Bossier Racquet Club/Natchitoches Country Club
Bossier City/Natchitoches, Louisiana
October 29 - November 1, 1998
Team Members left to right: Gordon Ward (BRC), Gary Killen (BRC), Mike Kornblatt (BRC), Hugh Rodriquez (NCC), Captain Danny Roemer (BRC), Don Robinson (NCC), Jerry Pierce (NCC), and Jimmy Procell (BRC) .
The road to the National Championships began in January 1998 when five players from the Bossier Racquet Club in Bossier City, LA and three players from the Natchitoches Country Club in Natchitoches, LA formed a team to play in the USTA Senior 4.0 Shreveport/Bossier local league. The ultimate goal was to win the National Championship. The road to the National Championships was long and not easy but it ended ,10 months later, when the team won the United States Tennis Association's (USTA) 4.0 Senior National Championship, October 29 - November 1, 1998, in Palm Springs, CA.
Below are pictures from the National Championships. Click on picture for a larger view of picture.
Our
Supporters National Champs
The Bossier/Natchitoches team advanced to the national finals by winning, the Bossier/Shreveport local
league, the Louisiana state championship and the Southern Sectional tournament at Chattanooga, TN.
Winners of the 17 USTA sections from across the nation participated in the national
championships at Palm Springs. The teams competed in four divisions and the winners
of the four divisions met in the semi-final round. Winning teams in the semi-finals
played for the championship and for second place. The semi-final losers played for
third and fourth place.
Bossier/Natchitoches swept its division with victories over San Antonio from the Texas
Section, Honolulu from the Hawaii Section and Chicago from the Mid-States Section.
The team lost only one of nine matches in its bracket.
In the semi-finals, team pulled out a 2-1 victory over Southwest Section champion
Phoenix before battling to another 2-1 win against Intermountain Section winner Las
Vegas in the final round.
Each match in USTA seniors play is comprised of three doubles matches and the
Bossier/Natchitoches team posted an overall 12-3 matches at the national championships.
The Louisiana team was also unbeaten at the Southern Sectional championships in July in
Chattanooga, TN. which featured state winners from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and Alabama. The
Bossier/Natchitoches players defeated teams from Knoxville, TN., Columbus, GA., Lexington,
KY., Hilton Head, SC. and Pinehurst, NC. to win the Southern Sectionals.
The Bossier/Natchitoches team made it to the sectional tournament after capturing the
Louisiana championship at the state tournament in Shreveport with victories over teams
from Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lafayette, Monroe, and Slidell.
The national championship team lost only once in 21 matches this year and that defeat
came at the local level after the championship had already been decided.
USTA seniors competition is for players 50 years of age and over, and the 4.0 division
is the second-highest level of competition for seniors.
For more information about USTA league tennis, please visit the following sites by clicking on the tennis balls:
United States Tennis Association
Louisiana 2000 USTA League Computer Ratings
Northwest
Louisiana Community Tennis Association
Gordon Ward
