PRESS RELEASE
A pair of East River, South Dakota, natives: Amy Hatch, now of Kansas City, MO, and Bruce Mannes, formerly of Aberdeen and now of Phoenix, AZ, will be inducted into the SD Tennis Hall of Fame Saturday, July 18 as the Class of 2026. The 11 a.m. induction ceremony will once again be at the McKennan Park picnic shelter, near the tennis courts, in Sioux Falls. McKennan Park has been the induction site since 1991, the initial year of the SD Tennis Hall of Fame. A marker recognizing all inductees is featured near the courts.
The ceremony will be video recorded and displayed later on the website (sdtennishall.com). All tennis enthusiasts are invited to attend. The 2026 South Dakota Adult Open will be played July 17-19 at the new GreatLife Cares Foundation Tennis Complex at Tomar Park, just off South Minnesota Avenue in Sioux Falls.
Hatch receives the call to the Hall after a dedicated prep career at Brookings High School. The former Bobcat becomes the fourth member of her family to join the Hall of Fame joining her dad, Sherwood Hatch (Class of 2002), her aunt, Joan Griffin (Class of 2002) and her brother, Ripper (Class of 2022). Amy won three Flight One singles (1990-1992) and five Flight One doubles (1988-1992) to help lead Brookings to three straight team titles (1989-1991). Hatch now resides in Kansas City where she is a lawyer and is the mother of two tennis players, Sydney and Max.
Mannes is being recognized for his tennis career in the Mount Rushmore State. As a 14-year-old, he won the Boys 14 singles and doubles (teaming with Don “Woody” Boyd, HOF Class of 2024) at the South Dakota Closed. Bruce also found success at three levels (Boys 14, 16, and 18) of the Northwestern Lawn Tennis Association. In addition to his NLWLTA prowess, he was a part of the Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles’ three-peat of state championships from 1972-1974. Mannes later played collegiately at Augustana College in Sioux Falls. Today, Bruce is an anesthesiologist in Phoenix and has enjoyed success with a new court sport, pickleball.
The “Gang of 7” who helped make Huether Family Match Pointe a reality in Sioux Falls will be receiving the SD Tennis Achievement Award for 2026. The group consists of Lou Bosch, Cindy Huether (HOF Class of 2021), Matt Johnson, Mike McInerney, Keith Thompson, Mary Thompson (HOF Class of 2003) and Bill Townsend (2019 SD Tennis Achievement winner along with his wife and children). They worked together along with many Sioux Falls residents and companies to get an indoor facility built over a five-year period from 2011-2015. Starting with six courts and later expanding to 10, the facility is a tennis hotbed in South Dakota’s largest city for people of all ages to learn and play the game and has been the home of the MarketBeat Open, an ATP Challenger event and key tournament as a part of a series of tour stops that leads to a berth at the Australian Open for the player, since 2024.
