ORLANDO, Fla., November 16, 2023 – The USTA introduced that Thomas Conter, Denise Alexander and Brian Earley have been named winners of the Nicholas E. Powell Award, Woodie Walker C.A.R.E. Award, and John T. McGovern Award, respectively. The awards, which honor the ones people who serve the sport of tennis with difference of their capability as officers, got out on the 2023 Annual Umpire Awards, which was once held just about just lately.
“We’re lucky to have gifted and devoted officers akin to Thomas, Denise and Brian, who’re really making an affect in rising tennis at each the grassroots {and professional} ranges,” stated Sean Cary, USTA Managing Director, Festival Operations. “Their management, paintings ethic and fervour for the sport are simply among the the reason why they’re so deserving of this popularity.”
Given every 12 months to a grassroots authentic, the USTA Nicholas E. Powell Award acknowledges the significance of officiating on the native degree. Since 1990, the award has been given to officers who paintings basically at sectional/novice occasions, have a supportive perspective towards grassroots techniques, and are sure position fashions. Conter, of Colorado Springs, Colo., has been an authentic for 12 years. He has performed an integral position in rising officiating in Colorado, running to recruit and teach a lot of officers and was once up to now venerated with the Abe Butler Award for his contributions to officiating in Colorado. As well as, he has created a lot of useful coaching fabrics for gamers and event administrators and is lauded by means of his colleagues for his willingness to coach different officers and serving as a favorable position type.
The Woodie Walker C.A.R.E. award acknowledges a tennis authentic whose contributions to the sport and to the USTA distinguish them no longer just for their long-standing provider to the game however for exemplifying the qualities “Woodie” Walker has represented throughout her many years of management within the box, particularly those who constitute the award’s acronym: Dedication, Duty, Duty, and Excellence. Alexander, of Bend, Ore., has been some of the distinguished officiating figures within the Pacific Northwest for greater than a decade. She is understood for serving to to lead fellow officers during the coaching and certification procedure and has mentored a large number of officers during the area, serving to them advance their officiating careers.
The John T. McGovern Award is given out to a USTA-certified chair or line umpire with a minimum of 10 years of provider who has demonstrated exceptional contributions to tennis officiating. Earley, of Redding, Conn., served as the USA Open Referee for 26 years and has spent just about 40 years serving in an officiating capability at the USTA Professional Circuit. A former gold-badge umpire, Earley has labored at just about each and every degree of officiating each locally and the world over and is identified for his thorough figuring out and constant software of regulations and laws.
