Dennis Miller Wins Top Award!
USTA Southern Announces 2018 Annual Tennis Awards
HONOREES WILL RECEIVE AWARDS IN JANUARY
ATLANTA – November 13, 2018 – USTA Southern announced today the recipients of its 2018 awards, given for outstanding achievements in tennis both on and off the court. Twenty-six winners will be recognized during the USTA Southern Annual Meeting at the Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019.
Two of the top awards will be presented to volunteers from Mississippi and Alabama.
• The Jacobs Bowl, which is the highest volunteer award given by USTA Southern, will be awarded to Dennis Miller; Madison, Miss.
• Gerrie Rothwell Award, which is given for outstanding service and dedication to the USTA League program, will be presented to Scott Novak; Mobile, Ala.
Another notable award -- the Charlie B. Morris Jr. Service Award – will be announced at the meeting.
Atlanta residents have been selected for four awards, while Asheville, N.C.’s association and event were noted with two awards. Lenny Simpson, winner of the 20018 Educational Merit Award, received last year’s Marilyn Sherman Spirit Award. Emma Navarro was honored with the Ozaki-Hastings Junior Sportsmanship Award while the family of her regular doubles partner, Chloe Beck, will receive the Mickey McNulty Family of the Year award. Beck also won the 2016 Ozaki-Hastings Junior Sportsmanship Award.
Selected winners were nominated as candidates by USTA staff and volunteers in the section’s nine states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The winners were then selected from among the nominees by volunteer members of the USTA Southern Awards Committee and numerous other committees.
Here are our 2018 USTA Southern award winners:
• Adult Tournament of the Year: Conway Regional Tennis Classic; Conway, Ark.
• Charlie B. Morris Jr. Service Award: TBA
• Community Tennis Association of the Year: Asheville Tennis Association; Asheville, N.C.
• DeWitt Redgrave III Junior Achievement Awards: Jared Pratt; Daniel Island, S.C. and Cori Gauff; Atlanta
• Educational Merit Award: Lenny Simpson; Wilmington, N.C.
• Gerrie Rothwell Award: Scott Novak; Mobile, Ala.
• Jacobs Bowl: Dennis Miller; Madison, Miss.
• Jim Russell Junior Tournament of the Year: Allstate Sugar Bowl Tennis Classic; New Orleans
• Junior Team Tennis Coordinator of the Year: Amanda Hunt; Peachtree Corners, Ga.
• Local League Coordinator of the Year: Tracy Debnam; Raleigh, N.C.
• Mac MacDougal Tennis Official of the Year: Holly Stroud; Atlanta
• Marc Kaplan Media Excellence Award: Brian Hall; Greensboro, N.C.
• Marilyn Sherman Spirit Award: Bob Cause; Winnabow, N.C.
• Member Organization of the Year: Prestonwood Country Club; Cary, N.C.
• Mickey McNulty Family of the Year: The Michael & Debra Beck Family; Watkinsville, Ga.
• NJTL Chapter of the Year: South Atlanta NJTL; Atlanta
• No-Cut Coach Starfish Award: Laura Gurley; Simpsonville, S.C.
• Ozaki-Hastings Junior Sportsmanship Award: Emma Navarro; Charleston, S.C.
• Slew Hester Female and Male Players of the Year: Fred Robinson; Charlotte, N.C. and Jan Kirkland-Cochran; Fayetteville, Ga.
• Southern Tennis Professional of the Year: Tomas Catar; Fairhope, Ala.
• Special Tennis Event of the Year: Fed Cup Asheville 2018 – USA vs. Netherlands; Asheville, N.C.
• Team Tennis Event of the Year: Tennis on Tap; Baton Rouge, La.
• Tennis on Campus Club of the Year: Clemson University; Clemson, S.C.
• Tennis on Campus Leader of the Year: Nicholas Baxendell, East Tennessee State University; Johnson City, Tenn.
• Wheelchair Excellence Award: ITF Georgia Open; Rome, Ga.
More information on award winners and in some cases, photos, are available. Also, award description and persons who the awards are named after can be found here.
Click here for the USTA Southern website, Facebook Instagram Twitter #USTASouthern
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The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level – from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. It owns and operates the US Open, the largest annually attended sporting event in the world, and launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series linking seven summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns about 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S., and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic games. A not-for-profit organization with more than 655,000 members, it invests 100 percent of its proceeds in growing the game. It is divided into 17 sections, of which USTA Southern is the largest. The 160,000+ USTA members living in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee make up USTA Southern, and account for nearly 25 percent of the total USTA membership. A professional staff housed in Peachtree Corners, Ga., carries out USTA Southern’s daily operations, but policy is formed and much of the organization’s work is executed via a board and committee structure of more than 200 volunteers. For more information about the types of programs and services offered by USTA Southern, visit www.southerntennis.com.
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Media Contact:
Ron Cioffi, USTA Southern Director of Communications
W: 770-368-8200 x112
C: 770-378-7856
cioffi@sta.usta.com
