about the
Ohio Valley Tennis Association
The Ohio Valley Tennis Association is a non-profit corporation dating back to 1926. The OVTA area encompasses the central, southern, southeastern, and southwestern parts of Ohio. The northwestern area of West Virginia and the northeastern area of Kentucky are also included in the OVTA. The charter of the OVTA is to promote tennis and to provide the services of the USTA to all interested persons within the territory served by it. The OVTA is one of 14 districts of the Midwest Section of the USTA. The OVTA is made up of 104 member clubs, community associations (the GCTA is one of the community associations), schools, and tennis interested groups. Each person who joins the United States Tennis Association is automatically a member of the OVTA.
Past Presidents of the OVTA from the central Ohio area include Gary Alexander, Dr. Richard W. Bowen, Dr. Robert K. Bowen, Kent H. Brandt, Robert M. Gardner, Guy Parks II, David Shelby, and Leslie Varnado, Jr.
The central Ohio area is represented by the following people who are active in the OVTA. Harvey Beahm is the GCTA's Area Representative. Jim Hendrix is the Executive Vice President. Gary Alexander was the chairman of the Nominating Committee. In addition, Gary has worked with the Budget Committee. He is presently involved with the Awards Committee and Grant Committee. Les Varnado is in charge of the Grievance Committee. Bob Hilborn and Terri Jones are working with the USA League Tennis Committee. The Delegates at Large from the central Ohio area are Art Haus and Bob Schafer.
The OVTA awards a number of grants to promote tennis.
Info on OVTA Grants.
The OVTA maintains the rankings of players at all levels. To this end, the OVTA runs a number of tournaments for children and adults.
The OVTA publishes a
Year Book
which contains a great deal of information.
Junior and adult tournaments are listed there.
The OVTA can be contacted at the following addresses.
Ohio Valley Tennis Association
3301 Kappel Dr.
Springfield, OH 45503
Phone: 1 937 399-5064
Fax: 1 937 399-5056
dengle3@woh.rr.com
OVTA
Web Site
Click to Read the GCTA 2004 Annual Report to the OVTA.
Each year the OVTA gives awards in different categories.
Refer to the Year Book
for a complete listing of these awards.
The 2005 OVTA
Sportsmanship Award
and
Outstanding Player of the Year Award
was presented to
Kirsten Flower.
Kirsten started tennis when she was nine years old. She watched Martina Hingis win the US Open at the age of 16 and was mesmerized by her. She immediately asked her Dad to enroll her in tennis lessons and has been hooked on the sport ever since. Kirsten just turned seventeen in August. Although she does not play for her high school team now, she did play for Upper Arlington during her freshman and sophomore years. She was the Ohio High School Athletic Association State Champion in Division I for 2003. Kirsten attended the Weil Tennis Academy in Southern California for her junior year. She will return to Upper Arlington for her senior year but will not play high school tennis because she needs to play in International Tennis Federation tournaments to qualify for the Junior Slams in 2006. Kirsten has won many tournaments. She was champion of Midwest Designated 16 and under, Midwest Indoor Closed 18 and under, and Franklin Invitational to name a few. She and her father won the National Father and Daughter Tournament. When asked which accomplishment she is most proud of, she replied, "I am proud of all of my accomplishments, but the one that is most special to me is winning the Midwest Closed in the 18s for the second year in a row. It is the toughest tournament in the midwest, and to win it twice in both the singles and the doubles is a great achievement." Kirsten plans to attend Georgia Tech on a full scholarship in the fall of 2006.
The 2005 OVTA
Family of the Year Award
was presented to
The Kinnards.
