On Friday, January 26, 2024, USTA Arkansas held the annual Hall of Fame & Award banquet at the Delta Marriott in Little Rock. Congratulations to all of the award winners who are listed below.
Jay Freeman Most Improved
Caroline Jones, North Little Rock
Caroline Jones is 15 years old and a Sophomore at North Little Rock Center of Excellence. In one year Caroline has gone from being ranked 17 in Arkansas, to being the number one ranked 16 year old in Arkansas. She also went from being ranked 350 in Southern to number 39. She has won 5 Level 5 tournaments in the last year and represented Arkansas as the number one player for Girls 16’s on the Ozaki Cup team. She was a finalist in the state 6A and Overall High School singles tournament. Caroline spent 3 weeks in Europe last summer learning how to play on red clay. She also enjoys volunteering at the LR Open and any kind of Trivia games. She is the daughter of Will and Paula Jones.
Silas Pillar, Fort Smith
Silas is a fantastic kid with a big heart, great sense of humor, and absolutely loves the game of tennis. In the beginning of spring 2023 he created his own tennis goals and worked with his coaches and father to create a plan to actively work towards them. He spent many hours hitting in junior development programs each week and also put the time and effort training in the gym and match play. He went from playing & winning local tournaments to traveling to several states and qualifying for level 4 & 5s regularly. His combined ranking in boys 14 jumped from 41st in the state and 753 in the south to now a year ending 12th in Arkansas and 214 in the South. Silas’s coaches have remarked on his strong work ethic this year and can’t wait to see what he does next. Silas’s parents are Brian and Alexandria Pillar.
Herschel Friday Outstanding Junior
Stella de Vera, Rogers
Stella is a fourth generation tennis player on her dad's side. Her dad and two aunts all played D1 College Tennis and her grandmother has played in National Senior tournaments. Stella started playing tennis when she was 4 years old and started playing local tournaments at the age of eight. Stella says that playing tennis and travelling to tournaments across the country has helped her grow by allowing her to experience situations where she had to use leadership skills and stand her ground. This helped her gain confidence in her abilities in all situations. She has been able to exhibit leadership abilities by being an involved team captain that helped coach and run drills. Being recognized for this award is as meaningful to her as winning the Triple Crown (Conference, and Overalls) as well as representing Arkansas at the Southern Ozaki Cup. Stella’s parents are Clayton and Meredith de Vera.
Ethan Richardson, Jonesboro
Ethan is currently a Senior at the Academies of Jonesboro High School. After being stuck on the sidelines watching his older siblings enjoy the game of tennis for a couple of years, he began playing tennis at the age of four. His first coach told him that “the secret of the pros” was that they don’t miss. Ethan took that lesson to heart and has made consistency one of the main weapons of his game. In addition to tennis, Ethan enjoys golfing, fishing, and almost anything that is outside and involves a ball. Ethan’s siblings are Ellie, a Junior at the University of Arkansas and Eric, a Senior at Dartmouth. His parents are Kris and Melissa Richardson. Ethan plans to continue his tennis career at Coastal Carolina University.
Dr. Ted Bailey Sportsmanship Junior
Luci Minnick, Fort Smith
Luci is fourteen and lives in Fort Smith with her parents, Mitch and Brockette, her younger sister, Emmi, and their dog, Ranger. Luci first played tennis at the age of seven, beginning by taking lessons from Fort Smith pro, Braden Eads, and participating in orange ball junior clinics with Braden and fellow pro, Greg Gilliam. Luci’s dedication to sportsmanship is nothing short of exemplary. On the tennis court, she consistently exhibits grace, integrity and respect for her opponents, regardless of the match’s outcome.
Over the last seven years, Luci has been involved with community tennis through tennis clinics and camps, leagues, junior team tennis and tournaments. She just completed her freshman season as part of the Fort Smith Southside High School tennis team.
In addition to tennis, Luci is a 4.0 student, a participant in the Fort Smith Regional Chamber’s Junior Leadership and Career Academy and a member of both Student Council and Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America.
