Conway tennis tournament wins awards

Wyatt Miller of Benton, left, director/facility manager of the Conway Tennis Center, accepts an award from Brad Phelps, president of the United States Tennis Association-Arkansas, for the Conway Regional Tennis Classic winning Adult Tournament of the Year, and Hannah Howell of Conway receives her plaque as the United States Tennis Association-Arkansas’ League Captain of the Year.
Wyatt Miller of Benton, left, director/facility manager of the Conway Tennis Center, accepts an award from Brad Phelps, president of the United States Tennis Association-Arkansas, for the Conway Regional Tennis Classic winning Adult Tournament of the Year, and Hannah Howell of Conway receives her plaque as the United States Tennis Association-Arkansas’ League Captain of the Year.

CONWAY — The Conway Tennis Center is not quite a year old, but the area association is already acing awards competitions.

The $2.6 million, eight-court Conway Tennis Complex opened in April in Laurel Park on Prince Street.

Its first tournament, the Conway Regional Tennis Classic, held just 12 days later, won two awards. The Conway Area Tennis Association was notified that it won the United States Tennis Association Adult Tennis Tournament of the Year for Arkansas.

“That’s a big deal,” said Hannah Howell, president of the Conway Area Tennis Association. “Then we found out it also won USTA’s Southern Adult Tournament of the Year.”

That means Conway beat out eight other states for the title. “We never even imagined it would do that,” she said.

Conway rose to the top for several reasons, she said.

“[USTA goes] on what did we do to make [the tournament] special,” Howell said. “We provided food for the players, several different meals … prizes, shirts.

“These are brand-new courts, and the weather was beautiful. It turned out perfect.”

Howell was also named USTA Arkansas Adult League Tennis Captain of the Year for her role in organizing and scheduling matches. The plaque is engraved that the award is “in recognition of excellence as a USTA League team captain by demonstrating character, sportsmanship and leadership.” She accepted the award in North Little Rock earlier this month. It’s a highlight for Howell, who didn’t even start playing tennis until about five years ago, when she was inspired and encouraged by her in-laws.

Wyatt Miller of Benton, the Conway Tennis Association’s tennis director/facility manager, was the tournament director for the Conway Regional Classic. He accepted the Arkansas Award and was scheduled to fly to Atlanta to receive the USTA Southern honor at its annual meeting Jan. 19.

Miller said he was “pleasantly surprised” that Conway’s tournament won the awards.

“There are so many really good tournaments that are held, especially benefit tournaments that are deserving — not that ours wasn’t. … I respect what they do, and they were bigger.”

Miller said he has also been surprised at how supportive Conway is of the tennis program and what a large base of players it has.

Howell said that thanks to the new courts, more people in Conway are playing tennis — there are 11 USTA teams for the spring, compared with three last year, she said. The second annual Conway Regional Tennis Classic is planned for this April, she added.

“I think it’s going really well,” she said. “I think our next goals are to keep building these league teams that we have playing in Conway and build our juniors program, and eventually have indoor courts, because it’s too cold to play today.”

That’s down the road, but for now, tennis on the new outdoor courts in Conway is setting the standard.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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