Parking

No driving around the neighborhood, worrying about your car, being at the courts ON TIME! A special pass will entitle you to…

VIP Parking #1 – The value of this is unbelievable! Your very own Premium Personal Parking Position in the Westwood parking lot for Thursday night – Sunday afternoon!  100% tax deductible donation Buy Now $500

VIP Parking #2 - The value of this is unbelievable! Your very own Premium Personal Parking Position in the Westwood parking lot for Thursday night – Sunday afternoon! 100% tax deductible donation Buy Now $500

 

Foundry Golf

Eagle! Birdie! Fore! Enjoy the most beautiful Virginia countryside with rolling terrain and a meandering creek. A round of golf for four with cart at the Foundry Golf Club.

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Private Wine Tasting

An exclusive wine tasting for 10. Get your teammates together and pick an evening Mon-Thurs to immerse yourselves in an educational and thirst-quenching experience at Private Stock Cigar and Wine Co. Relax and taste wines from around the world – no loser here!

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Cliff Bruce Studios

Family and Children’s Portraits by Cliff Bruce of Cliff Bruce Studio:

Portrait package including session fee and one 8 x 10 portrait.

Are you long overdue in having heirloom portraits made of your family and or the kids? Now is a great time to have portraits made that will capture your family at this time in your life. Cliff Bruce, a Richmond portrait photographer, will create your portraits either in his studio or at an outside location of your choosing in the Richmond area. Bid on this auction item to have portraits made that you will cherish for a lifetime. The regular price for this photography is $390.

Bridal Portraits by Cliff Bruce:

Portrait package including session fee and one 8×10.

Are you, a relative or a friend planning to get married? Cliff Bruce will create beautiful contemporary and traditional bridal portraits that reflect your personality and truly capture that new bridal feel. Bid on this auction item to have portraits made that you will cherish for a lifetime. The regular price for this photography is $390.

High School Senior Portraits:

Portrait package including the session fee and one 5 x 7 portrait.

Do you have a current junior in high school?

Cliff Bruce, a Richmond portrait photographer, will photograph your rising senior in a two hour portrait session with multiple changes of clothing. This portrait session would generally be scheduled during June, July or August of 2013. Bid on this auction item to have outstanding portraits made of your rising senior. The regular price for this photography is $170.

Newborn Photography by Cliff Bruce:

Portrait package including session fee and one 5 x 7.

Are you or a relative planning to have a baby? Cliff Bruce will create beautiful photojournalistic portraits of your newborn baby that will capture all of the cuteness and intimateness during this wonderful period. Bid on this auction item to have portraits made that you will cherish for a lifetime. The regular price for this photography is $240.

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10 & Under Tennis

Great 10 and Under Starter Set. One 18’ Wilson Red Ball net, 2-23” Wilson racquets, 2-25” Wilson racquets, one set of throw down lines and 6 red foam balls. Value: $275 Donated by Wilson Sporting Goods

Your Tennis Court is Only Steps Away. One 18’ Red Ball Wilson net for short court tennis. Value: $140 Donated by Wilson Sporting Goods

Be A Sponsor. Sponsor a 10 and under Kids’ Club . Three 18’ Red Ball Wilson nets, three sets of throw down lines, five 23” racquets, five 25” racquets and one dozen red foam balls. Value: $650 Donated by Wilson Sporting Goods

Play Day!
Have a 10 and under play day. Six 23” Wilson junior racquets. Value: $120 Donated by Wilson Sporting Goods

Set of Twins? No problem. Teach them to play doubles like the Bryan twins with two 23” Wilson junior racquets.
Value: $40 Donated by Wilson Sporting Goods

Junior Team Tennis Anyone? Six 25” Wilson junior racquets. Value: $120 Donated by Wilson Sporting Goods

Future Rogers and Serenas! Two 25” Wilson junior racquets. Value: $40 Donated by Wilson Sporting Goods

Foam balls are for beginners of all ages. Get them by the dozen.

Two packages of red foam balls. Six balls in each package. Value: $24 Donated by Wilson Sporting Goods

Need more red foam balls? Dog chewed up red foam balls. Two dozens red foam balls. Value: $48 Donated by Wilson Sporting Goods

Start a Tennis Academy. Three dozen red foam balls.  Value: $72 Donated by Wilson Sporting Good

Tom Chewning has long been one of Richmond’s best ambassadors for tennis. Whether as a player, a generous volunteer of his time and money or a contributor as a coach, Chewning can always be counted on to deliver what’s needed.

In fact, he even had quite a bit to do with another Richmond volunteer and teacher coming to town.

Chewning was responsible for Betty Baugh Harrison’s visit to Seattle after her graduation from college. That’s where she met Tom Vozenilek, whom she married 30 years ago. They moved to Richmond in 1986, when Tom quickly became involved in the local tennis scene.

So perhaps it’s only fitting that both will be inducted with the latest class of the Richmond Tennis Hall of Fame on Oct. 19 at the Westin Hotel. Tickets ($75) are available to the event through the sponsoring Richmond Tennis Association.

“She [Harrison] was one of my pupils at 5:30 in the morning when she was in high school,” said Chewning. “We would work out, along with Lloyd Hatcher, Martha Beddingfield, Kathleen Cummings, Tommy Cain, and sometimes Mark Vines.

“I followed her career at North Carolina and when she graduated, she called and asked me, ‘Do you mind if I and a couple of friends come out to Seattle and stay with you guys for a while?’ So they came out for a few months, and she was coaching and met this guy named Tom.”

Harrison, a former city champion, and Vozenilek were married in 1983 and moved to Richmond three years later.

“We met through some mutual friends in [Seattle],” said Vozenilek. “So if wasn’t for her going out there to see him, we would have never met.”

As soon as he got here, Vozenilek was introduced to what was then the Richmond Tennis Patrons Association, and he began teaching and working with the nationally ranked juniors, much like he had been doing in the Seattle area.

“Lindsay [Wortham] was nice enough to get me involved with the RTA,” said Vozenilek. “In addition to the RTA stuff, the other thing I did was I was the assistant coach at the University of Richmond for the men’s and women’s programs.”

Vozenilek has been involved in the real-estate business since he finished college, but “if it wasn’t for the money, I would have probably been a tennis pro. I just felt I had something to offer and was fortunate to have the opportunity with the RTA right away.”

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Tom Vozenilek

Vozenilek served as treasurer and president of the RTA and as vice-president of the Virginia Tennis Association, where he served on the board. He was also selected as VTA coach of the year on one occasion.

In 1993, Vozenilek was the driving force behind the creation of the Trigon Club Challenge, which is now the Anthem Challenge, featuring over 600 players from 12 area clubs in a three-day competition at the Westwood Club to determine the top club in the city.

