2007 Award Honorees
Master of Ceremonies
Jon Messick – USTA Intermountain Board Treasurer
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| 2007 Award Honorees and Presenters |
Organization of the Year Award
McCall Community Tennis Association - McCall, Idaho
Family of the Year Award
Harris Family - Salt Lake City, Utah
Nikos Ridle Award
Geoffrey Lewis - Durango, Colorado
Jan Dowse Volunteer of the Year Award
Guss Morrison - Colorado
Barbara Clark Multicultural Community Service Award
Frank Adams - Aurora, Colorado
Developmental Coach of the Year Award
Phil Betancourt - Pueblo, Colorado
Media Excellence Award
Cheyenne Edition - Colorado Springs, Colorado
David Freed Lifetime Service Award
Herbert Neils - Montana
McCall Community Tennis Association - McCall, Idaho
Organization of the Year Award
This award is given annually to recognize the services rendered to Intermountain’s USTA members by its member organizations: Community Tennis Associations, Clubs, Park and Recreation Departments, etc. Section winners are submitted to the USTA for the National Organization of the Year Award.
McCall, Idaho is a town of 2,500 permanent residents located on a scenic highway near the Boise National Forest. During the summer, this resort lake community swells to 20,000. Until last year there were no playable public courts, no organized tennis, no programs for children or adults to learn tennis.
Then, a tennis couple from Northern California moved to town. They found another player and began to dream of creating a tennis community and having playable courts. They formed the McCall Community Tennis Association. In one year this organization, which now boasts one hundred members, raised $31,000 to resurface two of the four public courts, and organized programs for adults and children to socialize, compete, and learn to play. Their “Grand Slam Fundraising Party,” held at the beginning of the tennis season, was fun, complete with food, band, live and silent auctions. This event raised $10,000 for resurfacing the courts. It also raised public awareness of tennis. They now have a group of enthusiastic players and are working with the city on some long-range plans for four courts in a new public park to be built in five years.
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| Organization of the Year: McCall Community Tennis Association - McCall, Idaho. Presented by Matthew Warren – Executive Director, Idaho Tennis Association. |
Harris Family - Salt Lake City, UtahFamily of the Year Award
This award is presented annually to a family within the USTA Intermountain Section who has exemplified the benefits of tennis as a family recreational sport and has contributed to their tennis community in a significant way. Section winners are submitted to the USTA for the National Family of the Year Award.
Ken and Ann Harris have been married for 46 years; they have two children, Chris age 41, Liz age 38 and four grandchildren; Hannah age 13, Jackson age 10, Cooper age 5, and the newest addition, Ellie, who is 6 months old.
The Harris Family and “Tennis” are synonymous in the Utah District. Ken and Ann have been long-time volunteers and give back to the game at all levels. Chris and Liz were both very active and competitive in junior tennis. While the family is grown, and daughter Liz now lives in Phoenix, they all remain very close. When Ann and Ken are not visiting their daughter, son-in-law and new grand-daughter in Arizona, they are helping out at a tournament desk, umpiring, serving on a committee or helping out by transporting their grandkids to tennis matches and lessons or to soccer. Ken is the President of Utah Tennis and has served on the board for the past 6 years. Chris has made an enormous contribution to the Utah District and the Intermountain Section the past two years in his position as Tennis Service Representative. He continues to work hard to grow tennis participation at all levels. The family truly leads by example and exemplifies all the attributes and characteristics of what it means to be a “TENNIS FAMILY.”
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| Family of the Year Award: Harris Family - Salt Lake City, Utah. Presented by Jean Greenwood – At Large Member of the Utah Tennis Association. |
Geoffrey Lewis - Durango, ColoradoNikos Ridle Award
This award is presented annually to a junior tennis player within the USTA Intermountain Section who exemplifies the spirit of tennis through their activities on and off the court. The award is given in memory of Nikos Ridle, a nationally ranked junior player from Billings, Montana, who was killed in an automobile accident at age 19. Section winners are submitted to the USTA for the Bill Talbert Junior Sportsmanship Award.
