STARKVILLE — The legacy of Natalie Williams, remembered for her vibrant personality and love for tennis, will soon be honored with fully renovated tennis courts at Starkville High School.
In a collaborative effort, the Starkville Community Foundation, Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District and the city are contributing evenly to cover a $90,000 project to resurface the courts in memory of Williams, who passed away in August 2023, at age 14.
SCF board member Alison Buehler said the idea came about when the foundation was looking for a project that would enhance the quality of life in Starkville.
“The tennis courts had kind of been in the back of a lot of people’s minds,” Buehler said. “You can’t host tournaments on them the way they are right now, so we’ve kind of lost our tennis culture.”
The foundation is an affiliate of the Tupelo-based CREATE Foundation that raises funds for projects and programs that help the community.
Buehler floated the idea of starting the Natalie Williams Compassion Fund with the purpose of raising money to renovate the tennis courts.
“We lost Natalie Williams last year, and it was just incredibly tragic,” Buehler said. “She was (at the tennis courts) all the time, and she was getting really good. We wanted to use the foundation as a vehicle to honor her and let her life carry on into the future.”
The foundation established the fund this year in Williams’ legacy as a reminder to the community to practice kindness and foster a culture where children feel safe, accepted and supported, SCF’s website reads.
The community quickly came together, Buehler said, including the Starkville Tennis Association and parents of students who had participated in extracurricular activities with Williams, who was also in the band and on the cross country team.
The foundation raised $30,000 to put toward resurfacing the tennis courts. The city of Starkville and SOCSD each matched the contribution.
SOCSD Communications Director Haley Montgomery said the district is excited about what the project will mean for students, the tennis program and the community.
“Natalie was a member of the SHS tennis team, so the project is especially meaningful to our student athletes,” she said. “It will bring our courts a much needed resurfacing to provide a better environment for tennis matches and practice opportunities. We hope that it will also enable community members to have a high quality environment to host tennis tournaments and just for general recreational use.”
While a starting date for the resurfacing hasn’t been set just yet, Montgomery said the board of trustees has accepted a contractor bid for the work.
“The city and the district have cooperated to provide the shared tennis facilities for many years, but the addition of the community support through the foundation really brought additional buy-in from citizens who are passionate about increasing opportunities for the sport in our area as well as those who are looking for ways to support the school district and Starkville as a whole,” Montgomery said.
Mayor Lynn Spruill shared the same sentiment, adding that the renovation will be a great benefit for the whole community.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to do something of significance to acknowledge the loss (of Natalie Williams) and provide something for the community that will be beneficial to all,” she said. “The partnerships between us and the high school have been in place, and it is nice to have a third party come in and want to participate.”
Along with honoring Williams’ legacy, Buehler said she hopes the new courts will also help revive the tennis culture in Starkville.
It’s something that hundreds of kids (and) hundreds of adults will use in Starkville,” she said.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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