Rothe and Anastas Named June Captains of the Month
Annemarie Rothe is a resident of Greenwich, CT. She has been a USTA Captain for eight years and heads four different USTA League teams in four divisions: 18 & Over, 40 & Over and 55 & Over (7.0 and 8.0) out of Old Greenwich Tennis Academy and Grand Slam Tennis Club. Her teams have qualified for New England Districts and Sectionals, including the 40 & Over teams qualifying three years in a row.
Not only is she a stand-out captain but her organization and generosity called her to help during the crisis in Ukraine. By using her USTA connections, she organized a fundraiser to help a family who fled from the war-ridden Ukraine to safety in Connecticut. All of her team members plus many of their extended network members cleared a donation list for the family in less than 12 hours of sending it out.
Annemarie notes the camaraderie of the USTA League players to the swift response to help.
“I enjoy captaining because of the diverse group of people you meet, and I love strategizing with my co-captain, Shari Matusow,” she said. “My family says that I typically play for two hours, come home, and then talk about the match on the phone for another two hours. Captaining has given me a whole new group of incredible friends, and I am so grateful.”
Annemarie has always loved how special participating in USTA Leagues are and looks forward to her captaining role for many years in the future.
“You get exercise, you meet new people and you focus on that fuzzy, yellow orb crossing the net. It allows all your preoccupations and worries to get placed on the back burner for two hours. A lot of my closest friends now were once opponents on court whom I asked to join my team after a match.”
Annemarie Rothe
Peter Anastas is a resident of Waterford, CT. He has been a USTA Captain for six years and runs five USTA League teams: Men’s 40 & Over 3.0, Men’s 55 & Over 6.0, Mixed 40 & Over 6.0, Men’s 65 & Over 6.0 and Mixed 55 & Over 6.0 out of Lyme Shores Racquet Club. His Mixed 55 & Over team has won Sectionals twice and the Men’s 65 & Over team also qualified for Nationals in 2022.
Peter started out as a player in 3.5 leagues before deciding to become a captain. He started his captaining journey by leading just one team. Once his feet were wet and players noticed his skills in the role, he was asked to consider leading more. In a nod to his networking skills, he was able to form two new teams to captain by calling players he knew in the area. He even collaborated with his wife’s team to form mixed teams.
“I really enjoy the competition, whether it is USTA or just playing with friends on a day off. It's awesome to play hard and then after the match hang out where everyone is just enjoying themselves as people, not tennis players.”
Peter gets his drive and inspiration from tennis players that are still playing competitively in their 80s and hopes that he can do the same one day.
Congratulations to both Annemarie and Peter on being named the June League Captains of the Month!
Peter Anastas
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