Missouri Valley

Terry Miller Honored with WIN for KC Award

January 28, 2022


USTA Heart of America District League Coordinator and overall local tennis legend Terry Miller was recently named as the recipient of the 2022 UMBFC Charitable Foundation Lifetime Sportswoman Award. She will be honored at the annual WIN for KC Women’s Sports Award luncheon on February 3. 

 

Per WIN for KC, the award is given to “a local woman, age 55 or older, who demonstrates outstanding leadership qualities, encourages participation of girls and women in sports and still engages in athletics.” Miller certainly fits that criteria through and through, even if she may be too modest to see it.

“I simply cannot believe I won it,” Miller said. “It is such an honor, I am still amazed.”

 

Miller started playing tennis when she was 14 years old after Earl Buchholz, a St. Louis tennis professional and friend of her father, suggested that she give it a try. She was immediately hooked. She was so in love with tennis that even though her parents joined Homestead Country Club so she could try out for the swim team, she never even dipped a toe in the pool. Instead, she spent six hour a day playing tennis, honing her skills and making new friends along the way.

 

Miller went on to start teaching tennis at Kansas City Racquet Club when it opened its doors in 1974 and never gave up the game. She has given so much to the game and finds joy in just seeing people have fun on the courts. Her main goal when giving lessons is to instill the same love for the game that she still feels.

“I love to see the joy and sparkle in their eyes when they feel they did it right or got a good hit,” Miller said. “I love to see that and hope I add some enthusiasm to their lesson.”

 

Among her proudest moments in her tennis career are starting the USTA League in Kansas City and being a member of the Junior Wightman Cup squad at 18 years old. She is also a member of both the USTA Heart of America Hall of Fame and the USTA Missouri Valley Hall of Fame. But she puts this award from WIN for KC right up there with the rest of her achievements.

 

She has attended every WIN for KC Awards Luncheon since 2015, watching other inspirational women win the awards. Now she joins them.

 

“I was in awe of those women that won awards, never dreaming I would ever be one of them,” Miller said. “I can’t believe I won the award.”

 

Considering all she has done for the game of tennis, it’s hard to imagine someone more deserving of this award. The fact that it brings her so much joy just happens to be the cherry on top.

 

“ I have had a wonderful and rewarding life around tennis since I picked up a racket,” Miller said. “ I am blessed to be doing something I love and trying to make others enjoy it as much as I do.”

 

She has made friends for life through tennis and looks forward to continuing to enjoy playing as long as she can. As she says, tennis truly is a sport for life after all.

 

To see the photos from the event, please click here.

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