USTA St. Louis 55+ 9.0 Men’s Team Punches Ticket to Nationals

Arnstein said two years ago the USTA Heart of America team captured the 55+ 9.0 USTA Missouri Valley League Section Championship running away. After having to break up the team last year, the USTA Heart of America team and USTA St. Louis’s team fell short to a strong USTA Oklahoma side at sectionals in 2022.

While USTA Oklahoma had to carve its team down this year, USTA Heart of America pieced its squad back together. Neither could quite catch USTA St. Louis, though the HOA team put forth a valiant effort before coming up just short.

“In many respects we have a good team this year and thought we had a chance to do it,” Arnstein said. “But you just never know. People get hurt. You end up with terrible weather. Those of us in our mid- to late 60s, you appreciate more and more the opportunity to win this. You don’t know how many more chances you’re going to have at a competitive level.”

Arnstein said the core of the 2019 group that qualified for 55+ 9.0 Nationals in Arizona is also on the 2023 squad. The 55+ team — in its current iteration — has existed for about six years. Some of the group’s members, including Arnstein, also qualified for 55+ Nationals in 2015 in Surprise, Arizona.

Every member of the 2023 team is planning on going to USTA Nationals, which will take place October 27-29 at the USTA National Training Center in Orlando.

“Everybody is really excited,” Arnstein said. “Some of the guys haven’t been to Nationals. Or if they have, it’s been a long, long time. We have a couple new guys on the team this year, and they’re excited. It’s good. It’s not like a bunch of 35-year-olds who haven’t been there before. You’re talking about cagey veterans here. These guys are old and a little crusty.”

To qualify for the Section Championship, Arnstein and Novatny’s team faced off against a USTA St. Louis team captained by Bill Schlueter six times, going 4-2 in those matchups. The Section Championship was the third consecutive one hosted in St. Louis. While the Arnstein/Novatny squad came up short the previous two years, the crew was thrilled to get it done on home soil this go-round.

“We felt geographically it was in our favor,” Arnstein said. “We’re excited to be going to Nationals, and it was exciting to win sectionals. We don’t know how good the competition will be at Nationals. I’m sure it will be really good. But we’ll take it a step at a time.”

Team Arnstein/Novatny is one of four teams from USTA St. Louis to qualify for Nationals so far this year. To view all the USTA Missouri Valley League Section Championship winners, click here.

To view a USTA St. Louis story on an 18+ 5.0 men’s team and 18+ 5.0 women’s team that progressed to Nationals, click here. USTA St. Louis will later feature a 65+ team that also advanced to Nationals.