New tennis courts dedicated to the memory of a teenage tennis prodigy

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Today in Leeper Park in South Bend, a ribbon cutting and dedication was held for new tennis courts built in honor of Albert David Filer, a local tennis prodigy who passed away at 16 from cancer.

Officially named them the A. David Filer V. Tennis Courts. They are for all age groups and may host tournaments in the future.

Currently, the plans include inviting younger tennis players who may have never played the sport before. Those involved hope to spark a love for tennis in a whole new generation of players in South Bend. 

Public Works Director for the City of South Bend, Eric Horvath told us:

"Yeah, it's just tremendous. I mean, you're going to see young kids out here learning the game of tennis. We've got a partnership with La Casa that they're bringing young kids out who've never even played before, and they've got volunteers teaching them how to play tennis, and that'll just build the next generation of tennis players, but it'll build leadership skills in them and other skills that will go along with that, that really helps us long term with that next generation, but it's also a great economic development tool for us, because we bring in tournaments, it means people are coming in from the outside, they're staying in our hotels, eating at our restaurants, and it just becomes a great synergy for that type of activity as well."