Adult and Junior winners: George “Ged” Schwing, Male Player & Ryan Cozad, Junior Sportsmanship

02/15/24 • 19 min

George “Ged” Schwing was honored with the Slew Hester Male Player of the Year for top adult player. Schwing has been a member of Team Louisiana for the Callen Cup and served as a captain the last few years, along with competing on the winning Southern team at the 2022 Keith Donoff Cup.

Ozaki-Hastings Junior Sportsmanship Award winner Ryan Cozad was recognized at the USTA National Clay Courts Championships, as he received their Sportsmanship Award. He loves competing in team events, especially the Ozaki Cup for Team Georgia, and in the Battle of Sections for Team Southern.

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BHM: Calvin Kemp plus advocating for tennis courts

With the number of tennis players growing in the last five years, more tennis courts are needed. While some courts are being converted to pickleball courts, the USTA Southern Advocacy Task Force is enabling grassroots advocates to make the case for adding, and not reducing, the number of tennis courts. Former Board Member Paul Pittman chairs the task force and explains the advocacy tools provided by USTA Southern.

In our first episode of Black History Month, we interview Calvin Kemp of Lafayette, La. Kemp was honored with the 2023 Southern Tennis Professional of the Year and received another award, the Member Organization of the Year, for Acadiana Serves. The award citation mentioned, “As an ATP Certified GPTCA International Coach, PTR Certified Coach, and Tennis Performance Trainer, Calvin brings a wealth of expertise.”

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The weekly: ‘Talking Tennis Southern Style’ goes to weekly podcast

Interviewed are two podcasters: Chris Godby & Chad Young of the awarding-winning “Game Set Match Kentucky!”

After more than four years of uploading a two-interview podcast every other Thursday, the new “Talking Tennis Southern Style” plans on showcasing a single interview every Tuesday or Wednesday.

Chris Godby & Chad Young produce “Game Set Match Kentucky!” Their podcast won the 2023 USTA Southern Marc Kaplan Media Excellence Award for their show which concentrates on tennis in Central Kentucky Tennis Series CTA. The duo talked about content and the technical aspects of hosting the podcast from a home studio.