USTA Missouri Valley President and Hall of Fame inductee Alex Lee chronicles his passion for tennis and service

“My proudest moment came in 2016, when I won the 60 Singles and Doubles title,” Lee said. “I defeated Jonathan Hart to win the singles [title]. He was ranked #13 in the USTA.”

Lee also had myriad achievements as part of the USTA, which he also joined in the 1980s. He played in, and traveled to, all the local tournaments he could. Then, in the early 2000s, Lee started getting more involved behind the scenes. 

“I started volunteering with the USTA in 2001 as the Kansas District Multicultural Participation Chair,” Lee explained. “Then, I became the Community Development Chair for two years.”

By 2005, Lee had joined the USTA Missouri Valley Executive Board and served on several national tennis committees, such as Diversity, NJTL, CTA, and Collegiate. He also served as Section Representative. In March 2023, Lee started serving a two-year term as the first Black president of USTA Missouri Valley, a long-term goal of his.

With over 40 years of passion and dedication poured into the sport he loves most, and in honor of all he’s achieved as part of USTA Missouri Valley, Lee was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023. While being part of the Hall of Fame wasn’t initially a goal of his, Lee sees it as a crucial step towards more diversity and representation in tennis.

“I just wanted to make sure people of all colors were represented in the Hall of Fame,” Lee said. “The first thing I did was submit several people of color to the Hall of Fame, and we got our first African-American [individual] inducted–Coach Charles Goose Doughty, Jr.”

Lee also mentions the progress taking place throughout our state. “For the first time in Kansas, it is nice to see so much diversity in tennis,” Lee explained, mentioning Regis Fox of Crestview Country Club and Brent Fields of Riverside Tennis Center as being the first Black directors of tennis at their respective clubs. 

You would think as president of USTA Missouri Valley, Lee would be too busy to do much else. However, that is far from being the case. “Tennis is by far the sport I enjoy the most,” Lee said. “I play every week, I coach college tennis, I am a PTR and USPTA pro, I run a free tennis program in the summer, my wife and son play tennis, and I run a tournament with over 100 participants each July.” 

“I even had a 20-year US Open attendance streak going until COVID derailed me. Tennis is great exercise and there is nothing like the US Open! You will fall in love,” said Lee.

Lee encourages those just starting out in tennis to keep moving forward. “Tennis takes time so don’t give up,” Lee said encouragingly. “Tennis is a skill sport, so once you learn to play, I like to think you’re special because not everyone can play tennis.” 

And if you’re reading this from Wichita and want to improve your tennis skills, Lee can help. “We have a free program in Wichita at McAdams Park, and it doesn’t cost anything.”