TENNIS - Historical Albion, Michigan

We continue with our theme of “summer fun.” Tennis, anyone? Albion once had public tennis courts in Victory Park which were used for many years. They were located northeast of the band shell east of the north-south driveway. The latter was “dead-ended” for safety and security reasons. Sadly, today the tennis courts have been abandoned. The nets have been removed on the north courts, and the south half of the south court now contains two basketball hoops, with the north part just containing unattended dirt. It might make a good community service project for some club to bring back tennis to Victory Park again where it was intended to be played.

Tennis was once a favorite alternative sport here in Albion. Tennis at the high school level during the 1950s of course was coached by faculty member Ellsworth Anderson. During the summer months when school was out, high school tennis players and others around town would keep in practice at the Victory Park courts. The Albion Recreation Department would sponsor mini-tournaments which kept our local tennis enthusiasts in shape.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photo circa the summer of 1957 (?) of some local tennis players at Victory Park. Front row, left to right: John Grenevitch, James Behling, Sandy Champlin, Richard Hunt. Back row: Robert Brubaker, Claus Rosenlocher (a German exchange student), Ben Grenevitch, and Coy “Jimmy” James. How many of our readers would like to see the tennis courts restored at Victory Park?

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
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