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Lewis-Clark State's Fong, Florida Gulf Coast's Horton to be honored by United States Tennis Association and Intercollegiate Tennis Association November 24, 2004 SKILLMAN, N.J. – Lewis-Clark State College men's and women's tennis coach Kai Fong has been named the national winner of the USTA/ITA Campus Recreation Award and Florida Gulf Coast men’s tennis coach J. Webb Horton is the national winner of the USTA/ITA Community Service Award. They will be honored on December 12 at the ITA Coaches Convention at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, during the ITA Membership and Awards Banquet.
The USTA/ITA Campus
Recreation Award honors an ITA coach who has done an outstanding job
implementing recreational tennis programs on campus in an effort to grow
tennis participation. The USTA/ITA Community Service Award honors an ITA
coach for significant contributions in developing community-based tennis
programs through community centers, schools, parks, community tennis
associations, inner city, suburban or rural programs. Fong and Horton will
receive their awards from Alan Schwartz, USTA Chairman of the Board and
President, and Jon Vegosen, Vice Chair of the USTA Collegiate Committee. Fong has worked tirelessly to promote tennis on the Lewis-Clark campus. This past year he oversaw 12 different, ongoing programs aimed to increase tennis participation. Fong, who is in his 16th year as coach, runs such programs as: "Totally Tennis," a weekend program in conjunction with the USTA Pacific Northwest that provides instruction for beginning players; "Free for Four," another free program aimed towards groups from the various campus organizations and departments; "International Student Night," which lends free instruction to international students on campus interested in learning about tennis; and several other programs like "Lunch Hour Doubles" and "Weekday Morning Tennis." Fong is also the award recipient for the USTA Pacific Northwest Section, which encompasses Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Northern Idaho and British Columbia, Canada. Lewis-Clark State is located in Lewiston, Idaho. FGCU's Horton has been instrumental in numerous programs benefiting the Lee County area. A sampling of some of the programs and events Horton, who is in his fourth year as FGCU men's coach, has participated in or hosted are: the USTA's First Serve Program, which benefits at-risk minority children (ages 4-14); the 2004 USA Deaf Tennis Olympic Trials; the Lee County Community Tennis Association's (LCCTA) USA Tennis Month Rally; USA School Tennis Carnivals; "Tennis on the Move" events to encourage recreational tennis participation; and a USA Team Tennis Rallyball Event for area children. Horton also serves on the Board of Directors for the LCCTA and is a member of the USA Tennis Florida Diversity Task Force. An assistant athletic director at FGCU, he is also involved with several campus programs and committees. FGCU, which is located in Fort Myers, hosted the ITA National Small College Championships for this first time this past October. Horton is also the award recipient for the USA Tennis Florida Section.
This is the second year for
these awards. The national winners were selected from a group of USTA
Sectional winners determined this fall (and listed below). This awards
program was open to over 2,000 ITA head and assistant coaches at the NCAA
Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College levels.
Honors an ITA coach for
significant contributions in developing community-based tennis programs
through community centers, schools, parks, community tennis associations,
inner city, suburban or rural programs.
Honors an ITA coach who has
done an outstanding job implementing recreational tennis programs on campus
in an effort to grow tennis participation
Eastern - Benjamin Bucca,
Rutgers University
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