 Message from the President
Racial and Gender Equity in Tennis
Social initiatives to address systemic inequities for people of color and for women are springing up in businesses, government, schools and nonprofits, including the USTA and the ITF. The USTA’s recent article, “About Diversity and Inclusion” states: “...we celebrate the open format – the idea that anyone from anywhere should be able to play and compete”. To achieve diversity and inclusion the USTA is “removing barriers and creating opportunities wherever we can so that tennis becomes a true reflection of all of America.” Read more about the initiative
The ITF recently created The Gender Equity Initiative to support more women, especially women of color. Its “Advantage All” program profiles female leaders to encourage women to pursue opportunities and fulfill their potential in tennis. I recently watched a video that tells the inspiring story of Wanjiru Mbugua-Karani, a former Fed Cup player and coach from Kenya who is overseeing the development of women and girls’ participation at all levels of the game in Africa. Her career began with a university project and a demand for action. Watch Karani’s video
NWTO joins these tennis initiatives in our own small way to help provide to others the opportunities, advantages and privileges that caucausian women enjoy. NWTO’s annual budget now includes charitable contributions to organizations (to be determined) that compliment our mission of investing in women’s tennis, fitness and health. We recently formed a committee to steer this initiative that includes:
- Creating an annual giving program to benefit quality nonprofit tennis and education programs for underserved children, with an eye toward extra support for girls and young women, encouraging a lifetime love of tennis.
- Expanding our charitable work in the future with nonprofits whose purpose is consistent with our mission.
NWTO also seeks to increase ethnic diversity on its NWTO board and committees as well as to increase the number of women of color who participate in tournaments, but we need your help. We are nearly 900 members strong, and together, we can achieve more ethnic diversity by inviting, encouraging and welcoming women of color in our local community to try out a national tournament. Let’s introduce them to the social as well as competitive aspects of the tournament experience. Our committee will be updating you on our efforts throughout the fall. Please contact us at info@nwto.us with your ideas or questions.
Leslie Airola-Murveit
NWTO Co-President
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A History of Segregation in US Tennis
Many tennis players don’t know the history of struggles that Black players encountered to participate in USTA (originally USLTA) tournaments. While Blacks played college tennis at historically Black colleges like Howard and Tuskegee Universities from the 1890’s, they were denied admission to many private clubs whose membership was restricted to Whites. They joined tennis clubs that operated for Blacks but were denied opportunities to compete in US tournaments, especially after the USLTA barred Blacks from participating. The American Tennis Association (ATA) was formed in 1916 to provide blacks with an alternative tournament circuit. The tournaments were held at historically Black college campuses in the south where players could be housed since most hotels refused to accommodate Blacks.
The segregation system began to fail in 1938 when Don Budge entered an ATA tournament and played doubles with Dr. Reginald Weir, a Black man. The USLTA’s discriminatory practices finally ended after support from within the association by Alice Marble and Edward Niles and from outside by the ATA. Dr. Robert Walter Johnson, Dr. Hubert Eaton and Bertram Baker were among the ATA officials who were the key force behind negotiations that in 1950 led to the United States Lawn Tennis Association’s acceptance of Althea Gibson’s application to become the first Black to ever compete in the U.S. National Championship at Forest Hills. Between 1956 and 1958, Althea Gibson was the world’s dominant woman player. She won on clay at the French Open in 1956, as well as the All-England Lawn Tennis Women’s Singles championship in 1957 and 1958 and the U.S. Open in 1957 and 1958. She was also a finalist in the 1957 Australian Open.
ATA created a junior development program to train talented players including Arthur Ashe, Zina Garrison, Leslie Allen, Lori McNeil, Chandra Rubin, Katrina Adams, and Mali Vai Washington. It continues today to develop young talent and provide them with opportunities to travel and compete in tournaments. More about ATA history
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 Locker Room Power By David Sammel
Reviewed by Lizl Kotz
Locker Room Power is a quick but a deep read. Within the first few pages of reading, this book has the feel of an insightful and practical book. It is very clear that David Sammel benefits from years of experience as both a competitor and a coach. Sammel explains ‘Locker Room Power’ as that positive aura that surrounds an athlete and can be thought of as the X-Factor in competition. LRP is the culmination of practice, the intent and commitment that creates a fear factor to sap an opponent’s self-belief. With effective LRP many matches are won before a player steps on court. Simply put, Locker Room Power is the perception that a player is better than he actually is, generated by other players talking about his game in a way that creates a positive aura. Based on the fact that I used up an entire highlighter while reading this 106-page book, one can safely assume that I found LRP to be loaded with great quotes and helpful tips. Read more
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 50s Cup Team Recognized
Last month, in our article congratulating NWTO members who had been selected to Cup teams, we inadvertently failed to recognize the 50s team - Andrea Rice, Jenny Klitch, Julie Cass, and Vesna Mckenna - who are all NWTO members. Our apologies to them.
And...we mistakenly said that the 45s team players were all NWTO members. At the time of publication we were wrong...not all the 45s players were members. We’re happy to report that this month those players rose to the occasion and now the 45s team is also all NWTO members. We welcome new Cup team members Tracie Currie, Dina McBride, and Debbie Spence-Nasim. Tracie played at University of California at Santa Barbara and is in the Gaucho Hall of Fame. She is a 2012 World Championship Mixed Doubles winner; 2010, 2012 & 2013 National Doubles champion; and 2010 & 2013 National Mixed Doubles champion. Dina McBride played tennis at the University of San Diego and is a teaching pro in the San Diego area. She is a multi-gold ball winner in both singles and doubles. Debbie Spence-Nasim was the top ranked player in the nation as a junior and went on to reach a professional world ranking of 35.