Geoff Lewis is seventeen years old, born and raised in Durango, Colorado. He is the son of Mike and Janice Lewis and older brother to thirteen year old sister named Lauryn. Geoff started playing tennis at the age of three and began playing USTA tournaments at the age of ten. The first USTA tournament he won was the Jim Kasic Memorial Junior Open in Pueblo when he was eleven. In the 14’s, Geoff won the Snowball Sectional Championship. In his first year of the 16’s, he won the Summer Sectional Championships doubles with Jordan Bridge. Geoff has consistently placed in the top four or five at all Intermountain events, he has also been ranked in the top 100 in the nation in each age group. Geoff has been fortunate enough to have played in seven National Championship, including Kalamazoo. In the summer of 2005, Geoff received the Intermountain Team Sportsmanship Award at the Zone Team Championships. In the winter of 2007, he received the Colorado Sportsmanship Award at the CYTF Hall of Fame Dinner. Geoff is a Senior at Durango High School and will be graduating in May. He plans to play tennis at the University of Utah in the fall where he will be majoring in finance.
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| Nikos Ridle Award: Geoffrey Lewis - Durango, Colorado. Presented by Frank Adams – USTA Intermountain Vice President. |
Guss Morrison - ColoradoJan Dowse Volunteer of the Year Award
This award is named after Jan Dowse, former Executive Director of the Utah Tennis Association. Jan served the Utah and Intermountain tennis community for more than two decades, and her contributions to the sport she loved are too numerous to count. In her honor, this award is given annually to the USTA Intermountain Volunteer of the Year to recognize his or her outstanding contributions, personal unselfishness and devotion to the game.
Guss is a tireless volunteer, who up until just recently, served on the board of directors of the Colorado Tennis Association, and was a very active member of the Association’s Community Development Committee and Multicultural Participation Committee. He served as vice-chair over the CTA Community Development Committee for over two years, and held that position until moving out of state this past summer.
Guss volunteered for Star Search Camps as well as summer and winter programs since 2001. He has been a volunteer instructor for free tennis clinics, the USA Tennis Rock and Rally, and USTA Tennis Block Party.
In February 2007, Guss received the Colorado Tennis Association’s Jody Riser Knudsen Award.
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Frank Adams - Aurora, Colorado
Barbara Clark Multicultural Community Service Award
Initiated in 2000, as the Mulitcultural Community Service Award, this award was renamed in 2006 to honor Barbara Clark, who passed away in September 2006. She was a longtime employee of the Section who was an ambassador for this award. This award is given annually to honor an individual in the USTA Intermountain Section who, through tennis, has made a significant contribution to multicultural populations and communities in our Section.
Frank Adams is the Head Tennis Professional of the Highlands Ranch Recreation District in Colorado. As a youngster, Frank started playing tennis through the NJTL in Philadelphia, and as a seasoned tennis professional he has continued to give back in numerous capacities both on and off the court. He has volunteered with the Asian Tennis League, Colorado State Games, Star-Search, Minority Coaches Workshops, Wheelchair Tennis, High School Tennis, and numerous others.
Frank has served on a wide variety of tennis committees in a wide variety of capacities. Colorado District Committees and leadership roles include: Minority Participation, Junior Recreation, CYTF Board Member, CTA Board Member, and CTA Board President. Frank’s Intermountain contributions have included: Chair of the Multi-Diversity Committee, ITA Board of Directors Member, ITA Treasurer, and ITA Vice-President. Frank has reached the USTA national level serving on the following committees: Innovation, Tennis in the Parks, Minority Participation, Technical, and finally, where his tennis started, the NJTL.