“It started around the same time we started the NationsBank [sponsorship] for the city tournament,” said Vozenilek, who is executive V-P for Global Corporate Services at CBRE. “We really blew up the rated division for it.  We had hundreds of people playing in the rated.

“So we tried to figure out some creative way where we could have some competition amongst clubs and come up with a winner every year. We got Westwood to buy into hosting it and got the RTA board to buy into the concept of trying it.

“Everybody seemed to have a good time. We had a pre-event party and auction and raised a little money. It was fun.”

Twenty years later, the concept is still very popular and it’s scheduled for Sept. 27-29.

Chewning, a native of Richmond, has supported and created his share of tennis events in the area over the years.

The latest was helping to host the gala opening of the Arthur Ashe Learning Center at the Science Museum, which kept the exhibit detailing the Richmond native’s life and many causes for three weeks this summer.

“I got so much from the people who coached me, particularly Sam Woods at Byrd Park and Don Skakle, my coach at North Carolina,” said Chewning, who retired a few years ago from Dominion Resources, where he was chief financial officer.

“I got a lot of tennis instruction but more than that, I got a lot of life lessons from them. A lot of support and good advice about values and what was important in life. They were both very giving men, dedicated to the people they coached.”

And so Chewning decided that he would do the same in his life whenever possible.

“My interest in coaching has been that I love to teach and I love the game of tennis but also I like to be around young people and be one of the people that helps them, particularly during the teen-age years, in that important segment of their life.

“I really love the kids I coach, being an advisor or mentor. Sometimes a friend and sometimes a disciplinarian.”

Chewning’s early relationship with Ashe also influenced the way he has committed himself to helping others. Chewning met Ashe during a junior tournament in West Virginia and the two practiced together in secret at Brook Field, where Ashe lived in segregated Richmond.

“I think what Arthur gave me was a sense of making sure that you gave back to people who helped you and the things that made your life worthwhile,” said Chewning. “He was always so much of a giver himself. He gave clinics and was always willing to work with young people.

“He instilled in me an idea that you needed to be a role model. Do things the right way so young people would have examples to follow. I don’t know that I wouldn’t have done it anyway because it’s part of my personality and what I was taught by my mother and father.”

Chewning, who played at Thomas Jefferson High School and the University of North Carolina, has supported the U-Turn Sports Performance Academy, Smart Beginnings and Virginia Early Childhood Education, among other local entities.

“I look at it as a sort of pay it forward kind of thing,” he said. “Sometimes it’s your turn to receive and sometimes it’s your turn to give. I’ve been blessed to be able to give as much as I have. You want to bless people like you’ve been blessed. It’s a way of being grateful for all the things that you’ve been given.

“I don’t know when I learned it but I learned it pretty early on that people didn’t need to be nice to me but they were. That made an impression on me, and fortunately I’ve been able to turn some of my good fortune into helping other folks.”

CCV’s 9.0 USTA mixed team finished its season with an overall 11-1 record, including an undefeated 9-0 record in the Richmond league and a 2-1 record at the Mid-Atlantic Sectionals in Newport News on September 6-9.  The MAS Sectional Championships featured two teams from Richmond, CCV and Raintree, and teams from northern Virginia and Maryland.

On the first day of competition, CCV defeated Maryland 3-0 with wins from Chris Blair/Katherine Mueller, Clifford Foster/Liza Wallace and Walton Makepeace/Beth O’Neill.  CCV fought a great battle against a strong northern Virginia team in the second match.  After Blair/Mueller were defeated in a close match, Bryan Bostic/Hylah Ballowe dropped a 3^rd set tie-breaker 10-4 while Sean Reynolds/Julie Ogborne lost a heart-breaking tie-breaker 11-9!  The squad finished strong on the final day of competition with a 3-0 win over Raintree, earning second place in the tournament.

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left to right: Clifford Foster, Walton Makepeace, Julie Ogborne (captain), Bryan Bostic, Liza Wallace, Sean Reynolds, Chris Blair, Beth O’Neill and Katherine Mueller
Not pictured: Hylah Ballowe and Jim Cain

Weeks of planning for the Grand Opening of the Westover Hills tennis courts were rewarded on Saturday, September 14.

Supplies and equipment were brought to the courts the afternoon of September 13 and stored in the freshly painted and cleaned concession building.

The weather forecast for the next day could not have been better.  That was a good thing as there was no indoor backup.  The day dawned cool, clear and sunny.  All was well in Westover Hills!

Workers from Richmond’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Community Facilities (DPRCF) arrived at 6:30 a.m. to erect tents, set chairs, blow the courts clean, place a large stage and set up the sound system.Image may be NSFW.
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Volunteers from the Richmond Tennis Association (RTA) and staff from the Mid-Atlantic Section (MAS) arrived at 8:15 to label the courts, place temporary nets, mark the festival courts for games like Tennis 4-Square, King/Queen of the Court, Self-Rally, Tennis Hockey, Bean Bag Tennis, Koosh Ball Tennis and more.

By 9:45 all was in place.  Invigorating music was booming from the sound system.  DPRCF Director Dr. Norman Merrifield and 4^th Southwest District Richmond City Councilwoman Kathy Graziano had their speeches ready to go.  The crowd was gathering.

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Clik here to view.At 10:05 Dr. Merrifield welcomed about 150 kids, parents and volunteers to the Grand Opening of the restored Westover Hills Courts that now included four permanent “Red Ball” (18’ x 36’) courts for 8 and Under play.  Ms. Graziano then took the stage to praise the efforts of DPRCF and RTA to complete the reconstruction of the courts and bring new programming to the newly named “Westover Hills Tennis Complex.”  Joe Grover, past president of RTA, thanked the City, DPRCF, MAS, Merrifield, Graziano and all of the volunteers assembled to support the Grand Opening.  On behalf of RTA Grover then presented the city with a check for $2,000 to recognize Richmond’s leadership in creating permanent “Red Ball” courts that better serve the city’s youngest players.

Zumba professional Stephanie Williams and two of her interns then led participants in a high energy dance warm up before players of all ages headed to the courts.

Players moved from court to court and changed partners every ten minutes.  Festival games were in full swing for Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.participants who were not yet players.  Parents and grandparents joined kids on the courts or watched, smiling, from the sideline.  Volunteers made every game the best game ever!  Everybody had fun!

Participants headed for the prize court at 12:15 and, after winning a prize, onward to the concession stand for Papa John’s Pizza.  Thank you, Papa John’s, for your support!

Those whose tennis appetite had not been satisfied headed back to the courts for more play.

IT WAS A PERFECTLY WONDERFUL DAY!

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The weather was perfect for the start of the Richmond Jr. Team Tennis league on Sunday, September 15th.  Over 330 junior players on 36 12U, 14U and 18U teams had their season opener at clubs and neighborhood courts all over the Richmond area.  Matches will continue on Sunday afternoons through the beginning of November, so be sure to check one out at a club near you!

