UW-Superior's Jenessa Demers Named JTT Organizer of the Year
Congratulations to Jenessa Demers of Wisconsin-Superior who was named the USTA Northern Organizer of the Year. Demers was honored Friday night at a social prior to the Tennis On Campus Section Championships at Life Time Fitness - Lakeville.
“It is a big honor for me to receive this award,” Demers said. “I have always loved tennis so to be honored in college for something to do with tennis is amazing.”
Only a sophomore, Demers has been the driving force behind the club tennis program at UW-Superior since her arrival. The team has grown in membership every year since it started in 2006, including 10 new members for the 2010-11 season, raising its total to 25 participants.
In the fall, UW-Superior played host to its own Tennis on Campus tournament for the first time in program history. The team also traveled to three fall tournaments, tying for the most by any club program in the Section. UW-Superior finished second in the fall series event standings, trailing only perennial power Minnesota. Demers was the main organizer of all these accomplishments.
"Through her enthusiasm and organizational skills, Jenessa has been the driving force behind increasing tennis opportunities for students at UW-Superior," USTA Northern Tennis on Campus coordinator Christine Nickels said.
“I really want to have tennis on our campus,” Demers said. “We do not have a varsity program so this is the only opportunity for us to play tennis. I have to fight to get court time with all the other programs vying for time in the gym, but I think we need to have tennis on campus so it is worth it.”
North Dakota State Named Club of the YearIn only its fourth year as a program, North Dakota State was named the USTA Northern Tennis on Campus Club of the Year.
“I did not know that someone even nominated us, but I was very excited to win the award,” sophomore President Adam Gustad said.
Under the leadership of Gustad and senior Kyle Christianson, the program continues to grow. Even after losing eight members from the 2010 team due to graduation or other reasons, the program gained 15 new members this year and most of these members are freshmen. In fact, Christianson is the only player on the team older than a sophomore.
“Word is starting to get out about the program,” Gustad said. “We have a lot of people from Fargo on the team who played high school tennis together and this gives them a chance to keep playing with each other.”
Amazingly, North Dakota State has qualified for the Tennis on Campus National Championships each of its first three years. Two years ago, the team voted to skip Nationals to stay in Fargo and help sandbag during the floods. Last season, after finishing second at the Section Championships and giving Minnesota a run, the team advanced to the bronze division at Nationals.
In addition to giving back to the community, the program also gives back to tennis in the Fargo area. This year, members of the team served as site directors and court monitors for the West Fargo Invitational – a tournament in which every high school team in North Dakota participates. In all, the club volunteered over 60 hours for the tournament.
"One of the things that has really impressed me with the NDSU club team is the way they have enhanced their visibility in the Fargo metro area and the surrounding communities,” Nickels said. “Their efforts are not only helping to keep the NDSU club going strong, but they are helping us elevate the awareness of Tennis On Campus at the Section level as well."
Christianson and Gustad also do their part to help grow the program by spreading the word among the high school teams and Jr. Team Tennis programs. Christianson serves as the head coach at Wahpeton High School in Wahpeton, N.D., while Gustad coaches Jr. Team Tennis in West Fargo and will serve as the JTT Area League Coordinator in Fargo and Moorhead.
“We make sure that we are always wearing something with NDSU Tennis on it to help promote the program,” Gustad said. “We want people to know what we have going there and encourage them to join us.”