USTA St. Louis Awards Celebration a Hit at Dwight Davis

About 180 people attended the 2021 USTA St. Louis Awards Celebration under the tent at Dwight Davis Tennis Center on October 9, with a tribute to the retiring Mary Vassar and the junior sportsmanship awards acting as some of the fun-filled evening’s highlights.

“Everybody really enjoyed it and appreciated that it was outside,” Vassar said. “There was plenty of room for people to comfortably social distance. The program was divided into two presentations: the junior award categories — then an intermission where everyone could mingle, gather, take pictures, eat — followed by the adult awards. There was a cash bar with beer, wine and Dan Apted’s secret margaritas. Delicious. They were a hit.”

The casual affair featured hamburgers, hot dogs, popcorn and cupcakes available throughout the evening. Vassar — who said the awards celebration is “always my favorite night of the year” — headed up the event with major support coming from Jill Kunkel and Connie Weiss as well as their husbands. Vassar noted an additional group of people volunteered the night of the ceremony to help ensure it ran smoothly.

One of the top moments of the celebration was the junior sportsmanship awards. Those were presented by John Kelly, president of the USTA St. Louis Board of Directors. All of the recipients went on stage to give a short speech of gratitude.

“It’s always the highlight of the program,” Vassar said. “John told his personal experiences with each of them. As an official, he knew them all. So he was able to add some commentary and stories demonstrating their sportsmanship. And then the kids have a chance to say a few words, which is always just delightful.”

The final award of the evening — which is a surprise each year — went to Vassar. She will be retiring from her post as USTA St. Louis executive director after spending the last 15 years in the role. Upon receiving the 2021 President’s Award, Vassar said she was “practically speechless.”

“It was incredible,” she added. “It was unbelievable.”

Kelly presented Vassar the award followed by Jason Mathes, Mary Buschmann and Dan Apted who all shared their stories and memories of working alongside Vassar. It was a great cap to the evening and tribute to Vassar’s distinguished USTA St. Louis career.

“The timing was perfect actually,” Vassar said. “The district thanks everybody for all their work, congratulates people on their successes and just gets to acknowledge the effort our wonderful St. Louis tennis community puts into allowing people to enjoy the sport.

“We have a great tennis community. USTA St. Louis has a great staff and a great Board of Directors. But it takes a village, and we have a village doing it. I love being able to recognize people for their accomplishments.”

For a complete list of the 2021 USTA St. Louis award winners, click here.