Adams, Reser Impact Felt Across USTA Missouri

“Tennis has been great to me, and I’ve enjoyed it so much,” Reser said. “To be able to watch kids and adults learn the sport and see their eyes light up when they’re successful. Then to watch them develop and be able to hit the ball back and forth. It’s the sport of a lifetime. It’s just really nice to see others flourish — the joy of watching others experience something I had the opportunity to be a part of.”

In addition to administering neighborhood community programs and providing underserved children an opportunity to play tennis, Reser listed running a 2002 Fed Cup event in Springfield as a career highlight. The United States played host to Israel, with Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Lisa Raymond and Meghann Shaughnessy descending upon Cooper Tennis Complex, along with captain Billie Jean King.

Also visiting Springfield was a swarm of security organizations, including SWAT teams, the FBI and CIA. The event was the first Fed Cup held in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, and immense safety measures and protocols were instituted as a result. Facilities were under lockdown when the event’s participants played. Reser underwent trainings learning how to respond if there was a bomb threat. Adams didn’t sleep for days.

Under Reser’s guidance as the head of all operations, the event went off without a hitch. Every day was a sellout, and the U.S. defeated Israel 5-0.

“That was probably a lifetime opportunity that was very exciting — one that will always be embedded in my memory and heart,” Reser said. “To be able to provide that opportunity for our local, regional folks to come and be a part of watching high-caliber players. You never just get to go do that. To have that right here in our backyard — the middle of the United States in rural Springfield, if you will.”

Adams added: “We were very honored to be selected to host that event and have the confidence of the international community and the USTA international federation.”

Adams said one of her career highlights was advancing the Springfield-Greene County Park Board’s operating budget from under $1 million when she started to more than $34 million when she left. She was part of $100 million worth of facility development for the general public, including school parks, a botanical center and sports stadiums. Adams called it a “thrill” to see visitors or community members hosting a family picnic or swinging on the playground in a park she helped develop.

She listed bringing the Springfield Lasers of World Team Tennis (WTT) to Missouri as her career crescendo. Adams recalled negotiating the purchase of the team with Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss in the US Open women’s locker room in 1995. Adams was later named the publicly owned franchise’s first general manager, a position she held for three years. The Lasers still compete at Cooper Tennis Complex today.

“She has always been a leader, an inspiration for me,” Reser said of Adams. “She’s always very positive, has a can-do attitude and raises people up on her shoulders — inspiring others to do well and do good. There’s nothing out there you can’t do. That’s kind of her motto. If you believe it, you dream it, you have a vision for it, you can make it happen. She’s very inspiring.”

Adams labeled her friendship and continued working relationship with Reser — as well as their ongoing involvement in tennis — “an endeavor of destiny.”

“I just can’t say how fortunate it feels to have worked with the sport for going on four decades now,” Adams said. “You’re lucky when you get to do something like this. You’re lucky when you get to impact people like this. It’s not about awards. It’s about serving to help people. That’s really what counts to me. That’s why Kim and I picked public parks and recreation. We get to serve the public. You can’t ask for a better job.”