Seven years after the death of longtime Cortez tennis coach Jim Harkendorff, a fund set up in his name will help start a program designed to get children into the sport.
The Parks and Recreation Department opened registration for a new youth tennis program in March, and recreation supervisor Jason Green said about 30 children ages 5 to 12 have signed up. On Tuesday, Carla Odell and Lavon Harkendorff, who created the “Harkendorff Court Bleacher Fund” several years ago in honor of the late coach, officially donated $600 to pay for the tennis program’s equipment. The Cortez Recreation Center will hold youth tennis classes every Saturday in May.
The fund, which was made up of donations from tennis enthusiasts throughout Montezuma County, previously paid for the renaming of the Harkendorff Tennis Courts at the rec center, complete with a sign and a plaque, as well as the installation of new bleachers.
“I’m so glad someone is going to start a tennis program for the kids,” Harkendorff said. “That would have been just what Jim would have wanted.”
The city hasn’t had many options for young tennis players since the coach’s death, and Green said he hopes this program will fill that gap.
Green, along with parks and recreation director Dean Palmquist, will supervise the program, but Paul Morey will be the primary coach, with assistance from the parks and recreation department’s activity leaders. Green also said he expects at least two volunteers from the Montezuma-Cortez High School tennis team. Kids will be split up into three age categories to practice tennis skills.
Tennis is a tough sport to get into for Cortez students, Green said, and the few high school students who play it often have to drive to Durango in order to practice.
“We have no feeder program for those type(s) of kids,” he said. “We have one for baseball, with all the Little League we have, we have it for soccer.... Tennis kind of fell by the wayside after (Harkendorff) passed away.”
He noted that because the new program is part of the rec center’s permanent activity schedule, it’s no longer dependent on a particular person, and it can continue even if the current coaches leave. Parents are also encouraged to participate alongside their kids, whether they have tennis experience or not.
Given the positive response so far, Green said he hopes to expand the program in the fall, with classes lasting for six to eight weeks and possibly including a wider age range. Right now there’s a $10 registration fee – $30 if parents want to add a child-size tennis racket – but Green said he and Palmquist are discussing the possibility of using part of the Harkendorff Fund to offer scholarships for low-income families.
Odell and Harkendorff’s donation used up the last of the money in the bleacher fund, which has paid for many more tennis court improvements than they expected over the last few years.
“We want to close it and give it to the rec center,” Odell said.
Green said he is still accepting registrations for the spring tennis program, but there is a 48-person limit in order to avoid crowding the tennis courts.
Parents can sign up their children by picking up a registration form at the front desk in the rec center. Dates for the fall program have not yet been announced.