Greater Columbus Tennis Association

Each year at the end of the summer season, the GCTA has an awards ceremony to honor the winning teams and individual Champ of Champs from those teams. These winners are listed on the respective Men's and Women's League pages. Area Junior Qualifier champions and runners-up are listed on the Area and District Qualifer page. Jr. Davis Cup team members and Jr. Wightman Cup team members are listed on the Jr. Davis and Wightman Cup page.

Deena Snapp was the Committee Chair. Other committee members were Harvey Beahm, Janet Craycraft, Erin Ortman, and Doug Snapp. Special thanks to Carolyn Focht and Carol Alexander for assisting with refreshments.

GCTA Media Award
Larry Larson

Larry has had two successful careers. He worked in education as a teacher, head football coach, head basketball coach, and Athletic Director at Grandview City Schools for twenty-eight of his thirty two years in education. He added working as a sports reporter in the 70’s. He covered high school sports for the Columbus Citizen Journal from 1970-76 and has worked for the Associated Press from 1976 to the present. He also can be heard on WTVN and has been called “Mr. High School Sports”.
Larry has covered the state high school tennis tournaments for over 30 years. Some of his favorite moments were with the students who spoke with him for his “Stand and Deliver” program. Nicole Votolato, Kavitha Tipirneni, Kelly Craycraft, Christine Johnston and Kelsey Kinnard were a few of the memorable tennis players. He has also provided coverage of our local tennis events and tournaments at the college level.
There is something most people don’t know about Larry. Between the ages of 43 and 57, he completed 24 marathons. He was 60 when he won his first car race.

GCTA Special Recognition Award
Rita Brown

Rita has worked her way through the tennis system . She first played tennis recreationally during college. This period of tennis playing was described by her as “futile attempts”. Then, at the age of forty, she and two of her friends signed up for a clinic at Olympic. She became hooked on tennis. She joined a GCTA summer league team and later served as team captain for three years. Callie Ryan, former GCTA women’s chair, asked Rita to join the women’s board as a level chair. After several years working as a level chair, she became the Women’s Chair and served at that position for four years. As Women’s Chair, she was responsible for coordinating all of the women’s league activities. She currently serves as “Chair Emeritus”. Rita is a great example of a tennis player who loves the sport so much she is willing to give back to the system by volunteering her time and efforts to the Greater Columbus Tennis Association. She values tennis as a sport and works to promote it in the community. Rita and her husband Jeff have one daughter, Jessica.

GCTA Special Recognition Award
Gary Alexander

Gary, a former USPTA certified teaching professional, has been a GCTA volunteer for twenty years. He has supported and directed programs not only for GCTA locally but also for district and section associations. His volunteer activities include coaching nationally ranked juniors, developing introductory programs for adults, and serving as the USTA/Midwest Section’s chairman of the Adult/Senior Competition Committee. He has served as president for both The Greater Columbus Tennis Association and The Ohio Valley Tennis Association. He has served as vice-president of the USTA/Midwest Section. Gary has provided a link between our local tennis association and the USTA. He is a positive, knowledgeable representative of tennis in Columbus and has worked to keep our local association in step with national trends in tennis.
Gary has been a steady promoter of tennis for all members of the community. While he was Men’s Chair he was instrumental in adding the Open, the Platinum, and the 3.0 divisions. He assisted with the organization and implementation of the USTA USA Adult summer leagues. Gary has been a long time valued leader in the Greater Columbus Tennis Association.

GCTA Special Recognition Award
Fred Duy

Fred started playing tennis in his early thirties and has been playing ever since. Fred is now involved with the Northam Park 3.0, 3.5 and Silver teams. He plays with the Golden Buckeyes at Wickertree in the winter. Fred has volunteered his time for the last fifteen years working as a team captain at Northam Park. He does not think he has done much for his fellow players but his willingness to always field a team and keep things organized is appreciated. He quietly works behind the scenes. This year he stepped up and completed the scheduling for the men’s league. Our competitive leagues would not be possible if there were not volunteers like Fred who are willing to give time and effort so all can enjoy the league play.