Alan, Kathy, Kelsey, and Kiley are a tennis family active in the community. Kathy and Alan first hit a tennis ball when they tried the sport together in the spring of 1973 as freshmen at Miami University. In the summer of 1974, Kathy won her first women's title at a local parks tournament in Bellefontaine, Ohio. By her junior year, Kathy had improved her game enough to earn a spot on Miami’s varsity tennis team as a walk-on. Alan and Kathy married after graduation and after living in Dayton for a short period, moved to Columbus. Kathy worked as a business teacher and girl's tennis coach for Grandview Heights City Schools. She is currently the athletic director in Grandview. Kathy has continued to compete in local, regional and satellite tournaments. She has been very successful. This summer, Kathy won her 100th tournament by capturing the Womens 35s title in the Academy Open. Kathy has been a ranked player throughout the years and most recently ranked by the Ohio Valley Tennis Association #1 in Womens 45 Singles. Alan has also had success in tennis tournaments but his most notable contributions are in his expertise with graphic arts. Alan developed the computer based Tennisfax Ranking System which was used to rank players on the Central Ohio Grand Prix tennis circuit. He also published the Tennisfax Newsletter featuring these rankings, local tournament results, and news stories. In 2000, he launched www.tennisfax.com. Alan started the Tennisfax Classic, a USTA sanctioned tournament which has grown to become one of the largest events on the COGP tour. Both Kelsey and Kiley have played tennis their whole lives. Kelsey started playing tournaments at age 12 and has already won 24 titles. Highlights include winning the Wickertree Holiday Girls 16s title as an unseeded player in 2003; winning the Family Week mother/daughter doubles title in 2003, and winning two Schroeder Girls Team titles (Girls 14 in 2003, Girls 16 in 2005). Kelsey plays #1 singles at Grandview Heights High School. As a sophomore, she compiled a 23-6 record including Grandview's first girls' tennis league title, a runner-up finish at the sectional championships and a first round win at districts. Kelsey was awarded MVP, Scholar Athlete and First team MSL awards in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. At nine years old, Kiley has worked at the tournament desk at The Tennisfax Classic. As a player, Kiley is working on changing her two handed forehand grip to a one-handed grip and is learning to keep score. She especially enjoys playing doubles with the family. The Kinnards contribute to the tennis community by volunteering. Alan began volunteer activities in 1975 when he coordinated tennis tournaments on Bellefontaine's two public parks. Before becoming the owner of COGP, Alan volunteered his time compiling rankings for the circuit. He also became the volunteer webmaster for the COGP setting up their web site and establishing an online entry system. Kathy and Kelsey have volunteered at clinics for the Grandview Parks junior tennis program.
The 2004 OVTA
Lee Gillespie Award
for
Outstanding Contribution to Tennis
was presented to
Doug Snapp.
The Lee Gillespie Award is given to the non-tournament player who has done the most for tennis.
Doug Snapp started playing tennis after college. Both he and his wife, Deena, were teachers and had their summers free. Doug began helping Dan Witteman with the boys' team at Westland High School. Doug took the girls' tennis coaching position and coached for almost 20 years. He ran the sectional and district boys' and girls' tennis tournaments for the Ohio High School Athletic Association for a number of years.
He has been involved with the Greater Columbus Tennnis Association as a Board of Trustees Member, a Vice President, President, and he is currently the Secretary of the organization. He serves also as a score keeper for the GCTA Men's League. Doug organizes and runs the Men's League season-ending Champion of Champions Tournament.
He helped coordinate the first junior tennis teams for the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department and has served as Chair of the Tennis Community Recreation Committee for the CPRD.
Doug is a Vice President of the Ohio Valley Tennis Association; he is on the Management Committee and serves as Chair of the Competition Committee. He served on the Communications Committee for the USTA Midwest Section. He presently serves on the USTA Collegiate Committee. Doug organized and coordinated the volunteers for the last Nuveen Seniors Tournament held at New Albany Country Club.
Doug and his son, Bart, created the GCTA web site: gcta.net. Doug continues to maintain the site for the GCTA.
Congratulations to Doug Snapp!
