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2024 Scholarship Winner Essays

Joyce Dreslin​

First Place

Written by: Amy Cao, Pflugerville High School, Pflugerville, Texas

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​Within the Texas Tennis community I am a part of, I personally admire Joyce Dreslin. Dreslin is a Hall of Fame member that I feel connected to because her dedicated initiative in bringing adaptive tennis to stroke rehab players is a shared interest of mine. Additionally, the way Dreslin delivers and promotes the programs she is involved in is how I wish to emulate her in my tennis career and future career plans. The impact she has made from so many tennis players truly reveals how she embodies an inclusive and selfless pillar.

 

At the local assisted living center I worked for this past year, I was fortunate to serve one of the kindest souls, "Mr. Barry." Mr. Barry was an avid recreational and competitive tennis player like myself. Each meal time I encountered Mr. Barry, I loved to converse with him about his tennis career. However, Mr. Barry was one of the many residents I worked with who faced multiple strokes. As a result, Mr. Barry was limited in his ability to play tennis let alone live independently. Mr. Barry would often say, "I wish I could return to the tennis courts, my home." Although his mind struggled to come up with words, his desire to express his love for tennis struck me.

 

Coming from my experience with Mr. Barry and caring for patients who recently dealt with a stroke during my recent hospital rotations, Dreslin's story opened my eyes to the possibility of playing tennis as a way to heal. Dreslin inspires me to expand the tennis activities I am currently involved in towards previous stroke players. In the future, I am pursuing an education and career in public health in hopes to focus on elderly and displaced patient populations. Within this, my goal is to build local programs that holistically focus on stroke and differently abled health education and care. I aspire to support survivors in feeling empowered and not alone in their recovery process. Like Dreslin, I will meet each person's needs and where they are at with patience and empathy.

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Not only does her "Tennis Strokes for Stroked Folks" program development connect to me, her openness to share adaptive tennis with the community speaks to my love for being a supporter for others. Dreslin's unique way of touching lives through her words matches my future career plan in communicating health information and encouraging community participation. Although I may not be the most advanced tennis player, I will offer this act of
service to boost the morale and quality of life for my teammates and neighbors off and on the courts. In conclusion, watching Dreslin radiate with joy when she speaks about adaptive tennis programs is why I admire her. So although Dreslin has her own sources of inspiration, Dreslin is my hero because of the humble and passionate model she sets for me as I hope to continue her long-lasting mission in my community.

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Maureen Connolly Brinker​

Second Place

Written by: Juliana Creel, Lake Travis High School, Lakeway, Texas

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​I lined up with all of the other ten-year-old girls at the opening ceremony of the Little Mo tournament when something caught my eye: a pamphlet, titled “Little Mo’s Legacy.” At the time, I was in a reading phase, so I immediately approached the clerk at the desk and asked if he had any other copies of the pamphlet. He politely smiled at me and handed me one to keep. I ran back to where my parents were standing at the front of the tennis facility, excited to read the pamphlet to my mom in the car. Little did my childhood self know that the pamphlet was only just the beginning of my appreciation for all that Maureen Connolly Brinker has done for the game.

 

Tennis has been in my life since I could walk. My parents have always been avid tennis players, and coaches and have been involved in the tennis community in varying capacities. I grew up seeing all sides of the sport. I began playing tournaments at age seven and soon became one of the top junior players in Texas. At the age of nine, I had the opportunity to participate in the Little Mo Sectionals tournament in Boerne, Texas, and eventually qualified for the national Little Mo tournament that same year.

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When I was in the car reading the pamphlet to my mom, I got to know her story a little better. As the youngest and first woman to ever win a calendar Grand Slam, she had made history just in the sport of tennis alone. But this courageous and selfless woman whose career was cut short by a tragic accident, decided to create the Maureen Connolly Brinker Foundation after her retirement, in hopes of inspiring younger players in their junior tennis development. Her foundation seeks to teach players good sportsmanship and kindness. I remember well how we were able to earn “Mo coins” not for winning matches, but for being good sports and treating our opponents as we would want to be treated. The Little Mo tournaments also focus on friendship and did a great job of getting all of the players together to get to know each other and create a sense of camaraderie. To this day, I have several tennis friends who I have stayed close with throughout junior tennis who I met at the Little Mo tournament. 

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The last pillar of the Little Mo Foundation is one I hope to continue as I move on from my junior career to going to college next year. Just as Maureen Connally did not abandon the sport when it was taken from her so suddenly, I plan to give back to the sport that has given me so much. For the past seven years, I have dedicated the first part of my summers to serving as a volunteer at the Lake Travis summer enrichment Tennis camps. I have also been a leader on my high school team, assisting with our team’s service projects. I plan to continue working in the community to grow the sport of tennis and bring new players, young and old, to play the sport that I love. 

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Maureen Connolly’s profound impact on my life extends beyond the sport of tennis, but rather more importantly on the significance of giving back to my community and being kind to others. Now I will strive to keep earn

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​Charlie McCleary

​Third Place

Written by: Zachary Henry, Vanguard College, Preparatory School, Waco, Texas

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The first courts I ever played on were the Charlie McCleary courts at Waco Regional Tennis Center (WRTC). While five-year-old me didn’t think much of the name, I gradually became quite familiar with it, hearing stories about him from my coaches and playing in the local Charlie McCleary Open.

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Mr. McCleary, like myself, lived and taught tennis in Waco. I began teaching tennis nearly four years ago in the summer of 2020, after COVID-19 restrictions began lifting. While I work and play with kids of all ages and skill levels, from absolute beginners, to recreational players, to top level blue chip recruits, I specialize in developing players aged 7-9 years old. My work as a tennis coach consists of both paid and volunteer positions, through organizations including WRTC, the Waco Tennis Association, Special Olympics, and my local high school and community college. Teaching tennis in Waco, I naturally look to Charlie McCleary for inspiration, and even more so when I teach on the very courts named after him.

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Furthermore, Mr. McCleary founded the Waco Tennis Association, the organization that helped me develop into the tennis player I am today. The WTA sponsored the first tournaments I ever played, and I can vividly remember traveling to Newk’s Tennis Academy for the first time to represent Team Waco. In this way, Charlie McCleary’s legacy ensured that I, and all my peers, could compete both individually and on behalf of our city. Similarly, the WTA gave me my first


experiences as a ball boy. Working collegiate and ITF tournaments, I learned the ropes of being a ball kid at around eight years old. Since then, I’ve gone on to work for prestigious ATP and WTA tournaments including the WTA Finals and the BNP Paribas Open, sharing the court with Nadal, Djokovic, Alcaraz, Swiatek, and other top players. This past year I was honored to earn the title Ball Boy of the Year at the BNP Paribas Open. I would have none of these tremendous opportunities without Charlie McCleary’s dedication to growing tennis in the Waco community.


Like Mr. McCleary, I will attend Baylor University in my hometown, Waco. His love of reading and writing matches mine—while I haven’t yet penned newspaper articles, or published any tennis magazines, I have written award winning essays at the local, state, regional, and national level. Of all my classes, I most enjoy those which involve reading and writing. At Baylor, I hope to continue this passion of mine as a writer for the student newspaper, the Baylor Lariat, where I can cover the men’s and women’s tennis teams, bringing more interest to the sport. As I transition into this next phase of my life, Charlie McCleary’s legacy continues to inspire me to leave the tennis community community a better place than before.

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