Courtside Crew is making a final push for pickleball courts
News | Published on August 6, 2026 at 12:55pm EDT | Author: Chad Koenen
0By Chad Koenen
Publisher
Pickleball is taking over the country, and a group of local volunteers are doing their part to bring the dink, kitchen and third drop shot to the Henning Festival Grounds.
The Courtside Crew, as they have been dubbed, are just $5,000 away from completing a set of new pickleball courts near the new skate park in Henning. The pickleball courts are just part of a transformation of the festival grounds from a seldom-used green space to a hub of park activity in the community.
Scott Hart, who is part of the Courtside Crew, said the group has raised approximately $30,000 so far and needs around $5,000 more to fully furnish and complete the pickleball courts.
“It’s really good, people are really generous,” he said.
In addition to the two new pickleball courts, the plan is to also construct a full-size basketball court near the pickleball courts and skate park once they have been completed. In order to complete the second phase of the project, whi ch includes the basketball court, the group will need to raise another $50,000.
“If you really think about it for (another) $50,000 we can get the basketball court and pickleball courts done,” he said.
Hart said the Courtside Crew is beginning another fundraising campaign to complete the project and reminded businesses and people alike that all donations are tax deducible because the Henning Area Community Association is a 501c3 organization.
Donations can be made to the City of Henning (put Henning Courts in the memo line) or the HACA. The donations to the HACA, which are tax deductible, can be dropped off at Thalmann’s Insurance.
There are a variety of sponsorship levels available, but any size donation would be accepted. A platinum sponsor is $5,000 and above, a gold sponsor is $1,500-4,999, a silver sponsor is $1,000-1,499, a bronze sponsor is $550-999 and a copper sponsor is $100-499.
A sign will be displayed at the courts recognizing the organizations and individuals at various sponsorship levels once the project has been completed.
In addition to the skate park, and potential pickleball and basketball courts, the festival grounds area has underwent a transformation over the past few years. The baseball field continues to be reshaped and upgraded, a softball field was converted into a JV baseball field and another softball field was reconstructed and upgraded. The adjacent Amundson Park was also upgraded with new camping sites, as well as playground equipment and a new wash house.