FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THOMAS HIGGINS, CINDY MILLER, AND COLLEEN JONES UNDERHILL
NOMINATED TO THE KENTUCKY TENNIS HALL OF FAME
Louisville, Kentucky – September 10, 2019 - The United States Tennis Association (USTA) Kentucky announced the nomination of Thomas Higgins, Cindy Miller, and Colleen Jones Underhill into the Kentucky Tennis Hall of Fame. Induction Ceremony scheduled for Friday, January 24, 2020 in Louisville.
A committee of 11 from all areas of the state, chaired by John English, 2008 member of the Hall of Fame has selected the 2019 Kentucky Tennis Hall of Fame nominees.
Thomas Higgins of Henderson, KY who currently resides in Charleston, SC served 29 years as the Head Coach of the Eastern Kentucky University Men’s Tennis Team. During this time, he also served as the Head Coach of the EKU Women’s Team for eight seasons where he was honored with the court naming rights; the Tom Higgins Tennis Courts. Higgins was the head tennis professional at the Arlington Club, a professor of Health Education and served as a member of numerous conference and NCAA committees. He could boast that 94 percent of his student athletes earned their degree.
Higgins began his love for tennis at an early age and played high school tennis and went on to play at Murray State University. Higgins recently retired as tennis director for Porter-Gaud School in Charleston where he continues as assistant coach. He has been coaching at Porter-Gaud for 11 years holding seven championship titles and was inducted into the High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015. Tom humbly says, “at all levels good kids and players make old coaches look better than they are!”
Cindy Miller of Louisville, KY played a key role in the development of USTA Adult League in Kentucky, bringing local league play across the state. Miller also worked to develop and grow Adult League in the Southern Section and National level. Miller was instrumental in bringing the first sectional championship to the state in 1986. Miller played and captained many successful USTA League teams over the years and went on to become a certified referee.
She has held positions on USTA Kentucky committees and Board of Directors where she served as President. Miller served on the USTA Kentucky Adult League Committee and was chairman at the Sectional level. She has been active on many other committees, subcommittees and councils for USTA at the Sectional and National levels. “Serving the USTA Kentucky by promoting the sport of tennis was a labor of love for me. I am especially proud of my role in establishing the USTA adult league program in Kentucky”, says Miller.
Colleen Jones Underhill of Louisville, KY was the number one ranked Kentucky Jr. female player for several years as well as securing a top 10 ranking in USTA Southern. She played for Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville where she was Kentucky High School State Champion and female player of the year. She continued her successfultennis career as number one singles at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where she graduated in three years with an impressive match record of 28 and 2. Underhill continued to play as an adult and has won many state and Southern championships and secured the runner up position in several National competitions. She has been a teaching tennis pro, and coach at her alma mater, Sacred Heart Academy.
Underhill has been very philanthropically active as a board member for Refuse to Lose Tennis Tournament, benefiting cancer research, a principal donor of the Underhill Tennis Complex at Sacred Heart Academy, principal donor of Miami University outdoor tennis complex where she was honored with the #1 court named “Colleen Jones Underhill”. “I am very honored to be nominated to The Kentucky Tennis Hall of Fame. The sport of tennis has been such a big part of my life and it has opened so many doors for me. I look forward to joining such a prestigious group of accomplished individuals and continuing to promote this sport all my life” says Underhill.
USTA Kentucky was established in 1910 and has a current membership of over 7,200. Policy is formed and much of the organization's work is executed via a board and committee structure of over 100 volunteers. A professional staff, housed in Louisville, compliments the volunteer structure and is charged with carrying out the daily operations of the organization. USTA Kentucky is a member of the USTA Southern Section, along with eight other southern states including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. USTA Southern is the largest section in the United States serving 174,000 USTA members accounting for nearly 25 percent of the total USTA membership. For more information, programs and services offered by USTA Kentucky, visit www.ustaky.com.
The main goal of USTA Kentucky is to connect the state to tennis!
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CONTACT:
Jason Miller, USTA Kentucky Executive Director
502.558.8801 jmiller@ustaky.com
Kim Lonnemann, USTA Kentucky Marketing & Promotions Coordinator
502.491.1290 klonnemann@ustaky.com