The Gang of 7

By Brad Green

 Centre Court at the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Stade Roland Garros, USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (featuring Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium), Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park, Indian Wells Tennis Garden and Lindner Family Tennis Center.

These are just few of the most recognizable tennis facilities in the world. They host the Grand Slam events and some of the famous tennis tournaments in the United States.

There is another top-notch tennis facility in our own backyard, actually. It’s known as Huether Family Match Pointe and 11 years ago, it opened after a five-year labor of love thanks in large part to a very special group of Sioux Falls tennis enthusiasts.

 They are called “The Gang of 7” and are being rewarded for their efforts with the 2026 South Dakota Tennis Hall of Fame Tennis Achievement Award.

 The seven members are as follows: Lou Bosch, Cindy Huether, Matt Johnson, Mike McInerney, Keith Thompson, Mary Thompson and Bill Townsend. They were all members of the Sioux Falls Tennis Association (SFTA) in the early 2010s.

 With just five indoor tennis courts in Sioux Falls at Woodlake Athletic Club (now GreatLIFE Woodlake Athletic Club) and Westward Ho Country Club (now the Country Club of Sioux Falls) in the 1980s and 1990s, Mary Thompson set out to grow the game as she was the Executive Director of the SFTA at the time.

 In her role, she became involved with the United States Tennis Association’s Northern Section and would travel to cities and towns around the region that had indoor tennis facilities. As a result, Mary wanted to bring one to Sioux Falls.

 She remembers going and talking with then-Sioux Falls Mayor Gary Hanson about SFTA's vision for an indoor facility to be near Nelson Park and the Drake Springs pool.

“We approached him with the idea of a six-court facility at Drake Springs and he said nope,” Mary said with a chuckle. “He didn’t want to give up any green space so that went away. Nothing happened until ‘The Gang of 7’ got together. We got the right people in place as they were all SFTA folks.”

 Keith Thompson, who is Mary’s son, was beginning his architecture career at Koch Hazard when he became involved with the project initially. He would become more involved after moving back to Sioux Falls.

 “I was just starting architecture school when I met everyone,” Keith said. “When I was actually back working, it came back full circle. It was very gratifying to be a part of.”

After Mike Huether was elected Mayor of Sioux Falls in 2010, the interest in the indoor facility was re-ignited when ‘The Gang of 7’ was formed.

Bosch remembers that the group was special and were united together toward their common goal.

 “Bill and I were on the SFTA board,” she said. “I think I was President at that time. So that’s when our discussions started. We were leading the tennis community and we felt responsible for finding a solution. We had a great group of people who moved the concept forward and again, based on timing, it was right. We all had different skill sets but really meshed well together.”

 The group began having meetings, doing studies and looking for a site. Several areas in Sioux Falls were considered for the indoor facility including the aforementioned Drake Springs site, Augustana College and Spellerberg Park. In addition to the work they were doing in Sioux Falls, the group visited indoor facilities in towns like Sioux City, Iowa, Minneapolis and Rochester, Minn.

 Bosch also wanted to give a shoutout to the many others that came before the group who had tried significantly to get an indoor facility completed previously. She said she remembers talking with several of them and later sharing their input in the meetings with her team as they worked diligently to get the project completed.

 Here’s a timeline of the key events that helped Huether Family Match Pointe come to reality in Sioux Falls:

 May 2011         - Applied for the Community Appeals Chamber Drive under SFTA

                        - Drive was approved in 2012 for 2013

July 2011          - The Drake Springs Tennis Center 501(c)(3) was renamed the Community Indoor                                   Tennis Center (CITC) 501(c)(3).

September 2011 - An agreement was established with the Sioux Falls Area Community                                               Foundation (Jen Sohre) to administrate as seed money was coming in.

2013                 - An agreement was signed with Sanford Health for a proposed land lease at the                Sanford Sports Complex.

Townsend remembers how securing the land and subsequent lease for the facility was a win for the group and the project as a whole.