Christine was selected and played on the 2004 OVTA Junior Wightman Cup Team. This team took part in the three-day event at Ball State University in Indiana. She played both singles and doubles. Christine was voted "Most Sportsmanlike" by her team members. Christine has participated in the GCTA Area Qualifier and District Qualifiers as well as the top national USTA tournaments. She is a junior at Upper Arlington High School and plays for their team, participating in two Ohio High School Athletic Association State Tennis Tournaments as well as two Ohio Coaches Association Team Tournament Championships. As a freshman, she won the OHSAA State Doubles title. She was Runner-up in the OHSAA State Singles competition as a sophomore. This year, she was unable to complete the season due to an injury. She plans to be back on the tournament trail shortly and is hoping for a great college career. Congratulations to Christine Johnston!
The 2003 OVTA
Howard Dredge Award
for
Outstanding Contribution to Junior Tennis
was presented to
Dan Witteman.
The Howard Dredge Award is awarded to the club or individual who has made an outstanding contribution to Junior Development. Dr. Howard Z. Dredge of Springfield devoted many hours to the junior players in Springfield. For approximately 35 years, he ran a free clinic every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon at Snyder Park. When tennis was in the boom years, 400-600 kids were a part of the program. Dr. Dredge organized high-school-aged kids to be in his Leaders Club and these kids helped instruct the beginners. Dr. Dredge also organized the Springfield Tennis Patrons which became the Area Association for the OVTA in Clark, Greene and Champaign counties. Dr. Dredge served as President of the OVTA and the Western Section (now USTA/Midwest Section). Dr. Dredge will be inducted into the USTA/Midwest Section Hall of Fame on December 1, 2001 at the USTA/Midwest Section Annual Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Dredge passed away in January, 2001.
Dan Witteman graduated from Grove City High. His degree from Capital University was in secondary education with an emphasis on social students. He received his Master's Degree in counseling from the University of Xavier and has spent 40 years in public education as a teacher and a counselor. For 32 of those years, he has been the boys' tennis coach at Westland High School. His career has not been limited to coaching boys. Dan coached the Grove City High School girls team for the last 15 years. This started when his daughter was playing for the team; Grove City could not find a coach and was considering doing away with the program. Dan stepped in as the coach. For a number of years, he was a site manager for the Ohio High School Athletic Association's sectional tennis tournament. For the past 18 years he has been the coordinator for the sectional and the district OHSAA tournaments. He has been involved at the state tournaments as an umpire of matches. A number of years back he began the Westland Open Tennis Tournament. It was part of the Central Ohio Grand Prix and was used as a fund raiser for the tennis programs at Westland High School. He has been involved with the GCTA as a Board Member. Dan has coached a number of women's teams that have participated in our GCTA summer leagues. He also captained a men's team in the GCTA leagues. He is an active player of the game, both summer and winter. He plays a number of tournaments in the central Ohio area. Dan was recently inducted into the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Kirsten Flower plays for the Upper Arlington High School tennis team. In October of 2003, she won the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I Singles Title. She also led her team to the 2003 Ohio Tennis Coaches Association State Division I Team Title. She is ranked #2 in the Ohio Valley, #4 in the Midwest Section, and #53 in the National rankings. Kirsten has said that her favorite tournament to this point has been the 16 and Under Supernational Hardcourts in San Diego, CA. One of her biggest accomplishments this year was winning the Super National Clay Court Doubles Championship in July with Lena Litvak. The "Gold Ball" that she received for this win is a very rare achievement. She has hobbies of drawing and photography. Her favorite professional player is Jennifer Capriati. Kirsten is the daughter of Jim and Joan Flower. Kirsten and her father are unique in that he also won the OHSAA State Singles Championship: father and daughter--state champs! Kirsten's ambition is to play at a high level in college tennis and then to have a successful career on the pro tour.
