Celebrating 2022 Community Champions from the USTA Annual Meeting and Conference

Six advocates for the sport of tennis at the grassroots and local levels were honored as Community Champions at the 2022 USTA Annual Meeting and Conference last week. The “Celebration of Community Champions” luncheon was held at the Disney Beach and Yacht Club in Orlando, Fla. on March 20.

The USTA presented annual honors of the following awards: the Brad Parks Award, the Eve Kraft Community Service Award, the National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) Founders’ Service Award and the Ralph W. Westcott Family of the Year Award, and also named its Community Tennis Association (CTA) of the Year and Janet Louer Junior Team Tennis (JTT) National Organizer of the Year.

“We are thrilled that more and more people are picking up a racquet with participation up 27 percent over the past two years with almost five million new players grabbing a racquet and heading to a court,” said Craig Morris, USTA Chief Executive, Community Tennis. “We want to applaud and thank all of the awardees as they continue to work hard at the grassroots level to make our sport more accessible, fun and enjoyable for everyone.”

For more on each recipient, follow the links below. View photos of each award-winner in the gallery below.

Brad Parks Award: Nick Taylor (Wichita, Kan.)

Eve Kraft Community Service Award: Lisa Pugliese-LaCroix (Delray Beach, Fla.)

National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) Founders’ Service Award: Richard Ader (Bennington, Vt.)

Ralph W. Westcott Family of the Year: Burke family (Raleigh, N.C.)

Community Tennis Association (CTA) of the Year: Capital Area Tennis Association (CATA) (Austin, Texas)

Janet Louer Junior Team Tennis (JTT) National Organizer of the Year: Matt Boughton (Eau Claire, Wisc.)