Pictured above are, from left to right in front, Melanie Dodson (Knoxville), Barbara Miller (Knoxville), Kim Lee (Oak Ridge), and Cindi Mooney (Knoxville); and left to right in back, Bill Padgett (Alcoa), Trips Dawson (Loudon), Tony Lee (Oak Ridge), and Jay Huffman (Knoxville). (Photo credit: Juan O’Campo)
Knoxville team crowned national champions at USTA League Mixed 40 and Over 6.0 National Championships
SURPRISE, ARIZ.—A tennis team from Knoxville, representing the USTA Southern Section, captured the national title at the USTA League Mixed 40 and Over 6.0 National Championships held at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex in Surprise, Arizona.
The Knoxville team defeated a team from Arcadia, California, 2-1 in the Championship match. Earlier in the day, the Knoxville team defeated a team from Concord, California, 3-0 in the semifinals. They advanced that far by winning their round-robin flight contested during a weekend in the fall.
The team is captained by Jay Huffman and features Barbara Miller, Melanie Dodson, Cindi Mooney, Tony Lee, Kim Lee, Trips Dawson, Katherine Evans, Timmy Cuesta, Bill Padgett, and Justin Chaniott, and plays at the Cedar Bluff Racquet Club. The Lees live in Oak Ridge.
Established in 1980, USTA League has grown from 13,000 participants in a few parts of the country in its first year, to more than 904,000 players across the nation today, making it the world’s largest recreational tennis league.
USTA League was established to provide adult recreational tennis players throughout the country with the opportunity to compete against players of similar ability levels. Players participate on teams in a league format, which is administered by the USTA through its 17 sections. The league groups players by using six National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) levels, ranging from 2.5 (entry) to 5.0 (advanced). USTA League is open to any USTA member 18 years of age or older.
The 2016 USTA League season will be the fourth season with the updated structure and format, which offers four age categories (Adult 18 and Over, Adult 40 and Over, and Adult 55 and Over, and Mixed 18 and Over) to better align participants with players their own age. A fifth age division the Mixed 40 and Over division was added in 2014. The restructuring guarantees more frequency of play opportunities at more appropriate age groups.
Head Penn Racquet Sports is in its 29th year as official ball of USTA League.
For more information about USTA League or the USTA, visit www.usta.com.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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