Rising Star
Devin Praphan, Fort Smith
Devin just turned 9 years old. He enjoys playing tennis, soccer, basketball, playing video games and being around friends and family! Devin started playing tennis when he was 6. His brother and dad taught him how to play and he improved quickly. Tennis has become his passion. He loves being on the competitive side of tennis! Devin began the year playing 10 & under orange ball in tournaments and progressed to yellow ball by the end of the year. He was the champion in 4 junior circuit tournaments. Devin plans to continue playing and hopes to have a wonderful future tennis career. Devin's parents names are Don and April Praphan.
Family of the Year
Lance Shepard Family, Jonesboro
The journey into tennis for The Shepard family began in 2016. Emma was 7 years old, the oldest of Lance and Ashley’s 3 kids. Addy 5, and Cole was almost 3 at the time. A friend had invited Emma to a local high school tennis camp. Emma had a great time, and after the weeklong camp asked if she could continue to play tennis. To Lance and Ashley tennis was a foreign language! What are these random #’s of 15, 30, & 40? And what’s love got to do with it?! So, at this point, the search was on for somewhere for Emma to play. At dinner one evening a family friend overheard Ashley talking about Emma’s interest in tennis. She told her that her daughter played tennis at Three Oaks Tennis Club and Alex Rivas was her daughter’s coach. Soon after, Ashley called Alex and that’s where the journey began. Soon all 3 Shepard kids were playing tennis. Fast forward 7 years and they have traveled a multitude of states and have also had the opportunity to train abroad at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca Spain. Their experience there was nothing short of amazing! The only event for The Shepard Family that could top that is The Southern Section’s “Ozaki Cup!” An annual event where each Southern state sends 3 boys and 3 girls, 12 to 18’s, to play as a team for their state. For them, it’s the best event of the year! =
Besides all the kids accolades, Ashley and Lance play on USTA league teams. Ashley also volunteers on the USTA Arkansas jr comp committee and is the parent organizer for the Arkansas Ozaki Cup team. The family feels that the joy the tennis world has brought to their lives has been a true blessing. The relationships and friendships made along the way is the icing on the cake, and that’s what life is all about!
Junior Tournament of the Year
Fort Kids Tournament, Fort Smith
An emphasis on good sportsmanship was the theme of this tournament, as the largest trophies were awarded for good sportsmanship. The amenities included a quality baseball style t-shirt with a goody bag, player lunch on Saturday and Sunday, and snacks and drinks throughout the weekend. In addition, there was a players’ tent with ping-pong, a charging station and chairs to give the players a hangout between matches.
Adult Tournament of the Year
Aceing For Autism, Jonesboro
ACEing for Autism came to light in 2022 when Megan Ragsdale, a 4.0 player in Jonesboro, had the idea to run a tournament raising money to benefit local families and children who are touched by Autism like her own, and bring another tennis tournament to the Northeast Arkansas Community Tennis Association. Megan proposed the idea to Pat Malone & Morgan Daniel, they took the idea and hit the ground running. In 2023, ACEing for Autism had 106 participating athletes from all over Arkansas, raising over $13,000 benefiting Ag for Autism and the Love All Serve All NJTL. Megan & Morgan hope to continue this tournament every year on the last weekend of April, raising money to help many more families and student athletes.
Henry Doyle Outstanding Senior
Farrell Graves, Fort Smith
Farrell’s tennis teaching career spans 50 years and at least three generations of players in the Fort Smith area. He started playing at 27 and was ranked No. 1 in doubles in 35-plus and 45-plus divisions. He began teaching tennis at Creekmore Park in the early 1970s and was a co-owner for many years of the Fort Smith Athletic Club. He was instrumental in bringing low-cost tennis classes to Fort Smith public parks and providing tennis instruction to a local college. He has provided opportunities for free instruction to juniors at all levels, and to beginning adults and families – with the goal of encouraging lifelong participation in our sport. He has worked closely with the Arkansas Tennis Association, serving on the state board and working as one of the first verifiers of players’ ratings. In 2003 he was inducted to the Arkansas Tennis Hall of Fame. At 90, Farrell is actively teaching tennis and encourages everyone of all ages to play the game.