Phil Betancourt - Pueblo, ColoradoDevelopmental Coach of the Year Award
Initiated in 2000, this award is given to recognize the outstanding individual efforts of a developmental coach in the USTA Intermountain Section. This Coach is being honored for his or her endless dedication to developing junior tennis players at all ability levels through teaching and coaching, presence at tournaments and events, and the ability to positively impact the lives of their junior players on and off the court.
In 1990, Phil Betancourt created Tennis Mania, Inc. and currently serves as the Director, and Instructor. Tennis Mania is designed to provide low-income and minority youngsters the opportunity to learn the life-long sport of tennis. He organizes the Tennis Mania programs for all children interested in learning the sport of tennis.
Through Phil’s dedication and hard work, Tennis Mania, Inc. was awarded non-profit status in 2003. He has established a Board of Directors as well as a Junior Board of Directors for young tennis players to participate. Phil has poured his heart and soul into making Tennis Mania, Inc. a success. Phil has been involved with district and sectional levels of tennis for many years and has served on sectional and national tennis committees.
Phil’s commitment to the tennis programs in Pueblo has been recognized through several organizations. He has received many honors and awards from the local level to the national level. The most recent recognition given to Tennis Mania, Inc. is one of the 2007 Intermountain Section NJTL of the Year Award Honorees.
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| Developmental Coach of the Year Award: Phil Betancourt - Pueblo, Colorado. Presented by Frank Adams – USTA Intermountain Vice President & Steve Campbell – Awards Committee Chair. |
Cheyenne Edition - Colorado Springs, Colorado
Media Excellence Award
This award is given from time to time to outstanding media (print, TV, radio, or electronic) associations in the USTA Intermountain Section who go above the normal role of media to help promote the game of tennis in their area. Section winners are submitted to the USTA for the National Media Excellence Award.
The Cheyenne Edition is a weekly newspaper published for the Cheyenne Mountain area and a sister paper to the Woodmen Edition (Colorado Springs, CO). Both newspapers are free and delivered to residents’ homes on Fridays. The Cheyenne Edition celebrated its 25th anniversary in February 2007. Covering tennis locally has been one of the newspapers highest priorities. Tennis is a sport that many people of all ages within the Cheyenne area take seriously as an avocation, and the success of the Cheyenne Mountain High School boys’ and girls’ tennis teams has considerably elevated interest in the community. The Paper reports on the success of the teams and provides other tennis news frequently.
The Cheyenne Edition received the Colorado Tennis Association’s Dorothy Mauk Award in February 2007.
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Herbert Neils - Montana
David Freed Lifetime Service Award
This award is given from time to time to an individual for lifetime service to tennis within the USTA Intermountain Section. This award was first introduced in 1988 and given to David Freed of Salt Lake City, Utah. David served as Intermountain’s Secretary and Treasurer for 39 years from 1936-1975.
Herb Neils, USPTA, was born in a blizzard in a family house in Libby, Montana on February 21, 1926. He attended Libby Public Schools and started playing tennis on his family’s home-made clay court when he was five years old. In 1943, he volunteered for the US Army Air Corps and served for the duration of World War II. In 1946, he attended the University
of Montana and played tennis under Coach Jules Karlin.
After college, he moved back to Libby and physically, built a six-court tennis club. Herb also bought a bus and personally transported tennis students to his facility and to neighboring communities for competitions. Since then, he provided thousands of hours of free court time and tennis lessons to the Libby High School tennis team and local community. He coached several teenagers to state championship level.
From 1965-1975, he acquired his USPTA certification and worked in partnership with Billie Jean King and Dennis VanderMeer in the National “Tennis America” Program. Some of those students as well as other players from all over the US and foreign countries participated in a USTA sanctioned tennis tournament in Libby, Montana which Herb organized and directed for the next 20 years.
