Recap

The 2020 USTA Missouri Valley Annual Conference, hosted December 1-2, was unlike any other conference we’ve had.The USTA Missouri Valley community was connected digitally rather than face-to-face and was a culmination of our centennial celebration in 2020.

The conference culminated on night two with the unveiling of the 2020 USTA Missouri Valley Highlights Video. This year-end video looked different than in years past, but it told a wonderful story of how the tennis community rallied together, whether on the court or at home.

The conference began at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1 with the Meeting of the Association and Open Board Meeting. The USTA Missouri Valley committees and districts shared their 2020 highlights and key initiatives for 2021. President Lisa Minihan and Executive Director Mary Buschmann gave their reports. We passed the gavel from our outgoing President, Lisa Minihan, to our incoming President, Jason Mathes, and announced our new board.

The conference continued on Wednesday, December 2 at 6:00 p.m., with the Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Celebration emceed by Past President Scott Hanover.

The event kicked off with a look back at USTA Missouri Valley’s 100 years of tennis history.

Dan Apted, Jane Hines and Kevin Nebergall were proudly inducted into the USTA Missouri Valley Hall of Fame. Congratulations to these three for this incredible tennis accomplishment!

A highlight of the event was when the 30 USTA Missouri Valley 2020 Award Winners were recognized during the program.

USTA Missouri Valley is grateful for all of those who’ve supported the section through the strangest year yet and looks forward to what 2021 has in store.

Dan Apted’s name has been a staple in the St. Louis tennis community for decades. Apted comes from a strong tennis heritage from his tennis enthusiast father, Steve Apted, and Dan carries that legacy to this day as he continues to serve players at Dwight Davis Tennis Center and Creve Coeur Racquet Club with humility and kindness. Apted continues to pour his blood, sweat and tears into the club to carry on the marvelous family tennis legacy and create a standout tennis club environment. This hard work was recognized in 2013 when Creve Coeur Racquet Club received the Member Organization of the Year award from USTA St. Louis. In 2003, Apted joined the Dwight Davis Tennis Center Board of Directors and took over facility management one year later. Since then, he has selflessly served the facility at all levels, whether by providing staffing or personally scrubbing kitchen floors. Under his leadership, Dwight Davis Tennis Center has grown exponentially financially and been recognized for multiple awards. Apted continues to donate court time, food, events, and more for dozens of local charities, provide scholarships for juniors through his club, and selflessly share the love of tennis with many in St. Louis.

Jane Zukaitis Hines has been instrumental to the growth of the Omaha tennis community and a strong champion for adaptive tennis across the section and even nationally. She has grown the game of tennis in many roles, with her tennis resume including playing, teaching, coaching, administrating, fundraising, and promoting tennis. The former #1 Nebraska singles and doubles ranked junior brought home multiple state titles and played an impressive college career at the University of Hawaii. The highly accomplished junior high performance coach has made a huge impact coaching, teaching and directing tennis for nearly 50 years, as well as using her marketing and website skills to promote the game in big ways, serving for decades as volunteer webmaster, e-newsletter creator, curriculum writer, and so much more. Hines has been involved in many committees, workshops, meetings, and events at every level, from local to national, even serving as the Chair of the USTA Adaptive Tennis National Committee (2011-14). Through all her experience, she has brought a genuine emphasis and care for adaptive tennis players, especially through the Tennis Buddies program. The list of ways Hines has involved herself in local tennis is never-ending; her passion for bringing diversity and inclusion into the tennis community is unmatched.

Kevin Nebergall has spent the greater part of his life growing the game of tennis in the state of Iowa and beyond. He has represented his tennis community well as an accomplished coach, dedicated volunteer, three-time USTA Iowa President (1990-94; 2013-16), and USTA Missouri Valley President (2005-06) among many other roles. Though Nebergall has served USTA Iowa in every way imaginable, his service extends past the Iowa borders as he has served the section at many levels, including USTA Missouri Valley Vice President (2001-02), First Vice President (2003-04), and President, and served nationally on four different committees and as a volunteer coach at the US Open Arthur Ashe Kids Day. Nebergall’s work is highlighted by an emphasis to include those from diverse backgrounds into the tennis community, joining the USTA Missouri Valley Diversity Coaches Corporation to better serve multicultural youth and working to share tennis in unique venues all over the section in order to bring tennis to new communities. Since retiring from Kirkwood College in 2013, Nebergall has only continued to give back more to the tennis community. He continues to serve on multiple committees between the district and national level, as a volunteer coach, and remains an active leagues participant.