USTA League Section Championships season is in full swing with teams from all over USTA Missouri Valley competing this July through September for their spot at USTA League Nationals this October. 

 

Four Kansas teams—an 18 & Over 3.5 men’s team captained by Rob Lane, an 18 & Over 7.0 mixed team captained by Gary Shipp, a 65 & Over 7.0 men’s team captained by Bob Bundy, and a 65 & 0ver 8.0 team captained by Jim Bauersfeld—have qualified for the national tournament. 

 

Bundy and Bauersfeld carried their teams to victory during the sectional championships in July in Overland Park, Kansas. Both groups are preparing to compete at the upcoming national tournament in Surprise, Arizona. 

 

Shipp's mixed 7.0 squad qualified by winning its section championship in Omaha, Neb., September 13-15. ADVERTISEMENT The team will compete for a national title at the USTA National Campus, November 1-3.

  

Lane’s team plays under the name Top City Tennis in Topeka, Kansas and qualified during the section tournament in St. Louis. The group was originally formed by several friends who wanted to explore competitive play. 

 

“We literally built this team from the ground up,” said co-captain Ben Seitz. “Most of us had never played a match before we started.” 

 

Top City Tennis has managed to use their unlikely beginning as a push forward. After falling just short in the 2018 USTA League Section Championships, the team is more than ready to prove themselves during this year’s run toward the National Championship.

 

“We went out and found some new players that helped us take down the section championship,” Seitz said. “We have full intentions of winning nationals, which some of us believe to be our destiny.”

 

Do you know players who have a passion for competition like these successful Kansas teams? Find out more about creating your own adult league team. Be sure to keep up with information about upcoming section championships as other Kansas teams fight for their spot at nationals.