Interested in being a part of the excitement?  Contact your club pro or the Richmond league coordinator at jttrichmond@gmail.com.

Two of the people honored with their induction into this year’s class of the Richmond Tennis Hall of Fame are no longer with us. But their talents and accomplishments will never be forgotten by those who knew them.

Penelope Anderson McBride and Fred Koechlein will join the list of inductees on Oct. 19 in a ceremony and dinner at the Westin Hotel. Tickets ($75) for the event are available through the sponsoring Richmond Tennis Association.

Ironically, both died a few months apart in 1993, leaving behind many pleasant memories on and off the court.

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Clik here to view.McBride was the best female player to ever emerge from the city, although she came along well before the Open era. A member of the U.S. Wightman Cup squad in 1927, McBride was ranked as high as No. 7 in the country that year and was a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Nationals five times.

“She attributed everything in her life that was important to tennis, including meeting her husband [Frederick McBride] in Bermuda and having her children, the whole bit,” said Molly Felton, one of her two daughters. “She played until she was in her late ‘80s.”

McBride began playing the game when she was eight, honing her early skills against the garage door at her home on Three Chopt Road, near the Country Club of Virginia, where she learned to play doubles with her friend, Elizabeth Warren.

“I don’t think Mom ever had a lesson and she was very proud of that,” said Molly. “She was very athletic and was a tomboy. I think it went from there and she just loved the game. Her mother would take her and chaperone her all over the East, playing on the circuit.”

McBride and Warren won the National Girls’ Doubles (18-under) title in 1919, and McBride was on her way. By 1926, she was ranked 12^th in the nation and, in 1928, traveled to Europe with the legendary Helen Wills Moody, playing with her in exhibition doubles matches.

In addition to the Wightman Cup, McBride played several times at Wimbledon and the French championships.

“She lived tennis,” said Molly, who now lives in Falmouth, Me. “She really did. It was her whole life.”

The Anderson Cup, an annual competition between CCV, Farmington CC, Princess Anne CC and the Norfolk Yacht and CC, was named for McBride and her sister, Margaret Anderson Duval, a seven-time singles champion of the city tournament.

“What she was really so good at was anticipating and placing the ball from the net, just wherever you weren’t,” said Pencie Huneke, her other daughter who lives in Englewood, Fla. “She used to give me a point on every game, until she grew older and I got better.”

A mixed doubles tournament is still conducted in her memory near Englewood, and the Penelope Anderson McBride Ladies Doubles Cup is given each year at the Short Hills Club in Short Hills, N.J., where she and her husband lived for over 50 years.

“She wanted the younger set to get interested in tennis, so she would hold tennis clinics for the children every morning of their spring vacation,” said Pencie. “She did the same thing during the war [WWII] at the Short Hills Club, when our professional was called to active service. She took over the tennis clinics.”

Pencie said the highlight of her mother’s career was being on the Wightman Cup team and touring Europe with Helen Wills.

Koechlein, meanwhile, wasn’t a Richmond native, but made his impact felt as soon as he became the head pro at CCV in 1959. He quickly earned a reputation for demanding good manners on the court and disciplined training from his young proteges.

“I took a lot of lessons from Mr. Koechlein,” said Lindsay Wortham, three-time city Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.singles champion. “He was really good with everything. But it was much more than just learning tennis. He taught us all life lessons.

“Every one of us that came through during those 10 or 15 years certainly had a huge impact from Mr. Koechlein. He was like a Prussian general. He made us toe the line. You didn’t throw your racquet and you didn’t yell out on the court.”

Koechlein directed the construction of CCV’s first indoor courts in the late 1960s. In 1973, he left CCV and joined Virginia All Weather Tennis for a while. He also worked at Raintree Swim and Racquet Club before joining Willow Oaks Country Club as the head pro in 1978.

“He taught all of us solid ground strokes,” said Wortham. “He taught us tennis was a lifetime sport. The whole reason we wanted to be at the club all day was Mr. Koechlein. We went to his house for cookouts. He taught us to play bridge. It was way more than just tennis.”

Koechlein retired in 1985 and moved to Largo, Fla., where he passed away in 1993.

“He took his job seriously,” said Betty Gustafson, twice a runner-up in the city tournament. “He wanted to see the kids improve. He wanted to make sure whatever he taught you would be ingrained in your mind and you could do it.

“I thought he was a wonderful teacher. He taught me all I knew. He didn’t stand for any foolishness. Whenever you went out on the court to play tennis, he wanted you to represent the game in an excellent manner.”

When Koechlein died, another student, Bobby Bayliss, said, “He taught me a great deal about the game of tennis: tactics, strategy and mechanics. But more importantly, he taught me the value of the work ethic and a sense of fair play.

“No one that came in contact with him was untouched by his presence, drive and devotion to the game of tennis,” added Bayliss, who recently retired as the coach of the men’s team at Notre Dame. He also coached at the Naval Academy and MIT.

After three hot days of tennis Avalon took home the Data Technologies Autumn Cup trophy with a win in the last match of the day on Sunday at the 8.0 men's number 1 spot. Three Chopt went on a charge on Sunday, but finished one point behind Avalon.

Full results:

Avalon- 78
Three Chopt- 77
Kanawha- 75
Bon Air- 71
Richmond Country Club- 70
Ridgetop- 70
Southampton- 69
Kings Charter- 65

* Also congratulations to the raffle winner- Martha Hodges!

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O.H. Parrish Jr., didn’t discover tennis until he was almost a teen-ager.

Once the Richmonder got hooked on the sport, he would go to any lengths to improve his game.

That included hitchhiking from his home to Byrd Park and playing with men much older so he could get better.

“I was a member of the Officer’s Club [which became the Westwood Club] and I started taking lessons, just by happenstance, from a fellow named Chuck Straley, who was the pro at the club,” said Parrish. “He got me started.”

Straley, who went to the University of Richmond, won the city singles title in 1956 and was runner-up to Bobby Payne the next year.

“Very soon after [taking lessons], I started going down to Byrd Park,” continued Parrish. “I hitchhiked to Byrd Park every day of the summer from where I lived in the West End. I knocked on Mr. Woods’ door about 8 o’clock in the morning.”

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Clik here to view.That would be the legendary Sam Woods, who lived and taught at Byrd Park for many years and coached the ultra-successful boys tennis team at Thomas Jefferson High School to the majority of its 15 state championships.

“I knocked on his door and he’d say, ‘Who goes there?’ I would say, ‘It’s O.H., Mr. Woods,’ and he’d come out and hit balls with me for a while. Then I’d usually play with Bill Schutt or somebody, and play the men in the afternoon.

