League Players Enjoy Moments of Glory at Nationals

The Men’s 55 & Over 8.0 team from Lake Bluff, IL., had just returned from a strong showing at the USTA League national championships in Florida when emails began to roll in. Players from around the Chicago District and beyond were vying for a spot on the team.

“I got a couple of emails from players that said, ‘Hey, I heard your team went to nationals, I’m over 55, here’s my rating,’” says longtime team captain Chip Pew, 60. “They were basically marketing themselves to be on a really competitive team. At some point, everyone wants to make a run for it.”

Picking up players from across the region paid off for Pew, a retired railroad safety expert. His team made back-to-back trips to the national championships in 2021 and 2022.

The success of Pew’s team is an example of the competitiveness of Adult League play throughout the Chicago District, where interest has grown substantially. In 2022, 9,010 adults aged 18 to 77 played in leagues, a 27 percent increase from 2021. Involvement is inching closer to 2019’s prepandemic level of 9,661.

Men and women who join league teams say they enjoy the competition as well as the recreational and social benefits of participation.

“When you have a good competitive group of ladies who want the best not just for themselves but for the team, it works,” says Ayano Nakamura, 33, co-captain of an 18 & Over 4.5 women’s team that won a national championship in 2021.

The USTA Chicago District offers league plan for men, women, and mixed gender teams, with competition divided up by National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) levels of play, from 2.5 to 5.0 and above. The program supports singles and doubles team matches at local clubs and parks throughout the year. Winning teams can advance from local contests to District, State, and Sectional tournaments and then on to the National Championships.

The 18 & Over 2.5 women’s team based at Midtown Athletic Club in Bannockburn has fared well regionally and in the national championships.

Team captain Amy Shappert, a health care lawyer, says that right from the start in the fall of 2021, the goal of the eightperson entry-level team was to win.

“It was always a goal to get to the district competition and keep going,” Shappert said, adding that the team’s confidence was built up by Midtown coaches Sammy Tesimu and Kristin Coy.

“Early on during the regular season, Sammy said he thought we could go all the way,” Shappert said. “Kristin and

Sammy both so much confidence in the team and that trickled down to all the players.”

Playing one singles and two doubles matches, the team was undefeated in both the district championships and the Midwest tournament in August, which catapulted them into the national championships in Oklahoma City in late September where the team reached the quarterfinals of the tournament.

For those interested in getting into tennis at any stage of life, Shappert says USTA team tennis is a good place to start.

“I would say do it,” she says. “A lot of people are busy on different fronts — women with young families, with their careers, some with older children and then empty-nesters. I wish I had started earlier.” She offers this advice: “Don’t be intimidated by it or think it’s a big-time commitment (unless you want to be a captain). You don’t need to commit to play every single match.”

For more information about USTA League Play, contact Tyrin Wages, CDTA Adult Play Coordinator.