Views expressed are those of the author, Ryan Cunningham, and do not reflect the views of i3G Media or it’s sponsors.

(VALLEY CITY, ND)  Once in a while, the right message is delivered just in the knick of time.

Yesterday was the knick of time.

A few weeks ago, Valley City was poised to take a step back from a “tennis town” (more on this later), and eliminate the most historic venue for the game in the city by converting the City Park facilities into pickleball courts.

A concerted effort from residents followed, petitions were circulated, and the VCPR board reconsidered, choosing to convert a diamond at Hi-Line Park to pickleball courts instead.

Tempting it can be to call the matter settled at that point, but, in towns like this one, that doesn’t settle it.  In fact, it can lead to divisions that can last a good while without something more.

Enter Skye Nielson.

The Hi-Liner seventh grader rallied with the entirety of Valley City’s and West Fargo Sheyenne’s team watching a third set to decide a regular season Eastern Dakota Conference championship in girls tennis Friday in Fargo.

EDC team championships are not easy to find in Valley City.  Jeff Boschee, the eventual Big-12 Freshman of the Year, was fortunate enough to win one.  Hi-Liner wrestling coach Aaron Larson took a team over to Davies in the early 2010’s and put one away at their house.

Has it really been 25 years since Boschee played here?

In both cases, the entirety of the city came into play.  I remember watching Jeff slice through five of us when he was a junior high kid and I was a freshman in college trying to keep up at the rec center.  That was a lot of years, and pounds, ago.

Wrestling has been celebrated in Valley City for years with the involvement of dedicated coaches at the youth level that has made little persons wrestling a feeder for the Hi-Liners.

It took resources beyond the formulaic school program to provide kids with a vision, and experience, to excel.  Facilities like the Old Armory and the HAC with a wrestling room have paid dividends.

And now, so have City Park tennis courts.

Those in the tennis community would tell you the courts have paid dividends for years.   They are right, because the Valley City tennis community has success that you do not see, that does not get media coverage, and exists to onlookers only if you drive by at the right time.

Grand Forks is heralded as THE tennis community in North Dakota due to the number of titles Central and Red River have combined for in the sport, both boys and girls.   Title matches between the two schools are not uncommon, and the success of tennis in Grand Forks high school competition rivals their success in hockey.  In fact, check the rosters between the two sports, especially on the boys side.

(Okay, I already did the check for you.  For Central, Dallas Gibbs, Evan Panzer, AJ Spicer, Mack Blue, Ryder Burris, Finn Lockwood, and Gunnar Spicer were varsity hockey players on the tennis team.  Red River tennis featured Hudson Kilgore, Carson Skarperud, Lucas Bydal, Grant Gardner, Kyedehl Hultberg, Epsen Schneider, and Rylan Bydal.  This would constitute the majority of the playmakers for both hockey teams, and they were playing tennis in the fall.)

Yet, for all of that success in tennis, try finding a mens league to play in.  I did.  And I did not have success.  Even after the building of Choice, with all of the indoor amenities for tennis, I was told there just was not enough interest shown to have a competitive league for mens players in the summer.  That was about seven years ago, and may have changed, but then, so has my interest, because there was no one to play.

That’s not the case in Valley City.  There are robust leagues of city players through the summer, and the program is growing again this year.  The presence of tennis on both sides of town has kept the interest alive at a time when pressures from other activities have eaten away at the traditional ways we used to spend our summer time.

This EDC title comes at a time when Valley City is preparing to leave the Class “A” ranks completely, and not just because of three-class basketball.  Superintendent Josh Johnson told me recently that projections showed Valley City’s enrollment falling below the traditional Class “A” cutoff, and VCPS would file for Class B status, putting the school on a two-year path to full Class B membership.

There is no Class B tennis.

This tennis community will not care.

When you think tennis in Valley City, Erik and Susan Kringlie are the two faces that come to mind.  Their passion for the game is hard to equal by anyone else in any of the sports we have in Valley City.

In all the years of talking with them, I’ve never heard a complaint about being Class “A”.  No enrollment wringing of the hands, no “woulda coulda shoulda” mentality of an unfair game where counting cards isn’t possible, and the only way up is on the ground.

From the old stalwarts of the game in Valley City (think Don Schaak) to the current coach, Matt Nielson, and all the Beachs and Beauchmans and Buhrs in between, I can’t remember any of them saying, “What we need is two classes of tennis.”

The league title won yesterday shows that, in cinco fashion, you need five things:  a group of passionate people, some example-setters playing the game, visibility so others know your story, a coach that signs his emails with “I love being a Hi-Liner!”…..

and access.  You need access to the game.

City Park is part of something special.  We received the message, in the knick of time, on Friday afternoon.