“I did that until I was 14, 15, 16, 17 years old. When I was 17 or 18, I started playing some at the Country Club of Virginia. But it was Sam Woods, and this story repeats itself for any number of players in the city, at the beginning.”

Parrish would later go on to win four city singles titles and three state championships, as well as a number of doubles crowns with different partners. He also starred for the University of North Carolina, where he played No. 1 singles and doubles his senior year.

Because of all those accomplishments, Parrish will be inducted into the Richmond Tennis Hall of Fame on Oct. 19 with a dinner and ceremony at the Westin Hotel. Tickets ($75) are available through the sponsoring Richmond Tennis Association.

“Byrd Park was where the best tennis was played at the time,” said Parrish. “I’d go out there in the afternoon, and around two, three, four o’clock, all these good players would start coming out. Bob Atwood, Frank Hartz, Ralph Whittaker, Gene Short. Guys like that.

“Playing with those older guys, they’d beat you like a drum. But that’s how I got better, playing those guys who were good.”

Parrish’s game continued to improve when he went to TJ and gradually he began to hold his own with the older players. He played No. 1 singles and doubles at TJ his junior and senior years.

“I liked it and I started getting better,” Parrish recalled of his earlier days. “I got really interested in the game. I had pretty much a singular focus on tennis. That’s what I did. I loved it. I played every day, all day long.”

Parrish won the 18-and-under boys division of the City Jaycees tournament when he was 16, announcing his arrival as a contender.

As far as what he learned from Woods, Parrish said it was mostly fundamentals.

“By the time I started taking lessons, if you will, from Sam Woods, he was getting along in age,” said Parrish. “He would hit balls to me and talk to me about my grip, the right position to be in. It was all the fundamentals. That’s all anybody taught me – was the fundamentals.

“The most important thing was I knew Sam Woods was going to be [at Byrd Park] when I got there from my house.”

Woods died in 1963, the same year Parrish won his first state crown. He had captured his initial city title the previous year.

Parrish was in college at the University of North Carolina by then and is most proud of his accomplishments as a senior.

“I think the ACC, winning that was pretty special for me,” said Parrish. “That was the first year they did it in flights.”

Parrish captured the No. 1 singles flight, as well as the No. 1 doubles (which he had also won as a junior).

After Parrish graduated from UNC in 1965, he returned to Richmond, got married and went to work for State-Planters Bank.

Parrish swept the city and state crowns in 1965 and again in 1967. But he didn’t spend as much time working on his game for a variety of reasons and eventually he couldn’t keep up with the younger players. His last singles title was the city in 1969.

“A lot of people continued on and on and did it well,” he said. “I just didn’t have the interest in carrying on. I was interested in other things. Played a little golf. And of course, work and family and this and that. I just wasn’t as interested.”

Parrish’s last appearance in a final came in 1973, when he had to retire in the fourth set against Tom Magner in the city tournament. It was a very hot afternoon at Byrd Park and painful leg cramps forced him to call it quits.

That was also the last year that the city singles was a best-of-five- sets affair.

“It became very clear to me that I wasn’t going to beat Bobby Heald anymore,” he said. “It just wasn’t going to happen. Then it became very clear that I wasn’t going to beat Richard McKee. Those young guys. So what’s the point?”

After he stopped playing competitively, Parrish spent some time helping juniors.

“The thing I enjoyed was working with the Richmond Tennis Patrons [Association] and playing with some of these kids,” he said. “The early-morning sessions. Mark Vines would call me up and say, “Mr. Parrish, will you come hit with me Saturday?’ and I said, ‘Sure.’

“I played with him a lot. I played with Richard. I played with Tommy Cain, Junie Chatman, Neal Carl. They were kids and I could work them over pretty good. But it was good for them. The important thing is those kids would call you.

“It reminded me of what I did. I didn’t have to call people but I’d go to Byrd Park where they were and play with them.”

Parrish’s advice to young players today if they want to get better: Play as much as you can with older and better players.

That formula certainly worked well for him and turned Parrish into one of the top players of his era.

This article was featured on the web site in 2011.

When Scott Steinour’s team was selected for the World Team Tennis Richmond Invitational, the Salisbury Country Club’s director of tennis didn’t know much about the three female members of his Safe Harbor Title Company squad.

But Steinour was sure he had a weapon in Cesar Grobel, an assistant pro at Salisbury, and the newcomer to Richmond was able to contribute mightily in Safe Harbor’s victory over a pair of opponents in the competition at Willow Oaks Country Club Saturday.

Safe Harbor also received significant efforts from Tanja Magoc, Yumi Hutchins and Ljudmila Pavlov in scoring wins over Dominion Payroll Services and Newfield Financial Solutions to capture the championship.

“We rode him hard tonight,” said Steinour, after Safe Harbor had beaten Newfield 27-18 in the final. “He played a bunch of matches.

“We were thin on the guys’ side. I was a little injured, so I didn’t play as much, and I needed him to pick it up for me. He definitely did.”

Grobel, who has been working at Salisbury since February, lost only one match during the unique WTT format, which includes men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles, with the game scores from each match being added together to account for the overall score.

“Obviously, Cesar was tough,” said Eddie Parker, non-playing captain of the Newfield team. “They probably had the most balanced team, and that’s what it takes to win.”

Grobel defeated Eric Shulman 5-2 in singles and teamed with Phil Thacker to beat Lynn Bybee and John Snead 5-1 in doubles. In one of the mixed doubles, Grobel and Hutchins played to a 5-all standoff with Shulman and Mason Davis.

Newfield’s lone victory came in the other mixed, when Snead and Joanna Pfluger defeated Steinour and Pavlov 5-2.

In women’s singles, Hutchins fell behind Gloria Guntinas 2-0, so Steinour substituted Magoc, who won five of the last seven games (including a tiebreaker at 4-all) to post a 5-4 triumph.

“Changed it up a little bit, and [Magoc] came in and she was solid,” said Steinour. “That was key. I had three really good ladies.”

Before facing Newfield, Safe Harbor had barely survived in a 21-20 squeaker over Dominion Payroll Services.

After the teams had finished the basic matches all even at 20 points each, a super tiebreaker was played to determine who would  face Newfield, which had beaten Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa – Carytown  27-23 in the other semifinal.

Grobel and Magoc provided the difference, edging Michael Holt and Tatsiana Uvarova 6-5, coming back from 3-5 down.

“”I serve on the 5-all point, and it was pretty tense moment, but we got the point and we won,” said Grobel.

As for the WTT format, which includes no-ad scoring, substitution, cheering, playing lets on serves and lots of music, Grobel said, “I’m not used to it but it’s fun. It makes everything entertaining. I really enjoyed playing.”

The winning team split $1,000 in prize money and qualified for the WTT 5.0 Nationals, scheduled for Nov. 1-3 at Indian Wells, Calif. Newfield divided the runner-up money of $500.

