CTA Spotlight: Northeast Tarrant Tennis  

Founded in 1993, Northeast Tarrant Tennis (NETT), serves the community in Southlake, Texas. The organization was formed by former professional tennis player, Laura Gilbert (Suarez), who had recently returned to the north central Texas area and realized there was a need for a premier tennis organization in the Northeast Tarrant Texas area.

In the beginning, STA was run by a few volunteers who also made up the Board of Directors. NETT now has more than 60 volunteers that help us run our various programs.

NETT is an entirely run volunteer organization and has no paid staff. In its first year of operation, STA offered only ladies team doubles leagues. Over the next four years, adult and junior participation grew to more than 800 and included USA Team Tennis junior programs, men's and mixed doubles leagues, and flexible singles leagues. NETT has now grown into an organization with more than 3,000 members.

NETT has held an annual year-end luncheon and business meeting every year of its existence. In early years, the Volunteer of the Year was the only award presented. As the leagues offerings expanded to include mixed, flexible singles and junior leagues, NETT expanded to include a sportsmanship award.

As the organization has grown, so did its need for dedicated and talented volunteers. To make sure those people are recognized for their work, NETT now holds a Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon each year. 

NETT's first full year of operation was 1994, which means the organization has now been running programs for 22 years. It currently has 60 volunteers. Programs offered are women's doubles, men's doubles, mixed doubles and FLEX singles for men and women, and NETT continues to support area juniors teams and individuals through scholarships and grants. NETT presents between one and three volunteer awards yearly.

"Our awards program has always been an anticipated portion of our hugely successful Annual Meeting and Luncheon which takes place in December of each year," said Melanie Devlin, NETT president, 2014-15. "The luncheon is very popular among teams as a way to celebrate team accomplishments and to socialize with other players who play in our leagues." 

"We work very hard to show our volunteers they are appreciated," said current NETT President Rosie Francis. "To do this, we hold an Annual Volunteer Luncheon that is well attended, where we have the opportunity to recognize their contributions to our programs success. Our volunteer awards not only recognize those individuals who truly go above and beyond each year but I feel it is an encouragement to others to join in our efforts to grow the game of tennis in Northeast Tarrant County.”