2022 Annual Conference Recap

The 2022 USTA Missouri Valley Annual Conference, hosted December 2-3, wrapped up yet another successful year in our section. The Olathe Conference Center hosted the event and provided a memorable experience for all attendees.

The conference culminated on night two with the unveiling of the 2022 USTA Missouri Valley Highlights Video. This year-end video highlighted the sights and sounds from around our section this year.

The conference began at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, December 2 with the Meeting of the Association and Open Board Meeting. The USTA Missouri Valley committees and districts shared their 2022 highlights and key initiatives for 2023 and President Jason Mathes and Executive Director Mary Buschmann gave their official reports. The meeting wrapped up with the official introduction of the new slate of Board of Directors for the 2023-2024 term. 

Steve Henry will step into the president's role, with Alex Lee serving as the First Vice President. They will be joined by Kimberly Y. Hughes Gill, Terry Jackson, Deb Fabrizius and Beth Causey. 

Friday's festivities culminated with a Welcome Reception, allowing guests to socialize over food and drinks. Raffle prizes were also handed out to some lucky winners.

Saturday morning kicked off with a General Session: State of the Union Address, highlighted by an appearance and presentation by USTA Managing Director, Competition Operations Sean Cary. Then came multiple committee meetings, including a WTN/Innovative Formats presentation by Michael Hughes from the USTA.

The conference continued at 11:30 a.m., with the Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Celebration emceed by Scott Hanover.

Mary Greef Harris, Jean Larrick and Larry Newton were proudly inducted into the USTA Missouri Valley Hall of Fame. Congratulations to these three for this incredible tennis accomplishment!

A highlight of the event was when the 30 USTA Missouri Valley 2022 Award Winners were recognized during the program.

The final surprise of the afternoon came with the announcement of the 2022 President's Award winner. Mathes got the opportunity to give the award to his close friend and mentor John Kelly, who was recently re-elected as USTA St. Louis president.

USTA Missouri Valley is grateful for all of those who’ve supported the section through the year and looks forward to what 2023 has in store.

Please click here to see the full photo gallery from the weekend.