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501c3 Application for Charitable Status Approved
On August 12 the IRS approved NWTO’s application to become a charitable non-profit organization under the 501c3 regulations. This is exciting news that now allows member donations to be tax-deductible as provided by law. We will be altering our practices over the next few months to comply with the appropriate regulations. We look forward to increasing our fundraising efforts to benefit our members at 2021 tournaments and to benefit charities whose work is consistent with NWTO’s mission.
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 New Members This Month
We welcome our new members this month: Kristen Charlton, Tracie Currie, Dina McBride and Debbie Spence-Nasim.
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Instagram Posts
Members Sherri Bronson and Julie Thu are spending some quality time with their dogs to help them get through the pandemic. Follow us on Instagram! #nwtoquarantinelife
 Julie Thu (W45s from Austin, TX) misses competing but has tried to stay focused on enjoying the little things. The extra time spent with her husband and 2 teenage boys has been a blessing. Julie has spent time over the summer helping to build a house with Habitat for Humanity, teaching kids out of her home sport court, and taking lots of leisurely walks with her golden retriever Skye. She says finding one thing each day to be thankful for helps her get through the long days, and sends well wishes to everyone in the NWTO community.
 Sherri Bronson (W65s from Scottsdale, AZ) reports that her tennis center never closed and ironically they have played so much tennis that everyone is starting to get injured! It’s about the time in Arizona where summer feels like a quarantine and everyone stays inside to beat the desert heat. She’s been cooking some new recipes and she entered her first photography contest, submitting a photo of her dog who is now 17.
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 In Remembrance of Lin Kolb
Lin Kolb, age 71 of Brevard, passed away peacefully on July 16, 2020, at Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC. Before her death, Lin wrote in her journal that although people, trees, and grass die, love never dies. She left this earth with the same quiet dignity, grace, and assertiveness with which she lived her life. For decades, Lin endured and conquered numerous health challenges. She faced each setback with a tremendous fighting spirit and lust for life, always eager to get back on the tennis court, play a round of golf, and spend time with the many people she loved and who loved her back so dearly. Read more
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USTA Announcement on Category 1 Tournaments
The announcement below went out last week to all Category 1 tournament directors, along with some additional information about how they can run their events as Designated Sectional Open Championships. We do not yet know if any tournament directors will choose to run these modified events. It is expected that next week the USTA will be sending out an announcement to all players, constituencies, and stakeholders with the formal announcement that all Adult Category 1 tournaments will be canceled for the remainder of 2020. In light of the continued fluid situation with COVID-19 across the country, the USTA has agreed and decided to cancel all Open, Adult, and Family Category 1 Tournaments for the remainder of 2020.
The following information was sent to tournament directors last week:
We continued to look for options and ways in which we could provide Tournament Directors the opportunity to host; however, the continuing increase of cases across the country makes us once again rethink our approach. As you know, we've had many tournament cancelations since the first suspension of play in March 2020. Also, a lot of you continue to try to reschedule in hopes that the tournament could happen, and the year continues to shrink in the calendar. Additionally, the latest announcement from the ITF canceling all Grade A and Grade 1 events for the remainder of 2020 means all USTA Category 1 tournaments with ITF status will be canceled. As we try to stay consistent across all divisions, we believe that the cancelation of all Adult & Family National Category 1 Tournaments will be in the best interest of all involved.
With all this in mind, the USTA Adult Tournament Department would like to offer you an opportunity to host your event with the new classification of Designated Sectional Open Championships. The purpose of this new classification is to provide your tournament National Category 2 points with the push for players to play in their Sections or Sections closer to their residency. This new classification aims to minimize the travel component for players, decrease the international players traveling to these events, and provide a chance for players to earn National ranking points while playing locally.
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 Intersectional Update by USTA Adult Competition Committee
For the past few months, your leadership team (NWTO, Matt Gleason, and the USTA Adult Competition Committee) has been discussing in detail the logistics around how to host a safe Intersectionals for you in November. Initially we were very optimistic that this could happen, particularly due to the timing of the event and player support and encouragement. However recent events, including the spike in Covid19 cases in a number of states including Arizona, requires that we cancel the event. The possibility of self-isolating prior to the event, quarantine after the event, continual changes in local regulations, and most sections reallocating their financial support due to section needs made the event too complicated to organize and host. The health and safety of our players and volunteers are of the utmost importance. We will focus our efforts on hosting an awesome event in 2021 in Arizona. The tentative dates are November 8-14. We want to thank the NWTO and Matt for their tireless work on this special event and we look forward to seeing you on the courts (hopefully soon).
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Academia Sanchez-Casal offers NSWTA members a 10% discount on
their adult programs in Naples, Atlanta, Barcelona or China. www.sanchez-casal.com
Enter promo code: ASCALLEY10 |
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Enjoy the Savings on your Mizuno Tennis Footwear!
www.mizunousa.com
Enter promo code: NSWTA20OFF
Wave Exceed Tour 4 - 550021 (3 colors available) and Wave Exceed SL (new style) Not eligible for 6-month outsole warranty with this purchase.
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Elite Tennis Travel is owned by NWTO member Adriana Isaza-Mohring who began organizing domestic and international tennis tours. Adriana sponsored our NWTO Intersectionals Tuesday night social event last year and she participated on Eastern's 45 team. NWTO member Linda Freidlander recently wrote about two trips she took with Elite Tennis. Now we want to combine our interests as Adriana has offered the above special discounts for NWTO members.
Elite Tennis Travel offers a five percent discount and upgrades to all NWTO members.
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