In the third-place match, Dominion Payroll Services defeated Hand & Stone 23-19.

Along with the four sponsors of each team, Virginia Tennis helped promote and put on the event, with an eye toward establishing WTT recreational leagues in Richmond next year.

“I was very pleased with the turnout,” said Tom Hood, president of Virginia Tennis. “The quality of play was exceptional, and I think everybody here was very entertained by what they saw out there on the courts. I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out.

“This was really a kickoff for creating World Team Tennis leagues in the city of Richmond. Showcase how it works and how it can be done. We are planning to get some leagues formed and get them up and running by the spring.

“We’re also very grateful for all of our sponsors and to Willow Oaks for helping us put on such a great event.”

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

Safe Harbor (27), Newfield Financial Services (18)

Women’s singles – Yumi Hutchins/Tanja Magoc (SH) d. Gloria Guntinas 5-4.

Men’s singles – Cesar Grobel (SH) d. Eric Shulman 5-2.

Women’s doubles – Magoc-Ljudmila Pavlov (SH) d. Mason Davis-Joanna Pfluger 5-1.

Men’s doubles – Grobel-Phil Thacker (SH) d. Lynn Bybee-John Snead 5-1.

Mixed doubles – Grobel-Hutchins (SH) and Shulman-Davis (NFS) 5-5.

Mixed doubles – Snead-Pfluger (NFS) d. Scott Steinour-Pavlov 5-2.

Players came from all over the Mid-Atlantic Section to compete in the Willow Oaks 10 and Under L3 and L5 Championships. Results and pictures are below.

Girls 10s- L3
Finalist: Kirby Westerfield
Conso Winner: Raine Weis

Boys 10s- L3
Winner: Damien Sancilio
Finalist: Chase Robinson
Conso Winner: Nick Reynolds
Conso Finalist: Will Thompson

Boys 10s- L5
Winner: Andrew Kim
Finalist: Manoli Loupassi
Consolation Winner: Tyler Brand
Consolation Finalist: Ryan Bumbalo

Girls 10s- L5
Winner: Elise Williamson
Finalist: Sruthi Vegunta
3^rd Place: Mia Robinson
Consolation Winner: Lily Caldwell

Co-ed 8s
Winner: Viktor Vaniakin
3^rd Place: Konrad Katlaps
4^th Place: McKinley Thompson

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Bailey Andress celebrated her 14^th birthday with a sleepover party on Sunday, October 13^th.  Bailey also was earlier crowned the champion of the L4 Girls 14 division of the October Battery Park Junior Open that afternoon and became the only division champion of the weekend.

Less than thirty of the one-hundred-fifteen scheduled matches of the October Battery Park Junior Open were played on Saturday and Sunday as a misty drizzle with occasional downpours blanketed the city.  Indoor courts were in short supply, but players with access to indoor courts did their best to reserve indoor courts for their matches.  Eddie and Stacey Parker of Raintree Swim and Racquet Club and Mark Bernstine of Hermitage Country Club were generous above and beyond the call of duty and made some courts available to the tournament.

The tournament was finished on a high note on Monday afternoon under sunny skies at Battery Park.  Four ten and under boys competed in the L5 B10 division round robin.  They inaugurated tournament play on the two newly painted, blended line courts at Battery Park.

L4 Girls 14s

Champion:       Bailey Andress
Runner up:      Dharani Atluri

L5 Boys 10s

Champion:       Ryan Bumbaloo
Runner up:      Nishaanth Mulpuru

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What turned out to be quite possibly one of the most memorable evenings in the history of Richmond tennis took place on Oct. 19 at the Westin Hotel’s Chesapeake Ballroom.

The occasion was the induction ceremony and banquet for the Class of 2013 into the Richmond Tennis Hall of Fame. Some 175 people crowded into the room to enjoy the food and festivities.

Among the inductees were some of the finest men — and one woman — who have ever picked up a racquet or coached in this area. It was a remarkable collection of people and those in attendance appreciated what they had accomplished with standing ovations.

All in all, a virtual who’s who of tennis in Richmond — both those being inducted and in the audience.

“It was fun seeing a lot of people I hadn’t seen in a long time,” said Rob Leitch, one of 24 attendees being honored from Thomas Jefferson High School for winning a Virginia High School League record 15 state team championships.

“It was really just a great, great time. There were so many people there you wanted to talk to. It was almost frustrating because you couldn’t get to everybody. It was just terrific to see all those people turn out for it. It was a great night.”

TJ won 11 consecutive titles from 1948-58 under legendary coach Sam Woods. The school also captured

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Members of TJ State Champion teams

championships in 1965, 1968 and the last two in 1970-71, with the final four coming under three different coaches.

Dr. Stanley Steinberg, a retired veterinarian, was a member of the squads from 1950-53, playing a major role in the titles his final two years. Those teams also included such luminaries as Bobby Bortner, Bobby Payne, Eddie Phillips, Gene Wash, Lanny Ross and Gene Gee.

“Ranny Church and I were the only ones who showed up [from his last two years],” said Steinberg. “I played singles in ’52 and ’53 and Ranny played doubles in ’52 and ’53. I was on the team [the other years] but not on the traveling team.

“I thought it was a very nice affair. I thought it would have pulled more people from that Thomas Jefferson tennis group but in helping Shima [Grover] go back and try to track down people, unfortunately so many have passed away.

“Bobby Payne wasn’t there because he had a stroke. I got to meet Gene Wash’s daughter and she took a picture of us.”

The Thomas Jefferson award was accepted by the current TJ coach, Will Dupree.

The other inductees included Bob Bayliss, Tom Chewning, O.H. Parrish, Tom Vozenilek, Fred Koechlein and Penelope Anderson McBride. Koechlein and McBride were both inducted posthumously, having died in 1993.

Koechlein’s two daughters and his son gave an emotional acceptance speech for their father, while the Country Club of Virginia’s Tom Wallace made some nice comments about McBride, whose legacy lives on in the form of the annual Anderson Cup competition.

McBride was the most decorated and highly ranked female player to ever come out of Richmond.

Bayliss, who coached TJ to one of its state championships (1968), gave the longest speech but included some heart-warming stories about several of his former players at the Naval Academy and Notre Dame, from where he just retired last spring.

Chewning, whose contributions to the game as a player and volunteer continue unabated to the present through his generous support of time and money to many worthy causes throughout the area and state, remains humble and talked a lot about giving back.

So too did Parrish, a four-time city singles champion and three-time state champ, who gave much of the credit for his rise to fame to Woods, Koechlein and his North Carolina coach Don Skakle – along with many hours of  practicing on the Byrd Park courts.