Over a period of 50 years, Herb himself won tennis tournaments in his age division throughout the Intermountain Section, the Pacific Northwest, California, Hawaii, Europe, Canada, and Mexico. In the wintertime, he lived in Hawaii and taught tennis at Diamond Head Tennis Center, for Punahou High School, Kalani High School, the Ilikai Hotel, and Leeward Community College. In recent years, he won a $35,000 grant from the Watamull Family to renovate the LCC tennis complex. He also received certificates of appreciation from the Mayor of Honolulu for his service to tennis at the Diamond Head Tennis Center. While his wife, Pat, was a visiting professor in Taiwan, he served as the Athletic Director and taught tennis at the American Club in China. In still other international settings, Herb gave free tennis lessons to children in Western Samoa and Palau; and directed an international tennis tournament in Nairobi, Kenya.
Herb Neils is also an author and big game hunter.
Past Award Honorees, 1981-2006
Organization of the Year Honorees
2006
South Suburban Parks & Recreation
Centennial, Colorado
2005
Pikes Peak Community Tennis Association
Colorado Springs, Colorado
2004
Sweetwater Tennis Association
Green River, Wyoming
2003
Coach Mike’s Tennis Academy,
Salt Lake City, Utah
2002
Gates Tennis Center
Denver, Colorado
2001
Garden City Tennis Association
Missoula, Montana
2000
Snowbird Canyon Racquet & Fitness Club
Salt Lake City, Utah
1999
Lynmar Racquet & Health Club
Colorado Springs, Colorado
1998
Greenwood Athletic Club
Englewood, Colorado
1997
Ken Caryl Ranch Metropolitan District
Littleton, Colorado
1996
Twin Falls Tennis Association
Twin Falls, Idaho
1995
The Ranch Country Club
Westminster, Colorado
1994
Green Valley Athletic Club
Henderson, Nevada
1993
The Aspen Club
Aspen, Colorado
1992
Snowbird Canyon Racquet Club
Salt Lake City, Utah
1991
Clarion-Harvest House Sporting Association
Boulder, Colorado
1990
Vail Racquet Club
Vail, Colorado
1989
The Sports Mall
Salt Lake City, Utah
1988
Racquet World Inverness
Englewood, Colorado
1987
Country Club of Colorado
Colorado Springs, Colorado
1986
Boise Racquet & Swim Club
Boise, Idaho
1985
Meadow Creek Racquet Club
Lakewood, Colorado
1984
Wyoming Racquet Club
Casper, Wyoming
1983
Denver Tennis Club
Denver, Colorado
1982
Yellow Stone Racquet Club
Billings, Montana
1981
Salt Lake Tennis Club
Salt Lake City, Utah
David Freed Award Honorees
2004
Wilbur Braithwaite
Manti, Utah
2003
Calvin D. Nelson
Salt Lake City, Utah
2002
Allen Kiel
Englewood, Colorado
2001
Sherrie Pruitt Farris
Broomfield, Colorado
2000
Rosemary Fri
Greeley, Colorado
1999
Tom Keach
Pueblo, Colorado
1998
Lee Hammel
Salt Lake City, Utah
1996
Marie Robertson
Casper, Wyoming
1995
Sam Milstein
Denver, Colorado
1994
Sandy Tueller
Las Vegas, Nevada
1993
Barbara Krase Chandler
Boise, Idaho
1992
Myron Walker
Salt Lake City, Utah
1991
Dr. James F. Dyde
Denver, Colorado
1990
Jamie Nance
Englewood, Colorado
1988
David Freed
Salt Lake City, Utah
Family of the Year Honorees
2006
Powell Family
Boise, Idaho
2005
Vasos Family
Fort Collins, Colorado
2004
Macfarlane Family
Ogden, Utah
2003
The Ingwaldson Family
