USTA Missouri Valley Awards

USTA Missouri Valley places high value on recognizing excellence on and off the tennis court. Each year the USTA Missouri Valley honors the volunteers, organizations, programs and members who have done an outstanding job to help grow the game of tennis at our Awards Luncheon in December.

Award Recipient History

Junior Sportsmanship History

2026 Award Criteria

2026 Award Winners

• Adult Player of the Year - 3.5 & Below: Krupa Dudani (Valley Park, Missouri)

• Adult Player of the Year - 4.0 & Above: Kevin Johnston (Bettendorf, Iowa) and Chris Heck (Wichita, Kansas)

• Distinguished Service: Jean Larrick (Springfield, Missouri)

• Facility of the Year: Koch Family Tennis Center (Omaha, Nebraska)

• High School Coach of the Year: Anne Sutter (St. Louis, Missouri)

• Female Junior Emerging Player of the Year: Maddie Shell (Ankeny, Iowa)

• Male Junior Emerging Player of the Year: Drake Leroy (Westwood, Kansas)

• Female Junior High-Performance Player of the Year: Ava Beltran (Liberty, Missouri)

• Male Junior High-Performance Player of the Year: Anish Poojari (Overland Park, Kansas)

• Member Organization of the Year: Summersville School District (Summersville, Missouri)

• Outstanding Adult/Senior Tournament: Rally for Rescues | Animal Aid of Tulsa (Bixby, Oklahoma)

• Outstanding Community Tennis Association: The Net Rushers (Florissant, Missouri)

• Outstanding Contributor Youth Tennis: Larry Newton (Omaha, Nebraska)

• Outstanding Contributor Youth High-Performance Program: Jared Ward (Lawrence, Kansas)

• Outstanding Contributor USTA League Tennis Program: Robert Duggan (St. Louis, Missouri)

• Outstanding Diversity Achievement: ACEing Autism Kansas City (Overland Park, Kansas)

• Outstanding Junior Tournament: “Wear a Smile” Junior Circuit Tournament | Hidden Trails Country Club (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

• Oustanding Official: Megan Palmer (Valley Park, Missouri)

• Tennis Family of the Year: The Smith Family (Kansas City, Missouri)

• President's Award: Surprise announcement coming at the Annual Conference!

Junior Sportsmanship Winners

• Boys 10s: Winston Pham (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
• Boys 12s: Elijah Smith (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

• Boys 14s: Wyatt Markham (Lawrence, Kansas)

• Boys 16s: Ethan Laycob (St. Louis, Missouri)

• Boys 18s: Lincoln Smith (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

• Girls 12s: Penelope Peterson (Leawood, Kansas)

• Girls 14s: Kate Harris (Lincoln, Nebraska)

• Girls 16s: Leila Williams (Edmond, Oklahoma)

• Girls 18s: Carter McClellan (Chesterfield, Missouri)

Manon Eilts, Staff Liaison - eilts@movalley.usta.com | 913-322-4826

USTA Missouri Valley Award Committee

Chair: Stuart Dusenberry Email Stuart

Vice Chair: Lisa Minihan

Ken Brown

Huong Doan

Stacie Turtledove

Virginia Wong

Kate Foss - Board Liaison

Manon Eilts - Staff Liaison Email Manon

District Award Chairs

Jamie Galloway, USTA Heart of America Email Jamie

Adam Hulten, USTA Iowa Email Adam

Nick Schulte, USTA Kansas Email Nick

Ben Coltharp, USTA Missouri Email Ben

Verne Weber, USTA Nebraska Email Verne

Joan Dinneen, USTA Oklahoma Email Joan

Megan Kovacs, USTA St. Louis Email Megan