While not a native of Richmond, it feels like Vozenilek belongs here, since he married the former Betty Baugh Harrison and has lived and worked in Richmond since 1986. His contributions came as a volunteer and teacher for over a decade.

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Clik here to view.The induction ceremony was preceded by a wonderful talk from Virginia coach Brian Boland, who stressed the importance of hard work and team camaraderie while mentioning the early help he received from several Richmonders when he arrived at U.Va.

“The 2013 Hall of Fame induction was an incredible celebration of the past, present and future of Richmond tennis,” said Ginny Wortham, president of the Richmond Tennis Association, which was responsible for arranging the gala event.

“I was inspired by the anecdotes and gratitude shared by the inductees. I was proud to be a member of the Richmond tennis community when I was reminded of the importance of giving back by Tom Chewning and Tom Vozenilek.

“It was exciting to witness over 20 members of past TJ teams re-unite for the first time in many years … and to meet and talk to so many players. Paddi Valentine Waters and her entire committee did a great job organizing a very special evening.”

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Like father, like son?

Damian Sancilio made quite a name for himself on the local and international tennis scene. He led Douglas Freeman High School to the Group AAA state high school championship, then won a pair of city men’s singles titles 22 years apart.

In between, Sancilio played as high as No. 2 singles for the University of Virginia and coached the Kuwait Davis Cup team for six years. He also served as a personal coach for several years for Sabine Hack on the women’s pro tour.

Now Sancilio, 49, is a partner and club director at the Courtside West indoor facility off Gaskins Roads in western Henrico County. And there’s another Sancilio by the same name who has started to make his presence known locally and nationally.

Damian “Little D” Sancilio, 8, was the runner-up recently (Oct. 19-21) in the 8-and-under division of the prestigious “Little Mo” Nationals in Austin, Texas. The tournament is named after Maureen Connolly “Little Mo” Brinker, who captured the women’s Grand Slam in 1953, and is run by her MCB Tennis Foundation.

A third-grader at St. Bridget Catholic School, “Little D” had to finish in the top four at two previous “Little Mo” tournaments to qualify for the Nationals. In each case, Sancilio won the sectionals (in Boyd, Md.) and the regionals (in Atlanta).

The younger Sancilio, seeded No. 2 in the Nationals, lost to top-seeded Nishesh Basavareddy of Irvine, Calif., 6-2, 6-0 in the final.Image may be NSFW.
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“The first [match], he won easily against a kid from Tulsa, Oklahoma,” said the elder Sancilio. “The second round, he played a good kid from California and won 6-0, 7-5. The third round, or semifinals, was against a really tough kid from Phoenix, Arizona.

“He was down 5-2 in the third set and came back and won 7-5. That’s what I was so proud of, the way he came back.”

“Little D,” who is currently ranked No. 7 in the Mid-Atlantic section in the 10-under division, wasn’t sure how he regained control but said, “When I won the first game after 5-2, and it was 5-3, I thought it was going to be a little closer, like maybe 7-6 or 7-5.”

In the final, his opponent came in having dropped just one game in his first three matches.

“Actually, he hadn’t lost a match in this whole Little Mo thing,” said Big Damian. “He was amazing. He’s just stronger than everybody. Damian was fighting. This kid was just too good. But I was proud of him for the way he played the whole tournament.”

Unlike many 8-under tournaments that use lighter balls and smaller courts, regulation courts and balls were used in this event.

“Little D” has been working with his dad since he was small, while also playing other sports like basketball, soccer, football and baseball.

“He loves to play just tennis but I’m trying to get him to play all the other sports,” said his Dad.

“[Tennis] is a different sport,” said “Little D.” “You’re on the court by yourself.”

Sancilio hits with others his age around town, like Chase Robinson, Evan Bernstine, Siddharth Pande, Nick Reynolds, Hatcher Butterworth and Ryan Monroe to improve his game. Robinson won the consolation bracket in the “Little Mo” Internationals last year.

“We’ve got a real bumper crop of 10-and-unders in Richmond right now,” said Sancilio. “It’s a good group of kids. Damian’s little brother, Roman, is good too. He’s six. He won 21 straight matches with the orange [lighter] ball.”

“Little D” is not quite like his Dad, since he and his brother both are left-handers like their grandfather, Lawrence, instead of rightys.

“He loves tennis and he loves competing,” Big Damian said. “He’s a smart player on the court. He’s really Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.competitive. He doesn’t quit as you can see in that 5-2 comeback. He’s a real fighter. He’s advanced at what he does. Already hits angles and drop shots. Figures out opponent’s weaknesses.

“But he’s still so young. I don’t want him to burn out. I want him to play other sports.”

Perhaps one day “Little D” will outshine his Dad but he’s got a long way to go.

No wonder Deep Run High School’s tennis teams keep getting better and better.

Their primary feeder is Short Pump Middle School, which generally has the best teams in Henrico and Hanover counties, and is coached by a former Douglas Freeman High School standout Mary Ellen (Lahy) Suttle.

In fact, both the girls’ and boys’ teams went undefeated this year on the way to their respective championships.

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Clik here to view. The girls just finished up their season late last month, beating Fairfield in the semifinals of the Henrico/Hanover middle school tournament 9-0 and then knocking off Chickahominy 7-2 in the final to finish 10-0.

That was the same record that the boys had in the spring, when they defeated Oak Knoll in the final.

“All of these girls are very competitive,” said Suttle of her most recent champions.

“One of my favorite things about this is you see the friendships develop between these girls at practice, at matches, and they even hang out together outside of school. They play tournaments together. Some even dressed up for Halloween together.

“The camaraderie that forms between them is a great part of it for me.”

Short Pump’s No. 1 player was seventh-grader Audrey Butterworth, the daughter of former city singles champion Ed Butterworth. She was followed by Brooke Connatser (7^th), Lindsey O’Neil (7^th) and co-captain Emma Harper (8^th).

The doubles pairings were Allie Kelleher and Jackie Hemp at No. 1, followed by Kelly Drash-Marina Albuquerque, Caroline Parlantieri-Olivia Gilmore/Kayla Concepcion, Mary Katherine McCullough-Linda Ma and Sophia Brat-Allison Castellano.

Gilmore, one of the co-captains, sustained a dislocated and broken elbow during the season, yielding her spot to Concepcion.

In middle school matches, four singles and five doubles account for the scoring. That allows more players (14) to participate in the outcome. High school matches are composed of six singles and three doubles (12 players).

Short Pump’s closest match was against perennially strong Tuckahoe Middle, which took the Pumas to a 5-4 nail-biter.
Among the recent Short Pump alumni who have helped Deep Run become a serious contender on the local and state scene are Nina Sorkin, Caroline Mosberg and Logan Eldridge. Deep Run was runner-up to Mills Godwin in the girls’ state Group AAA tournament in June.

