By Town Crier Staff Report
A pair of Los Altos residents received awards at the United States Tennis Association’s annual luncheon last month in Florida.
Frank Brennan received the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s 2001 Tennis Educational Merit Award, while Ned Mansfield took home the USTA’s Seniors’ Service Award.
Brennan, former women’s tennis coach at Stanford University, was honored at a luncheon during the United States Tennis Association’s annual meeting in Florida.
These awards are presented annually to individuals who are U.S. citizens or residents who have made notable contributions in the tennis education field at the national level. Award winners have repeatedly demonstrated leadership and creative skills in tennis instruction, writing, organization and promotion of the game of tennis.
Brennan recently retired after serving 21 years at Stanford, where he won 10 NCAA championships and compiled 510 career victories - a feat that is unmatched in collegiate women’s tennis. He has been honored as the ITA Intercollegiate Coach of the Year four times (1982, ‘87, ‘88 and ‘89) and received their Coach of the Decade Award twice (’89 and ‘00). Brennan was the United States Professional Tennis Association Coach of the Year in ‘85 and ‘87, USPTA NorCal Coach of the Year six times, and was inducted into the NorCal Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994.
In 1972, Brennan was credited with founding one of the first summer tennis camps in the country. As an off-court leader, Brennan spent 11 years on the Intercollegiate Coaches’ Operating Committee, has served on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rules Committee and the ITA Hall of Fame Committee. He has been a featured clinician at numerous USPTA annual conventions.
Mansfield is the first Northern Californian to receive the Seniors’ Service Award, given annually by the national USTA. The award, first handed out in 1958, recognizes Mansfield’s volunteer work in behalf of senior tennis players.
The award was announced less than a year after Mansfield, a three-time NorCal board member, was inducted into the Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame. His work in the section has also included support for wheelchair tennis and the sport of tennis generally in Northern California.
Mansfield, 83, also serves on the council of the Northern California Senior Tennis Association. He has been a sectionally and nationally ranked senior player for several years.
