Midwest

Mission, Bylaws and History



Mission, Goals & Bylaws 
USTA Midwest is dedicated to promoting tennis programs and education through various goals and objectives. Learn more about the benefits of tennis as well as tennis opportunities available in your area.
MISSION

To Innovate, Promote and Grow the Game of Tennis.

 

BYLAWS

USTA/Midwest Section Bylaws

 

VISION

Leadership at every level – inspire innovation, create opportunities, impact lives and build community through tennis.

 

VALUE PROPOSITION

In pursuit of its mission, the volunteers and staff accept responsibility for their actions in achieving the mission and for reaching the strategic goals of the Association.

 

CORE VALUES

Diversity and Inclusion. Include all people on a non-discriminatory basis, and make diversity and inclusion an embedded part of the USTA/Midwest Section.

 

Governance

Provide a governance and delivery structure that fosters appropriate and effective participation.

 

Integrity

Make decisions and conduct business free of conflict of interest and do it with the highest principles of ethical behavior.

 

Lifestyle

Promote, grow, and develop tennis as an enjoyable, lifetime sport that contributes to good health, character, and responsible citizenship.

 

Organizational Excellence

Commit to excellence and improvement in every aspect of the association.

 

Teamwork

Work as a team of dedicated volunteers and staff to grow tennis participation.

 

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 

Strategic directives have been identified to accomplish the mission of the association.

  1. Grow the Game promoting health and wellness through both USTA and non-USTA programs
  2. Expand our Section’s opportunities to support Districts
  3. Engage a more diverse population in all aspects of tennis
  4. Address the challenges of aging infrastructure, playing population, and volunteer base
  5. Increase awareness of the USTA/Midwest Tennis & Education Foundation

 

Click here to view the Board of Directors 


Our History

The USTA/Midwest Section has a deep history, one that includes great players and a network of volunteers and staff that has helped shaped the sport of tennis on a national and international level.  


The Beginning
 

The USTA Midwest Section (Western Tennis Association) has a rich tennis history spanning over a hundred years. It was five years before the turn of the 20th century that the Western Lawn Tennis Association was founded on July 13, 1895 when about 20 of the leading tennis players in the Midwest came together at the Chicago Beach Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. Initially, the Western Lawn Tennis Association (WLTA) governed all tennis clubs west of the Alleghenies, thus the "Western" name. However, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky broke away and created the Tri-State Tennis Association until they merged again in 1920.

 

Depending on which criterion is used, the sectional boundaries in 1895 or the current boundaries, tennis came to the Midwest via Cincinnati or Chicago. Cincinnati saw the first tennis court constructed, first tennis club, the nation's oldest league and one of the first national circuit tournaments. However, because Cincinnati was part of the Tri-State Tennis Association, to some historians Western tennis began in Chicago. The city hosted several prestigious tournaments and many of the earliest events. Chicago may claim the start of tennis in the Western Lawn Tennis Association because it hosted the first Western Tennis Championships.

 

As the end of the 19th century came to a close, tennis was starting to explode in many directions. In 1896 the WLTA joined the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA).

 

On the first day of the 104th meeting of the Western Tennis Association in Toledo, Ohio, a new chapter was added to the rich history of the Association. On December 5, 1997, one hundred-two years, four months and 22 days after being formed in Chicago, the Western Tennis Association changed its name to the USTA Midwest Section. The name change officially took affect on January 1, 1998.


Today and the Future 
 

The USTA Midwest Section’s current home, a 25,000 square foot office building funded by the Midwest Tennis & Education Foundation, was completed in June 2006.  The facility houses the Section, the Foundation, and provides a permanent home for the Midwest Tennis Hall of Fame, which opened December 2, 2006.  Following are key milestones that have helped create the strong organization the Section is today:

 

  • The Chicago's South Side Tennis Club hosted events in 1922 and the Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana, hosted them from 1924 until 1940. The events were transferred to Kalamazoo in 1940, and the USTA Boys' 16 and 18 National Championships are still held there today in what is currently known as "the Zoo".
  • The USTA Midwest Section implemented a full-time sales force in 2005 by establishing Tennis Service Representatives (TSRs) to help assess community needs, market tennis, and provide resources to help local organizations develop and increase tennis programming.
  • In 2007 the Association ended the year with 1,256 USTA Organizational Members making us the No. 1 Section in the USTA at the time.
  • During 2007, volunteer-based Youth Tennis Associations were established in 12 communities to organize and manage Team Tennis with an emphasis on new 10-and-under programs, resulting in close to 1,200 more junior players.
  • The Association hit record membership levels in 2012, ending the fiscal year by surpassing 90,000 individual members. 
  • The town of Midland, Mich., was named the winner of the USTA’s “Best Tennis Town” search, the first-ever initiative designed to identify and reward the American communities—from small, rural towns to large, urban metro areas and everywhere in between—that best exemplify the passion, excitement, spirit and impact that tennis brings to the local level.
  • The USTA Midwest Section was honored in 2009 as the Racquet Sports Industry Section of the Year.

 

CLICK HERE for a detailed history which includes key highlights about the section from each decade (1910 to the present).  Learn more about how the current districts (USTA Midwest Section boundaries) were formed, as well as more about great players and leaders from the Midwest that helped shape the game.


USTA Midwest Hall of Fame
 

The USTA/Midwest Section Hall of Fame was started in 1984, and is located at the USTA/Midwest Section and USTA/Midwest Tennis & Education Foundation offices in Indianapolis, Indiana.  There are currently more than 80 Hall of Fame members.

 

Each year the association inducts individuals who excelled as a player or team in one or more age divisions of play and/or have made a significant contribution to tennis as a volunteer, industry leader, tennis organization, coach, professional, or in any other capacity where the involvement has been an outstanding credit to the growth, promotion and values of the game. 

 

CLICK HERE for a complete listing of all our Hall of Fame inductees. 

 

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