The Wildcats were also the only team to beat Godwin during the regular season.

On the boys’ side, the Pumas were led by William Sheppard, Shashwat Pande, Evan Limoges and Christian Smucker, who is now a freshman at Deep Run.

Prior to a rebuilding effort last season, the Deep Run boys had had a  terrific run in the state tournament, winningImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. three consecutive team championships (2010-12) and finishing runner-up to Mills Godwin in 2009.

This is Suttle’s seventh year as the coach at Short Pump, and more often than not, her teams have ruled the roost at the middle-school level. Of course, there is usually plenty of talent for her to choose from in the tennis-rich western end of Henrico County, but someone has to mold the young players into a team.

“A lot of these kids play tennis outside of practice,” said Suttle, who played for two years at Southern Methodist University. “They’re very athletic. It all kind of clicks together, all the parts that you need to have a good team and a successful season.”

While the Deep Run boys have already shown what they can do on the state level, the girls don’t appear to be far behind. With Short Pump’s assistance, the Wildcats could be on the verge of dominating both locally and statewide.

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Congratulations to the Mid-Atlantic 45s women’s team who finished 3^rd at the USTA National Team Intersectional Championships in Boca Raton, Florida on November 7-10, 2013.   The squad was seeded third in the event and defeated Texas 3-2 en route to the semi-finals, where they lost to top-seeded and eventual champion Southern California.  In the third-place playoff, Mid-Atlantic defeated No. 4 Florida 3-2.  Four Richmond players competed on the team, including doubles teams of Kirsten Elim/Julie Ogborne and Mary Davis/Martha Condyles.  In the 3^rd playoff match versus Florida, straight-set singles victories were posted by Elim and Ogborne and the duo remained undefeated in doubles competition with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Mary Dailey and Tracy Viebrock 6-0,6-1.

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Martha Condyles, Steph Green, Kirsten Elim, Kristi Wilson, Julie Ogborne, Margie Walsh, Mary Davis and Leslie Butterworth

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Andrea Rice, Kirsten Elim, captain Julie Ogborne, Mary Davis, Alicia Wise and Martha Condyles

On August 4, 2013, the USTA Mid-Atlantic Section assumed the day to day operations of the Virginia District.  The first Virginia District annual meeting and awards luncheon under the management of the Mid-Atlantic Section was held Saturday, November 16^th at the Fredericksburg Country Club.

Richmond was well represented at the awards luncheon.  Eight awards out of the sixteen presented were received by Richmond residents or organizations.  In addition, two of the four NJTL Arthur Ashe Essay Contest winners, Crystal Ellison and Yusufu Ibrahim, were from Richmond.  Crystal and Yusufu are members of the Metro Richmond Tennis Club.

Sophia Mitchell, ranked #17 in the Girls 12 and Under division  in the section, was named the Junior Player of the Year.  Tatsiana Uvarova was named the Adult Tournament Player of the Year.  Tatsiana teaches at Raintree Swim and Racquet.  Eddie and Stacey Parker, Raintree Swim and Racquet owners, were present to celebrate the award with Tatsiana.

Joe and Shima Grover became the first husband and wife team to jointly receive the Volunteer of the Year recognition. The Grovers have been dedicated volunteers of the RTA tennis since their arrival in Richmond. Their energy and enthusiasm for the sport have benefited all tennis programs throughout the city. Rob Johnston of Three Chopt Recreation Club received the Tournament Director of the Year award for directing three separate Davenport & Company City Championships for the open, junior and rated divisions.

The McDonald’s Mid-Atlantic Clay Court Championship was recognized as the Tournament of the Year.  The Clay Court Championships are held at the Salisbury Country Club, and the 2013 event attracted record 123 players.  Tournament Director Scott Steinour accepted the award for Salisbury CC.

Fred Bruner received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for many years of dedicated service to the sport of tennis in Richmond.  Fred was a top junior player and served as the vice president and president of RTA several times.  Fred also directed the Davenport & Company City Championships for many years. He is currently serving on the RTA executive committee.

Deborah Morton, Deputy Director of the City of Richmond’s, Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities accepted the Community Outreach Event of the Year award on behalf of the city.  The award recognized the well-attended grand opening event for the Westover Hills Tennis Complex.  The City of Richmond partnered with RTA to open the newly renovated Westover Hills Tennis Complex. Four new dedicated 36’ courts and three reconstructed blended line courts were added to the tennis complex.  Fifty-seven facilities state-wide have blended line courts, but only a handful of tennis facilities in the Commonwealth has permanent 36’ courts.

Congratulations to award winners.

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St. Catherine’s and Collegiate School girls’ tennis teams are fierce rivals on the court. Their teams are generally composed of some of the finest players in the area, and their records usually reflect the talent and coaching on the squads.

This fall, their seasons followed similar paths. Both were in contention until the final match of the League of Independent Schools tournament, and both were beaten by the same team in the VISAA, Division I championships.

Collegiate (17-3) edged St. Catherine’s (14-4) for the LIS title. The Cougars were runners-up in the VISAA tournament, losing to Cape Henry Collegiate, which was the same team that eliminated St. Catherine’s in the semifinals.

It was the fifth straight LIS crown for Collegiate and 20^th overall, but it took a doubles sweep to pull it off.

In what was essentially a dual match between the Cougars and Saints on the final day of competition at Collegiate’s Williams-Bollettieri Tennis Center, Collegiate found itself trailing St. Catherine’s 42-40 after losing four of the six singles matches.

“It was the same thing as last year,” said Collegiate coach Karin Whitt. “We were down two points [to St. Catherine’s] and had to sweep the doubles. Last year was a little bit different because St. Catherine’s didn’t make it to the finals in one of their [singles].

“Everything was head-to-head. Whether we were playing for first or playing off for third, it was head-to-head.”

In the doubles, Anne Miller and Georgia Beazley won quickly over Emma Williams and Callie Nesbitt 10-2 at No. 3, then Katie Wright and Allie Straus beat Kemper Young and Lily Horsley 10-7 at No. 2 after splitting with them in the regular season.

That left it up to Ellie Whitlock and Sarah Johnson at No. 1, where they edged Charlotte Bemiss and Terrell Williams 10-7 for the clinching points. The Cougars finished with 48 points, while St. Catherine’s wound up with 47.

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Clik here to view.Collegiate has been known for doubles for years, and we really concentrate on doubles,” said Whitt. “In the pregame speech, I just told the girls, ‘Well, we knew we were going to be here, now here we are, let’s get it done.’

“So we were pretty confident going into doubles. If it had been the other way around, if we needed to win more singles, we would have been less confident. But we always preach the importance of doubles.”

Collegiate defeated St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes 9-0 in the quarterfinals of the VISAA and Norfolk Academy 5-2 in the semifinals, before dropping their second match of the season to Cape Henry Collegiate 5-3 in the final.