Barbara Brewer Community Service
Katherine Friend, Little Rock
A Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), Kathy has five decades of fundraising and development administration experience in private higher education and the non-profit healthcare sector. Since retiring in June 2021, she has been doing independent non-profit consulting, grant writing, foundation administration, and strategic planning with a variety of clients.
Her professional strategic planning and fundraising work with Arkansas tennis organizations includes:
- AR USTA Southern Region
- All In Tennis
- WATA
In addition to being an avid tennis player, she also enjoys playing golf, reading, and any time on a beach.
Tennis Professional of the Year
Brandon Kiker, Traskwood
Kiker's experience began in high school and continued briefly into college. After that, he went 18 years without picking up a racket. In his early 30s, he found his way back to tennis and played on several USTA tennis teams in the Central Arkansas area. He met his wife, Melanie, while watching friends play at a state tourney at Burns Park, so to say that tennis hasn’t shaped a large part of his life, would be an understatement. He began teaching in Saline County part-time to help introduce both adults and juniors to the game. His work with Bryant and Benton Parks and Rec began to assist them with their junior programs. When he increased to teaching about 20 hrs a week he had the realization that this could become more than just a side job. he took his first full-time teaching job at Chenal Country Club and after three years, he wanted to get back to his roots and grow tennis in Saline County. Kiker has been running programs with the cities of Benton and Bryant for three years now. In that time, he started working with Special Olympics Arkansas to create programs and events for their amazing athletes. They are in their 5th year with Special Olympics and have gone from an exhibition sport to sending their first athletes to the USA games and winning 5 gold medals.
Captain of the Year
Buffy Carter, Rogers
Buffy started playing USTA League during singles season of 2017 and started captaining teams in 2019. Buffy’s teammates consider it an honor to play on her teams and be involved with such an organized captain. Of course, everyone can’t be on her team so she tries to help new players find teams to play on. She makes tennis fun for all. Buffy’s husband and best friends picked up the sport and now they travel as a group and play in tournaments together. In 2023, Buffy captained 12 teams and played on 18 teams. She played in 6 local tournaments, 4 state tournaments and the NTRP Fast4 Nationals in San Diego. Buffy feels that she is blessed because of the many friendships made thru this sport. She is grateful to call her teammates friends.
Casey Garretson, North Little Rock
Casey, being from a tennis family, was forced to grow up playing tennis. He played a few tournaments as a kid but really enjoyed hanging out with his friends at the tournaments more than playing. He did play high school tennis and was a leader on the team. In 2012, Gary Jones asked him to play on a 4.0 league team in Jonesboro and from then on, Casey has been all in. Looking back, he wishes his parents had made him play more tennis and practice more. Casey has played every USTA league he can, leading several teams to sectionals. Besides captaining his own teams, he has volunteered his time to captain ATA teams. Tennis brought Casey and his wife Tiffany together. He was working parttime at Burns Park and met Tiffany when she took a Tennis Apprentice class there. They will be welcoming a new little tennis player into the world any day now.
Member Organization of the Year
Western Arkansas Tennis Association
The Western Arkansas Tennis Association is honored to be this year’s recipient of the Member Organization of the Year award. Representing The River Valley, WATA strives to offer community tennis programs focused on introducing our game - the game of a lifetime - through junior programming, adaptive programming, and adult apprentice programming. Additionally, WATA utilizes its partnerships in the community to host tournaments benefiting other local organizations and non-profits, as well as playing a paramount role in the success of our school tennis programs. We look forward to building on this honor in the new year as we engage and recruit new members to our thriving tennis community!
Diversity & Inclusion
Jim Merriman, Jonesboro
When Special Olympics lost their coach and their training facility, Jim Merriman quickly jumped in to fill that void. He did it without concern for how or if he would get paid. He trains the Special Olympic athletes, and has recruited many volunteers to help him. Coach Jim works with the athletes, teaching them the basics and fundamentals of tennis. He has such a big heart for this group. He always has a smile on his face. He, also coaches the "Engage" school, which is an academy designed to help children with Autism, again teaching them at no charge. Jim loves the game and wants all people to have a chance to love it like he does. If you follow Jim on social media, his posts are full of pictures of the fun he has working with all these athletes.