“It was a big game-changer,” he said. “I remember working with Bill Gassen at the time. He was an attorney there and was preparing the land lease for us. If Sanford hadn’t come along, I don’t know if this would’ve happened.”

2013                 - An alignment with Koch Hazard Architects was agreed upon for architectural                               work, establishing renderings and approving specs.

April 2013        - The Community Appeals Chamber Drive officially kicked off with fund-raising                                   efforts led by Jennifer Kirby, Jerry Nachtigal and Cindy Elifrits Peterson leading                                     the way.

McInerney said the drive saw the Sioux Falls community rally together for the facility. 

“That was a big deal,” he said. “It got a lot of people involved. Even at that time, there was some skepticism that we could come up with the money to get it done. Nobody was going to let that bother us. We just kept going after groups and the Sioux Falls community responded. A lot of well-known names and people whose names who are up at the facility now stepped up and helped. Citibank and Jerry (Nachtigal), bless him, was amazing in bringing that sponsorship on board. That was another landmark.”

July 2014          - A bid proposal from Fiegen Construction to build the facility for $4 million was                        

                        accepted.

2014                 - Mike, Cindy and Kylie Huether announced they would finance the naming                                             rights for the facility that would become Huether Family Match Pointe.

Mike was Mayor of Sioux Falls and Cindy was Executive Director of the SFTA at the time. They were a tennis family so she said it made sense for them to give a gift for the facility.

 “We talked as a family and said we think it is the right thing for us to do right now,” Cindy said. “The gift was able to push us over the finish line. We liked the idea that family was in the title. We always wanted it to be a family facility and accessible to everyone.”

 March 2015      - The project was completed with a soft opening.

April 2015        - Huether Family Match Pointe had its official grand opening with 2008 US                                              Olympian James Blake participating in ceremonies on Citi Championship Court.

Johnson remembers spending time with Blake at the facility’s opening.

 “I remember being extremely nervous because I volunteered immediately to go pick him up at the airport,” Johnson said. “I thought this is pretty cool. I picked him up and brought him over. That event was so much fun.”

 When the facility opened, there were six courts at the facility. Families like the Czarneckis, the Kirbys and the Townsends gave funds to have courts named after them. Tom Walsh and GreatLIFE gave a gift in honor of Don Grebin so there is GreatLIFE/Grebin Court. In addition to the Citi Championship Court, there was a Warrior Court, which was sponsored by the Mitch Johnson family of Sioux Falls.

 Huether Family Match Pointe was honored in 2017 by the USTA as one of 12 outstanding facilities in the country. It was a special honor for a place that was just over two years old.

Mark Vellek, a former Sioux Falls Washington player under George Lee and Matt Johnson and current Executive Director of the facility, is extremely grateful to “The Gang of 7” for the work they did over 10 years ago to take his current employer from a dream into a reality.

 “Every story has a beginning,” Vellek said. “That group was the start and put a lot of time and effort into raising it, planning it and getting the facility up and running. They deserve a lot of credit for everything that’s been accomplished. The facility has been an amazing thing for the tennis community. We’ve been able to grow tennis in every area.”

 Today, there are 10 courts at Huether Family Match Pointe after Phase II of the project was completed in 2023. Lloyd Companies, the McDowell and the McKenzie families gave funds and have courts named in their honor.

On any given day, all 10 courts are in use with players of all ages playing and learning the game on them. In addition, there are junior tournaments hosted there.

Vellek was instrumental in helping to bring the MarketBeat Open to Huether Family Match Pointe every fall. The tournament is an ATP Challenger event for players competing to qualify for the Australian Open. Tennis fans from all over the United States and the world come to Sioux Falls for the event.

 Without the work done by “The Gang of 7”, Huether Family Match Pointe might not have happened but, the fact of the matter is, it did happen, and it is truly a key piece to the Sioux Falls tennis puzzle.

 On behalf of the South Dakota Tennis Hall of Fame selection committee, we proudly celebrate “The Gang of 7” as our Tennis Achievement Award winners for 2026! Congratulations to Bill, Cindy, Keith, Lou, Mary, Matt and Mike!