Mel Bergman Award Winner, Ethel Parker, surrounded by all-star family at awards ceremony

The Parker and Claytor families include two NFL athletes, a Kentucky Wildcat, and a Mid-American Conference track and field champion.

"But the most decorated person in the family is Ethel Parker!" exclaimed Nick on a family Zoom call. Lisa and Ethel were both present. In the early 2000s, Nick won a football championship with Georgia Tech before he graduated and joined the Chicago Bears NFL team. Lisa laughed at his enthusiasm. He said, "Ethel has won the most national championships! Multiple."

The night that Ethel won her award, the whole room stood up and cheered. Her work, a lifetime of teaching tennis on public tennis courts, was finally being recognized. "It was wonderful to receive that award," said Ethel. "And quite frankly, I was surprised. Because it’d been 21 years that I’ve worked with the Midwest. I turned 82 years old. I felt like, in the past, forgotten… All the work I do with the kids and the parks—there were all these people getting awards... When I was chosen and went up on that stage, I felt wonderful. I felt like it was my time." Lisa nodded her head, agreeing with her mom. "My family was there," Ethel continued. "That just brought it all together. They got to see what I do."

The award ceremony came with plenty of introductions. Everyone wanted to meet Ethel, her daughter and her proud grandson: a six-foot-seven man who never stopped smiling, and on the side of the stage, recorded his grandmother's acceptance speech on his smartphone.

Aside from excelling at professional sports, Nick is an entrepreneur, producer and writer who's been published by The New York Times. On Zoom he spoke about the dynamics of growing up in a competitive family and the summers that he spent at, "Granny's house."

Nick was at its inaugural event, a proud note that Ethel mentioned during her award acceptance speech. Nick told the full story.

When he was 8 years old, Nick had developed a strong forehand. One day, he blew the ball right past Granny. Nick recalled over Zoom, "I felt good about myself. I was bouncing around... But that was the last thing I ever did on a tennis court." The entire family started to laugh. "Granny watched the ball go by and said, 'Oh... Okay!' Then proceeded to chop me up! Drop shots! Lobs. Across the court. She was playing with me." The laughter grew. "I'd finally get the ball back to her and she'd blast it past me. At the end of it, I ended up being like, ‘Yo I’m done.’ Racquet down."

After Nick finished his story, Ethel added, "Excuse me Nicholas, you forgot one thing. One of my friends coached the Bowling Green State University tennis team. You were on the court and hit a forehand. She started screaming, 'Get Nicholas on my court because he hits the ball so hard!'" Ethel laughed.

She liked bragging about her family. “They were just soooo cute being out on the court. They were with me no matter where I was.”

Lisa remembered back to her teenage years, when mom Ethel would travel the country for national tennis competitions. "I was 17 and 18 years old, and Mom would put me in tennis outfits and drag me with her. She wanted me to play tennis so bad, but I was in track being recruited," said Lisa. As a runner, Lisa was inducted into the Whitmer High School Sports Hall of Fame and ran for Ohio University. Today she's earning her Ph.D. and in the process of writing two books, as she works as a special education teacher in Atlanta, Georgia.

She stayed active through a dance group she founded; when they went to competition they won first place. "Funny enough, there were two tennis courts on the property. I never even went over there," laughed Ethel. Her tennis years came later. Coaches would say to Ethel, "That’s too bad you can’t run track at Alabama college or Birmingham."

But her competitive spirit fueled Ethel. Though the pay was low, she took a job at a hospital making $1.35 an hour working in an emergency room. She went back to school five years later and graduated from the University of Toledo with a Bachelor's Degree in Neuroscience. The proud graduate would go on to be a first assistant/scrub for 35 years. In addition to her high-pressure career, she was published for her work studying 150 patients, documenting the differences between men's and women's recoveries from back surgery.

The entire family kept laughing, sharing stories of ripped up board games and chips flying! Nothing like family competition in a room full of all stars.

Lisa was noticeably proud of her sons and her mother, and poured over the cherished memories. She talked about winning, but not at sports. At life.

“When we’re with each other, it’s nothing but fun, joy and peace," Lisa said. "Although we are competitive and hardworking… Although we face adversity as women and African American males—I’ve got a six-foot-seven young man that a police officer’s first reaction… You already know. We have a six-foot-four African American son, too. But I stay in prayer. I am constantly concerned. Mom asks, ‘Lisa how are the boys?’ We can’t let that go. It’s a part of our mindset because of history.” 

“I’m grateful for my family," said Nick. "I’m grateful to Granny for being our matriarch. And I was super proud when she received her award. I was overjoyed." 

Though Ethel received the Mel Bergman Award on January 26, 2024, her influence will last long into the future; through tennis camps; through science and research; and above all, through family.