Outstanding Promotion of Tennis
John Campbell

John worked as a Physical Education teacher at Whetstone High School and later at Ridgeview Middle School. He enjoyed his 30 years of teaching and coaching at the middle and high School level and was the tennis coach at Centennial High School eight years before retiring.
John started hitting tennis balls at Linden Park when he was fourteen. He later played intramural tennis at Otterbein College for his fraternity. He really became involved in competitive tennis when he started working at the Swim and Racquet Club where he was frequently asked to sub for various groups. John has become an avid tennis player and has won championships in both the Silver and Platinum leagues as well as winning the Champ of Champs tournament twice. As John’s tennis involvement grew, he started to give back to the tennis community by volunteering. He has served as captain for league teams and has been a GCTA board member. He has volunteered to serve as an official at tournaments. For the last eight years, John has volunteered at the Champions Tennis Club. He has taken care of the courts, revitalized the club house, and worked to promote tennis by letting people know about the clay courts at the Champions Tennis Club. John and his buddy, Charlie Weisent, have been instrumental in keeping the Champions Tennis courts open.
John is a leader in other areas too. He is a member of the Westerville Lions Club and the Hall of Fame at the Ohio High School Athletic Association for Basketball Officials. He also received the George Hardy Award for Baseball Officials. John is secretary for his fraternity at the the Otterbein College Alumni Association and a charter member of the American Baptist Church in Westerville.

Outstanding Promotion of Tennis
Charlie Weisent

Charlie started playing tennis at the age of twelve at a public playground with one tennis court. As long as he kept on winning, he could stay on the court. He worked hard at winning. This is where his love for competitive tennis started. Since Charlie is going on 79 years old, and is still playing tennis three days a week, he has had his share of winning and losing. His love of tennis goes beyond the game to the wonderful people who play the game. He says tennis is a lifetime sport. In his mind, playing tennis could add ten extra years to his life. It is this philosophy that has made Charlie an outstanding volunteer promoting tennis. He has worked with buddy, John Campbell, to renew the Champions Tennis Club. He has built and painted benches, rolled and taken care of the courts, planted flowers and bushes, put up wind screens, and taken the screens down for storing. In other words he has done whatever needs to be done to promote tennis at the only clay courts managed by the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. One thing people might not know about Charlie, he works with stained glass as a hobby. He has created stain glass artwork for Olympic, Champions, Scarborough, and Wickertree. Charlie gives back to promote tennis in our community.

Margo Mansfield Award
GCTA Female Player of the Year
The Margo Mansfield Award Fund was established by Margo's friends and family at her passing. Margo was a tennis enthusiast and dedicated much time to the Junior Wightman Cup. It is said that she was more interested in how you played the game than if you won or lost. Sportsmanship and character are very important criteria for this award.
Christine Johnston

Award accepted by Christine's father, Jeff.

Christine started playing tennis at the age of five. Her dad introduced her to the game by tossing Nerf balls to her in the basement. She then began taking a group lesson once a week with similar aged kids. She played her first tournament at the age of eight and made her first appearance in a national tournament at the age of eleven. She continued with that love of tennis and is now a freshman member of the tennis team at the University of Kentucky where she has a full athletic scholarship. The University of Kentucky has reached the Final 16 at the last five NCAA tournaments and was second place last year in the SEC Conference.
Looking back at her achievements in tennis, she is most proud of helping Upper Arlington win the Ohio High School State Team Championships all four years of her high school career. Her high school career record was 124-2 with her two losses coming in the State Singles finals. She won a State Doubles title with Kirsten Flower as a freshman. Christine played consistently throughout her USTA junior tennis career. She won the Ohio Valley Singles and Doubles titles in all four age groups and reached at least the semifinals in her last four Midwest Section singles tournaments earning one first place and two runner-ups. She won three Midwest Section Doubles titles. She played on the Ohio Valley Wightman Cup team that won the 2005 and 2006 Midwest Wightman Cup. Christine was named a High School Tennis All-American for 2005, which was the second time in her high school career that she earned that honor. For her Upper Arlington Senior Thesis Project, Christine and friend, Kirsten Flower, used their tennis experience to organize and host a charity tennis event. The event titled “Rackets for Research” was held last December. The event included round-robin doubles play and a raffle. After expenses they made a donation of over $6500 for breast cancer research.

