Hunt Puts Skills to Work As USTA 3.0 League Captain
Racquet in hand or not, tennis is a big part of Lori Hunt’s life. She’s been a player, taught lessons, and helped coordinate ball kids for the Springfield Lasers.
Now she can add USTA Missouri league captain to her lengthy tennis resume.
“Ann Vogel approached me about starting a 3.0 Women’s League for this year,” Hunt said. “It just so happened that the response from players demanded more than two teams. I volunteered to be a captain for a third team.”
It was a job Hunt, who has played in USTA leagues for three years, enjoyed immensely. She attended the captain’s training meeting and filled the roster for her team.
Her in-season responsibilities included making sure she had enough players for each week, exchanging rosters with the opposing captain to determine lineups and assigning courts.
“I had the best teammates anyone could ask for being a first-year captain,” Hunt said. “I wanted to make sure everyone had fun, played competitive matches and had a good overall experience.”
It was also an educational experience.
“Every week I would send out texts to my team with the intent of motivating, encouraging and educating. I even sent them a YouTube video to watch and a summary of a book to listen to if they had time to watch or listen. It was very fulfilling to see my teammates grow each week and become good friends.”
Educating and organizing seem to come easy to Hunt. She was hooked on tennis after her first lesson as a child. She played at the high school and college levels, then — as a graduate student — worked at Cooper Tennis Complex giving lessons, helping with tournaments and assisting members.
“After I graduated, I put my racquet down for 20 years,” she said. “I never walked away from the game of tennis, as the same summer I graduated, World TeamTennis arrived and the Springfield Lasers were formed. For 25 straight years I was the ball kids coordinator for the Lasers, until this year’s pandemic changed where matches were played. I missed playing, so I picked up the racquet again in 2017.”
Hunt plays at Cooper Tennis Complex, which she calls the crown jewel of Springfield tennis. She’s also added several other jewels to her life through USTA leagues.
I am so proud of my teammates. We all worked together as a team to be undefeated and league champions,” she said. “The best part of being a league player is meeting people, playing a game I love in a competitive, structured environment, using tennis as a stress outlet, and forgetting for a couple of hours the pressures of life during the pandemic.”
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