SEDONA, AZ The Northern Arizona Tennis Association (NAZ) hosted its 10th annual awards banquet Saturday, September 24th at the Kiwanis Park in Sedona, AZ. Awards were presented to individuals and organizations in recognition of tennis accomplishments both on and off the court in 2016.
Awards were presented to the following:
Claudette Laliberte, Sedona
Adult Teaching Professional of the Year and Adult Player of the Year: Laliberte conducts several area benefit tournaments throughout the year, teaches a wide array of students year round and volunteers her time for the Northern Arizona Tennis Association. She competed on three USTA adult league teams in 2016 posting a winning record with several different partners.
Andrea Meyer, Cottonwood
High School Coach of the Year: Meyer is the longtime girl’s tennis coach of Mingus Union High School in Cottonwood, AZ. The team posted a 9-5 team record this year and had a record number of players participate on the varsity and junior varsity teams.
Dawson Turner, Prescott
Male High School Player of the Year: Turner played #1 on the Prescott High School Boys tennis team as a sophomore posting a winning record and reached the third round of the Arizona State individual singles championships. He is also the #1 player on the Southwest Section Junior Team Tennis 18 and under Intermediate level championship team which will compete in that national championship to be played in October in Charleston, SC.
Sara Jane Schott, Prescott
Female High School Player of the Year: Schott played #1 on the Prescott High School Girls tennis team in 2016 posting a winning record and is the #1 girl’s player on the 18 & under intermediate Junior Team Tennis (JTT) which will represent the Southwest Section in the national JTT championships in Charleston, SC this October.
Sterling Fetty, Prescott
Junior Development Coach of the Year: Fetty is the boys and girls coach at Prescott High School leading both teams to a winning record. He also is the coach of the Southwest Section Junior Team Tennis 18 & under intermediate team that will represent the Southwest Section at national competition in October.
Cheryl Murrieta, Prescott
USTA League Captain of the Year: Murrieta captained three USTA league teams in 2016 with two of them winning the NAZ district championships representing NAZ in the Southwest Section Championships.
Scott Weber, Flagstaff
Community Volunteer of the Year: Weber is a long time NAZ board member, serving at various times as the NAZ Treasurer, NAZ Officials Chairperson, NAZ League Coordinator, NAZ Bookkeeper, NAZ Technical Director, and Flagstaff representative to the NAZ board. He is a certified USTA and ITA umpire and trainer and manages NAZ technology initiatives.
Poco Diablo Resort, Sedona
Member Organization of the Year: Poco Diablo Resort is the site of many USTA league matches year round and host to several charity events in 2016. The resort choses to largely waive its court fees for league matches which helps keep league fees lower and more affordable.
Larry Lineberry, Sedona
Lifetime Achievement Award: Lineberry is a longtime NAZ board member and has been instrumental in raising funds for junior tennis programming for NAZ. He is a 40 year member of the United States Professional Tennis Association and a Master Professional since 1990. His students have earned over $400,000 in tennis scholarships and his tennis activities has raised over $300,000 for various charities since 1976.
This was a very exciting gathering of individuals at this year’s banquet and a terrific turnout with over 50 persons in attendance” said NAZ president Jan Blackman. “All of these recipients are very deserving of their recognition. NAZ is proud to highlight their achievements and we are all looking forward to a great year of tennis in Northern Arizona in 2017.
The new 2017 Board of Officers for NAZ was announced at the banquet. The new board officers are: Adam Kaupisch of Flagstaff, president; Jan Blackman of Flagstaff, immediate past president; Larry Lineberry of Sedona, secretary; Jana Perpich of Flagstaff, vice president; Scott Weber of Flagstaff treasurer. NAZ is one of 7 districts in the SWS which is one of 17 sections which make up the USTA.