GCTA Male Player of the Year
Will Petrie

Will began playing tennis when he was eight years old. His mom, a college tennis player, introduced the game to Will. In the beginning, he and his mom would play occasionally. Then Will decided he wanted to play more and at the age of ten, Will started to play seriously. Will is now seventeen and a junior at Columbus Academy. Last year, as a sophomore, Will played first singles on the tennis team. He is very proud that he was a member of the Columbus Academy tennis team that placed second in the Ohio High School Division II Championship. In addition, Will, as a singles player, placed third in the State Championship. Will won the Boy’s 18 Area Qualifier and then won the Ohio Valley District Qualifier. At the Midwest Open, Will lost in the round of sixteen but went on to win the round of sixteen back draw. Will hopes to play tennis on a college team but does not know what he would like to do after college.
Will’s favorite tennis players are Andre Agassi and James Blake. Besides the fact that they are both Americans, he greatly admires how each of them has overcome the challenges they have faced. They both experienced tough times, but each emerged stronger than they were before. Their tennis games are fantastic, but their charisma, thoughtfulness, and dedication are even more impressive.
Will’s parents are Beth and Steve. His three younger siblings are interested in different sports. Liza, fifteen, likes lacrosse. His brother John, who’s twelve, and sister Grace, who’s ten, both play soccer. When Will is not playing tennis, he enjoys playing the piano, golf, and reading. He loves pizza and watching the Browns.

GCTA Family of the Year Award
The Flower Family

Joan, Nicole, and Jim.

The Flower Family: Jim, Joan, Kirsten, Shannon, and Nicole Flower are an active tennis family. Jim set the standards high with a long history of tennis success. He started playing at age eleven. Jim played the USTA National junior circuit , high school tennis at Fremont Ross, and college tennis at the Ohio State University where he was team captain. He has an extensive list of honors and awards. He was an Ohio High School State Singles Champion. He played # 1 for Ohio State and was “All Big Ten” two years. He was ranked #2 in U.S. (21 and under doubles). He later played the USTA National circuit in men’s 35’s and 40’s where he continued to have many successes. Jim currently plays for fun and spends most of his free time helping to develop his children’s tennis and traveling to their tournaments.
Joan did not start tennis early. She started playing on their honeymoon in 1982. She says she didn’t have a choice. Through the years her tennis playing has developed and she currently plays on the Scioto 4.5 team. She helps out with the Jones Middle School tennis team and actively supports her children in their various sports. Joan also enjoys platform tennis.
Kirsten, who is eighteen, started playing when she was nine. She has been playing the USTA National and ITF International junior circuits. She played one year for Jones Middle School and two years for the Upper Arlington High School tennis team. Kirsten was the Ohio High School Division I Singles champion as a sophomore and the Ohio High School Division I Doubles champion with Christine Johnston as a freshman. She attended the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, California for the second semester of her sophomore and all of her junior year. In August 2006, Kirsten was undefeated at the USTA National Team Championships at the #1 singles position. Kirsten recently graduated from Upper Arlington High School and will attend and play tennis for Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Like her father, she has many more tennis achievements than are listed here.
Shannon, who is fifteen, plays tennis strictly for the fun of it. She played two years for the Jones Middle School team where was team captain. She claims to have a Roddick-like forehand. Currently, she is a varsity soccer player as a freshman at Upper Arlington High School. She plans to try out for the Upper Arlington varsity basketball team.
Nicole is thirteen and the youngest in the family. She started playing tennis when she was seven. She plays the USTA National Junior circuit and played one year for the Jones Middle School girl’s team. Next year, she will play for the Upper Arlington High School team. Nicole was the Midwest Open 12 and under Champion in February,2006. She was also the Midwest Closed 14 and under Doubles Champion with Kyle McPhillips. Nicole, like her father and sister, is starting a long list of tennis achievements.
In 2005, Jim and Kirsten were the USTA National Father-Daughter Indoor Doubles Champions.