“All in all, a very good season,” said Whitt, who completed her seventh season with the Cougars. “But I don’t think, if you had told me at the beginning of the season and before everyone had come out, that we would win LIS again, I would have agreed.

“But as the season progressed, it became more and more of a possibility.”

Beazley, a freshman, supplied a certain point every match at No. 6 singles, going 19-0. She, along with sophomore Miller, and juniors Johnson and Straus, will return. Collegiate will lose two of its top six in Whitlock, a world-ranked water skier, and Wright.

The Cougars are also helped tremendously by having two junior varsity teams that combined for a 25-1 record this season.

Meanwhile, for St. Catherine’s, it was a case of what might-have-been.

The Saints had a powerful lineup but it could have been even stronger, had seniorImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Caroline Jones not been injured just before the season started. Jones had also missed all of the 2012 season because of an injury.

“She would certainly have been one of our top one or two players,” said coach Richard Peyton. “She was our senior captain this year and she didn’t play a match. That did not help us. She was working really hard and playing national tournaments.

“But you can’t say if we had had her, things would have been different but they certainly would have. You have to work with what you have. We also missed Lily Horsley for half the season with a broken finger.”

Horsley is the granddaughter of Waller Horsley, who was quite a player on the local scene back in his day.

Despite those injuries, St. Catherine’s only lost to Collegiate (twice) and Cape Henry Collegiate (twice).

“Considering what we had, I think everybody was really pleased with what we’ve done and the way we’ve improved through the season,” said Peyton, whose team lost two of its first three matches before winning 13 of its next 14.

The Saints gave unbeaten Cape Henry Collegiate its two toughest matches of the season, dropping a pair of 5-4 decisions.

“They won one, two and three singles against pretty much everyone because they’ve got nationally-ranked players [at those positions],” said Peyton. “And they won at number one and two doubles against everybody.

“They’re a stronger team than anybody and unquestionably the best team in Virginia.”

Bemiss, the No. 1 player for the Saints, is the only player graduating from the top six so they should be strong again in 2014.

“Charlotte Bemiss is going to be a big loss, but I think Terrell Williams is going to be stepping up for us,” said Peyton. “I know these girls are really excited about next year and they’re already working hard to get ready.

“[Eighth-grader] Lindsay White really has a passion for the sport and could play No. 6 for us next year.”

Don’t be surprised if these two rivals battle it out next season for the LIS title and be strong contenders for the VISAA crown.

So what do you have planned for Thanksgiving Day? Heading over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house for a turkey dinner and all the trimmings? Or getting ready to welcome family and friends for an evening of food and festivities?

Well, if you’re Stacey and Eddie Parker, you are preparing for 40 or so junior players and their parents to visit Raintree Swim and Racquet Club for Thanksgiving dinner and participate in the USTA National Open Boys’ 18 tournament Friday through Sunday.

“Do we miss out on having our own family [for Thanksgiving]? We do,” said Eddie Parker, co-owner of the western Henrico County facility. “But we see everybody around Christmas. I can’t get together with my sisters until Christmas anyway.

“This is our extended family. The USTA players and their families. We like it. It’s fun.”

Parker remembers hitting the road with his son and daughter for previous USTA tournaments during Thanksgiving.

“When our kids were playing over Thanksgiving, we traveled and saw the things that we liked and saw things that we didn’t like,” said Parker. “We thought it was time for us to give back to the USTA tournaments.”

Parker said the meal is prepared by members of the club, as well as volunteers from the Richmond Tennis Association.

“We have a good handful or so [who take part],” he said. “One family will bring four or five pies for dinner. Another family will bring stuffing and mashed potatoes. Another family will throw in a couple of turkeys. We have plenty of food.

“Then we usually put some out [turkey] for sandwiches the next day for lunch.”

This is the third straight year that Raintree – and the Parkers – have hosted a national tournament. The first two years it was the National Open Boys’ 16s event, which included local juniors Brett Moorhead and Liam Sullivan.

In 2014, the National Open Girls’ 18 tournament will be held over Thanksgiving weekend at Raintree.

“We close the club on Thursday and players can come in and use the facility [for practice],” said Parker. “Then, the players will check in between 3 and 5. At 5 o’clock, we have our official meeting. Then, we’ll have Thanksgiving dinner for all the players, their families, their coaches and anybody that came with them.”

The festive affair will take place in the social room, just off the main entrance to Raintree.

“It’s more of a homey feeling,” Parker said. “You’ve got a big-screen TV. People watching football. The players all sit together and eat. Families will all get a table and sit together. I think it’s a great way to kick off the tournament.”

The only local junior scheduled to play in the singles draw of 32 is Shyam Venkat, who is Henrico High School’s No. 1 player. Harrison O’Keefe of Salem and John Hublitz of Vienna are other state players in the field.

There will be players from Texas, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Ohio and Maryland, as well as Virginia, Parker said. A doubles draw of 16 is also part of the program.

In addition to Raintree, which has four indoor courts, the first two rounds of the singles tournament will be held at Hermitage Country Club (which also has four indoor courts) beginning Friday morning. The finals will be held on Sunday morning.

The tournament is open to the public and there is no admission charge. Parker believes it’s an excellent tournament for local juniors to come and watch.

“It’s a great opportunity,” said Parker. “Any of these [local] kids that are wanting to be college players or wanting to play nationals, they need to see what this level is all about. All of the kids here are going to be college players. Some already are.”

Parker said a few college coaches will be on hand to watch the matches and check out potential recruits. The Raintree event is one of 18 USTA junior tournaments being held around the country Thanksgiving weekend in different divisions.

Fairfield Inn by Marriott and Holiday Inn Express, both located on Gaskins Road near I-64, are serving as tournament hotels, Parker said, and have offered the juniors and their families a special rate for the weekend.

Jake Weber won the Boys’ 18’s division of the 2013 August Battery Park Junior Open, aImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. tournament that is jointly sponsored by RTA and the City of Richmond, Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, but that is only the tip of the iceberg.  Jake is ranked #55 in the USTA Mid-Atlantic section in tennis, lettered in golf and set several individual and relay team records in swimming.  Jake received the 2013 USTA Mid-Atlantic Junior Sportsmanship Award and golf sportsmanship award in 11^th grade.

Jake’s community service hour log is a page and half long.  Jake helped RTA by volunteering three times for the Arthur Ashe Inspirational Tour exhibit at the Science Museum this summer and at the Westover Hills Tennis Complex Grand Opening, another joint project of RTA with the City of Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities.

Jake’s accomplishments also include 5.1 GPA at Henrico High School with a perfect SAT math score and excellent SAT scores in writing, biology and chemistry.

We congratulate Jake for his achievements and wish him the best in the college application process.