Las Vegas, Nevada
2002
The Albrecht Family
Great Falls, Montana
2001
The Olsen Family
Idaho Falls, Idaho
2000
The Hammel Family
Salt Lake City, Utah
1999
The Cham-A-Koon Family
Great Falls, Montana
1998
The Miller Family
Boise, Idaho
1997
The Bartz Family
Colorado Springs, Colorado
1996
The Shields Family
Grand Junction, Colorado
1995
The Benson Family
Denver, Colorado
1994
The Jensen Family
Salt Lake City, Utah
1993
The Fallin Family
Englewood, Colorado
1992
The Rosenberg Family
Grand Junction, Colorado
1991
The DeAngelis Family
Meridian, Idaho
1990
The Champion Family
Denver, Colorado
1989
The Chin Family
Boise, Idaho
1988
The LaTour Family
Las Vegas, Nevada
1987
The Graham Family
Boise, Idaho
1986
The Zurcher Family
Parker, Colorado
1985
The Gaynor Family
Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan Dowse Award Honorees
2006
Jean Greenwood
Salt Lake City, Utah
2005
Eileen Pero
Denver, Colorado
2004
Tom Van De Hey
Colorado Springs, Colorado
2003
Holger Nickel
Idaho Falls, Idaho
2002
Eileen Pinkerton
Billings, Montana
2001
Darlene Lang
Henderson, Nevada
2000
Frank Adams
Aurora, Colorado
1999
Gale Volkman
Salt Lake City, Utah
1998
Carrie Reed
Twin Falls, Idaho
1997
Marilyn Wallin
Salt Lake City, Utah
Nikos Ridle Award Honorees
2006
Stephen Jacobs
Colorado Springs, Colorado
2005
Paige Miles
Salt Lake City, Utah
2004
Andrea Throne
Sheridan, Wyoming
2003
Sutton Shackelford,
Salt Lake City, Utah
2002
Leah Clare Weston
Colorado Springs, Colorado
2001
Christy Roth
Denver, Colorado
2000
Christian and Catrina Thompson
Las Vegas, Nevada
1999
Cory Ross
Littleton, Colorado
1998
Jake Cram
Littleton, Colorado
1997
Vivian Shin
Las Vegas, Nevada
1996
Dietz Fry
Englewood, Colorado
1995
Colin Joyner
Great Falls, Montana
1994
Bryon Oliver
Boise, Idaho
1993
Josh Muterspaw - Ashley Tindle
Las Vegas, Nevada - Littleton, Colorado
1992
Chris Jenkins
Lakewood, Colorado
1991
Jane Chi
Meridian, Idaho
1990
Jamie Nance
Englewood, Colorado
1988
Todd Wilson
Billings, Montana
1987
Nikos Ridle
Billings, Montana
Developmental Coach of the Year
2006
Carey Brading
Littleton, Colorado
2005
Clark Barton
Salt Lake City, Utah
2004
Scott Potter
Bozeman, Montana
2003
Chad Vaughn
Boise, Idaho
2002
Lindsay Rawstorne
Salt Lake City, Utah
2001
Dave Luebbe
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
2000
Johnny Lane
Las Vegas, Nevada
Barbara Clark Multicultural
Community Service Award
2006
Andy & Julie Cleary
Denver, Colorado
2005
Andy Valdez
Salt Lake City, Utah
2004
Dan Gonzales
Denver, Colorado
2003
Mike Martines
Salt Lake City, Utah
2002
Jessie Walker-Smith
Aurora, Colorado
2001
Cory Vargas
Platteville, Colorado
2000
Phil Betancourt
Pueblo, Colorado
Media Excellence Award Honorees
2006
Rocky Mountain News
Denver, Colorado
2005
Vegastennis.com
Las Vegas, Nevada
2004
Daily Camera
Boulder, Colorado
2003
The Billings Gazette
Billings, Montana
2002
Steve Gray, The Morning News
Blackfoot, Idaho
2001
AT&T Media Services
Salt Lake City, Utah
2000
Kevin Janison, KLAS-TV
Las Vegas, Nevada
1998
Times News Newspaper
Twin Falls, Idaho
1997
Tom Durkin
Salt Lake City Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah