INSIDE
TENNIS
BY PATRICK HERB @BADGERMTENNIS
@BADGERWTENNIS
SCHEDULE
COMING UP
Thu-Mon. at ITA Regionals (Men)
Nov. 1-3 at Big Ten Singles (Men)
Nov. 8-10 at Longhorn Invite (Women)
Nielsen, Badgers score big
Thanks to a donation from UW tennis alums, the
Hentzens, Nielsen now has digital scoreboards
t has long been recognized
that Nielsen Tennis Stadium
is one of the finest indoor
tennis facilities in college athletics. Now, thanks to the generosity of the Hentzen family,
the home of the Badgers can
officially score with the best of
them.
Three brothers, Herb, Bill
and Al Hentzen, donated a giant electronic scoreboard for
the main court at Nielsen Sta-
I
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dium and individual digital
scoreboards for six of the indoor courts.
All three Hentzen brothers
lettered in tennis at the University of Wisconsin and both
Herb and Al were back in Madison Monday for the official
dedication of the new scoreboards.
"We wanted to give something back," Herb added. "So
we talked to the coach (Greg
Van Emburgh) and said, 'what do you
need?' He said a scoreboard and sent us
pictures of all the schools that have them
and we were excited to give something
back to the university that gave us so
much."
"We are so thankful to the Hentzen family for their generous donation," men's
tennis coach Greg Van Emburgh said.
"These new scoreboards keep Nielsen
and Wisconsin tennis on par with other
great programs around college tennis
and will really be a nice luxury for both
our players and spectators."
Herb was a two-time team captain for
the Badgers in 1946 and 1947, while Al
captained the squad in 1957 and 1958.
Bill lettered at Wisconsin in 1954.
When the Hentzens competed at UW,
the facilities were quite different.
"We used to play on the basketball
court at the old Field House," Herb said.
"Sometimes they put a canvas down over
the court and sometimes they didn't.
Then after the basketball season ended,
they took down the basketball courts and
put in three dirt courts. I wouldn't call
them clay courts because they were dirt
courts. They weren't all that smooth."
Today, the Badgers are fortunate
enough to not only play on smooth surfaces, but enjoy a facility that measures
up to almost any in the NCAA. And now,
thanks to the Hentzens, they're ready to
keep score.
