HVTC pro Eric Sturgis has been named head coach of the men’s and women’s teams at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie. Kris Dunbar, LSSU Athletic Director, says “We are very pleased that Coach Sturgis has accepted the position of head men’s and women’s tennis coach. His enthusiasm and strong work ethic will help move the tennis programs forward. He’s known for having a great network in the state of Michigan, which will help with recruiting.”

On his part, Eric says “I am honored to join the Laker family. I have high expectations for our tennis program at Lake State, and I would like to see us in the top half of the GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) every season and maintaining a team grade-point average of 3.4 or better.”

We are sorry to see Eric go but wish him well in his new endeavors.

HVTC member Danny Heumann has been hitting the courts this summer. In June Danny was a finalist in the Men’s Doubles A division at the Jana Hunsaker Memorial Tournament in Flushing Meadows, New York. He was also a semifinalist in the Men’s Singles B division.

In July, Danny played to defend his Men’s B Singles title in the Midwest Wheelchair Tennis Championship in Grand Rapids. In the final Danny lost against an opponent 20 years younger who had a lesser spinal cord injury. The 2.5-hour match score was 7-5, 5-7, 10-6 (tiebreaker). Danny says, “If it were only a few degrees cooler that day, I think I would have been a champion instead of a finalist.”

Way to go, Danny!

We have a World Champion at our club! Bill Godfrey has been a fixture around HVTC this spring as he trained for the USA 55-and-over team. In June, the team traveled to La Baule, France, for the 35th ITF Seniors World Team Championships.

In the team event for the 55-plus age bracket, the Austria Cup, top-seeded Team USA was undefeated in round-robin play and took down third-seeded Spain 2-1 in the final after sweeping the Netherlands in the quarterfinals and Italy in the semis. Bill won all three matches (two doubles and one singles) he played in the team competition.

Individual events followed the team events, and Bill won his first-round singles and doubles matches before falling in the next round. “It’s been great to be playing at this level, being competitive and winning,” Bill said. “I could do better. I have some things to work on, but I enjoy playing at this level. I see myself continuing to do this and being competitive with the top players.”

Congratulations to Bill and the rest of the team—they are World Champions!

• Monday–Friday, August 10–28 End-of-summer junior camps
• Thursday, August 13 Seasonal court time applications due
• Saturday, August 15 Junior Novice Tournament, 9am–2pm
• Sunday, August 23 Member Appreciation Day, 10am–1pm
• Monday–Friday, August 31-September 4, Camp for B1 team, 9:30am–noon
• Tuesday–Friday, September 8–11 Camp for B2 and B3 teams, 9:30am–noon
• Sunday, September 13 Start of indoor season and first day of seasonal court time and men’s leagues
• Monday, September 14 Start of Junior Excellence programs,adult clinics, and junior clinics

Sunday, August 23, 10 am–1 pm

Join us for a morning of match play and instruction followed by lunch.

• NO CHARGE!
• Registration by August 20 is mandatory.
• Space is limited; adults only.

Thank you for choosing HVTC. We appreciate having you as a member!