeback

At one time the community of Lexington had a thriving tennis scene, thanks in part to the late Mary Maloley who helped build the youth and adult programs from the ground up in the 1970’s. Twenty years later in the 1990’s, Lexington High school started its own high school tennis programs as well, but around 2008 tennis saw a decline in youth tennis. 

During the pandemic, there was an uptick in tennis once again and the city’s Parks and Recreation department developed new programming for youth tennis in an indoor soccer complex. 

“Four portable tennis nets were funded by the Lexington Tennis Association and the City of Lexington along with lines painted on the turf.” said Jake Saulsbury, Parks & Rec Manager. “Youth growth in tennis took off and now has more than 300 youth tennis players from pre-K to twelfth grade participating in leagues and city programming.”

Saulsbury said the ball does bounce differently on indoor turf, at a slower pace, but allows for longer rallies in some cases. 

“The slower surface lends itself, in a lot of cases, to a better training/instruction session,” he said. “The adult tennis community enjoys the turf with the softer ground to play on and slower court play that leads to longer rallies.”

With the popularity of tennis once again in the Lexington community, a feasibility study was conducted on the need for an indoor tennis complex. As a result, the state of Nebraska approved a capital construction grant, the City of Lexington committed to a $1.8 million grant and with private donations making up the rest, a new facility is currently in the works.