Kelsey was selected and played on the 2002 OVTA Junior Wightman Cup Team. This team took part in the three-day event at Ball State University in Indiana. She played both singles and doubles. Kelsey was voted "Most Sportsmanlike" by her team members. Kelsey has participated in the GCTA Area Qualifier and District Qualifiers. She is a junior at Upper Arlington High School and plays for their team, participating in three Ohio High School Athletic Association State Tennis Tournaments as well as three Ohio Coaches Association Team Tournament Championships. Congratulations to Kelsey Linville!
Vicki, Kelsey and Ron Linville
Central Ohio Attendees to the November 3, 2002 OVTA Meeting.
Harvey Beahm, Andy Alexander, Gary Alexander, Doug Snapp
and Les Varnado
The 2001 OVTA
Howard Dredge Award
for
Outstanding Contribution to Junior Tennis
was presented to
Dick Klitch.
The Howard Dredge Award is awarded to the club or individual who has made an outstanding contribution to Junior Development. Dr. Howard Z. Dredge of Springfield devoted many hours to the junior players in Springfield. For approximately 35 years, he ran a free clinic every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon at Snyder Park. When tennis was in the boom years, 400-600 kids were a part of the program. Dr. Dredge organized high-school-aged kids to be in his Leaders Club and these kids helped instruct the beginners. Dr. Dredge also organized the Springfield Tennis Patrons which became the Area Association for the OVTA in Clark, Greene and Champaign counties. Dr. Dredge served as President of the OVTA and the Western Section (now USTA/Midwest Section). Dr. Dredge will be inducted into the USTA/Midwest Section Hall of Fame on December 1, 2001 at the USTA/Midwest Section Annual Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Dredge passed away in January, 2001.
Dick Klitch was a 1951 graduate of Portsmouth High School. While in high school, he won the Ohio High School State Tennis Championship. He is Portsmouth High School's only State High School Tennis Champion and has been inducted into his high school's Hall of Fame. Dick has served as an Ambassador for the City of Portsmouth. He attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He was the Number One Singles player and part of the Number One Doubles team all four years at Miami. During that time, he was both the singles and doubles champion of the Mid-American Conference. Dick actually attended Miami on a basketball scholarship and was part of three years of basketball championships in the conference. He graduated from Miami in 1955 and then served in the United States Navy where he was the All Navy Doubles Champion. Dick was inducted into the Miami University Hall of Fame. He continued his basketball with the AAU team at Akron Goodyear. In 1961, he became the head pro at Northam Park. He was Swim and Racquet's first tennis pro. He has been the pro at Winding Hollow and Rocky Fork country clubs. Dick was the head pro and manager of Columbus Indoor Tennis Club and Windsong Tennis Club. While at the Columbus Indoor, he introduced innovative programming to over 350 kids in his program. He was the high school tennis coach at Upper Arlington and Columbus Academy. He helped organize the Greater Columbus Tennis Association; it grew out of the Upper Arlington Tennis Association. He helped start the first Gold Circle Tennis Tournament; the first draw was made at his dining room table. This Columbus Recreation and Parks tournament, though no longer known as the Gold Circle, is still held annually. He returned to Northam Park as the head pro and manager for a period of fourteen years. Certainly a high-light was coaching his daughter, Jenny. She was on the Women's Tennis Association pro tennis tour for several years. He has coached over 20 Ohio High School state tennis champions and helped many young people attend college on a tennis scholarship. As well as training numerous tennis pros, Dick has lectured at the National Indoor Owners Association on how to train them. He has talked on junior programming and brought national junior tournaments to Columbus. In the central Ohio area Dick has coached men's and women's teams, led clinics, worked with leagues, and has given lessons to probably over 10,000 individual players. It can truly be said of Dick Klitch, if a player has not had a lesson from him, the player on the other side of the net probably has.
Central Ohio Attendees to the February 2, 2002 OVTA Meeting.
Front, left to right: Carol Alexander, Gary Alexander, Andy Alexander,
Janet Craycraft
Back, left to right: Doug Snapp, Margaret Farris, Les Varnado
