Schulte, Little Receive Gold Star Award

2020 is the 100th anniversary of the USTA Missouri Valley, and to celebrate, the section is awarding 100 outstanding members of our local tennis communities. Two of the award winners announced in April are from Kansas—Christine Little and Kathy Schulte.

Schulte is an active member of the tennis community through her role as coach for Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School in Wichita, Kansas, as well as serving as coach for several Junior Team Tennis teams. She founded a middle school tennis program to help get students interested in tennis before high school. Schulte has served as an official and volunteers for various events throughout the year.

“She’s a long-standing, well-respected coach in the tennis community with teams that have performed really well,” said Jaren Glaser, tennis service representative for USTA Kansas. 

Schulte’s passion for the game began when she started tennis lessons at age 12. Since then, tennis has remained an active part of her life. 

“I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to be in junior tennis, play junior tournaments all around the Missouri Valley, play adult league tennis, raise my family playing tennis and continue coaching today,” Schulte said. “I love to compete. Even though I enjoy cardio tennis, doing drills and coaching, it isn’t quite the same as playing a match.”

Little has served as an outstanding member of the tennis community. She grew up in Greensburg, Kansas, and became involved in tennis through a summer recreation program. Since then, she has remained involved in the sport.

“I like tennis because you don't need a lot of people to participate,” Little said. “You can play throughout your life, and I like to hit the ball hard! If I can hit one shot or point the way I want to, it carries me out to the tennis courts the next day.” 

Little has worked as the pediatric physical therapist for the Wichita Public School District for the past 22 years. She has given back to the community through her job and her volunteer work with USTA. 

“What’s really awesome about her is that she cares about the health of kids and giving them opportunities to play,” Glaser said. “She has helped with the JTT programs and volunteers for many community outreach events, such as the Wichita Tennis Open Kids Day, which serves 300-400 under-resourced kids.”

USTA Kansas is proud to recognize both of these incredible people with the Gold Star Award. You can check out the official list of section winners here.