updated: 1/18/23
Our History
In 1986 a group of friends used to meet regularly to play tennis and
socialize on the tennis courts located on Capitol Hill. Shawn Fivecoat,
Quinten Welch, and Herb Millro called themselves the Broadway Tennis
Club. Between 1986 and 1996 these players met and played on
the courts at Cal Anderson Park. They trained and traveled for competitions and welcomed friends interested in playing tennis. At the time, cultural
changes were brewing in the gay community and gay recreational sports
organizations were being formed in cities across the country. Little
did they imagine the group would become leaders and an inspiration
to each other as they formed a non-profit volunteer organization that still breathes
today.
The Broadway Tennis Club grew quickly by welcoming new members including: Pat
Solberg, Martha Davis, Steve Scholz and Tony Hill. They were a group
of friends passionate about furthering tennis in the gay and lesbian
community. Organizational meetings and brainstorming sessions were held
at members' homes. Plans for local tournaments, affordable lessons,
weekly social doubles, individual and team competitions, and a women's
tennis club were brought forth.
In 1994 Broadway Tennis Club organized its first national gay and lesbian
GLTA sanctioned tournament in Seattle. It became one of thirty premier
gay and lesbian tennis competitions. The Evergreen Championships were
a great success in the first year welcoming over 170 players from all
over the country. This was an impressive milestone at the time for the
Broadway Tennis Club. Divisions for men, women, and mixed doubles competition
were held along with a tournament party. The Evergreen Championships
tournament success prompted the Broadway Tennis Club to incorporate
as the Seattle Tennis Alliance in 1997. To better serve its members
an official board of volunteers was established to oversee finances,
membership, social events, competition, and communications. By the end
of that year, the STA had affiliated with Team Seattle and GLTA.
As we grew in size we partnered with Team Seattle, Seattle's gathering place for GLBT sports in the Puget Sound. They helped provide us with our first web site and served as a partner in the community.
The leadership of Tony Hill and Brant Lyerla saw the club through major
challenges and achievements over the following years. New offerings
such as inter-city competition between Portland, Seattle and Vancouver
BC in the Northwest Cup and the Pacific Cup became annual highlight
events. A new singles tournament, the Herb Millro Classic, which is
played annually in the fall in honor of STA founding member Herb
Millro;
an annual doubles championship tournament was also developed. STA
members
started forming USTA League Teams at several
levels and compete every year locally for a chance to advance to USTA
Nationals. In recent years, Team Tennis was introduced and is played
for 6 weeks during the summer and ends with the End-of Season
Barbecue. The Evergreen Championships tournament played every 4th of
July weekend was
later renamed The Seattle Evergreen in 2006 and most recently in 2009
it was renamed the
Seattle Classic.
The STA has served over 600 members in the Puget Sound Area. Currently,
the organization has over 100 active local members and offers them competitive
and social events, opportunities to volunteer and facility to build lasting
friendships through the sport of tennis. The board meets monthly to
manage and plan ways to improve and grow the club. All members are welcome
and encouraged to join these meetings Board elections are held
yearly offering new volunteers a chance to strengthen and improve
the club.
We hope to continue to carry forth the STA Mission our founders set
forth and we thank the many volunteers who have dedicated time and effort
to the Seattle Tennis Alliance.
With the help of volunteers the STA organization is made possible.
Special thanks:
Shawn Fivecoat, Quinten Welch, Herb Millro, Steve Scholz, Martha Davis, Sabina Hawkins, Patrick Giles, Vince Parillo, Robert Reyna, Albert Rodriguez, Jan Dequit, Ian Petry, Glenn Maarse, Gabriel Florentino, Kelly Farrell, Rey Chai, Tony Hill, Tony Peterson, Brant Lyerla, David Semrau, Claudia Diorio, Pat Solberg, Steven Champion, Kwong Yin, Tung Dinh, Tedd Romero, Ryan Phee, Tom Sparks, Lynda Wright, Gail Fitzgerald, Meade Thayer, Jon Girsch, Chris Stimpson, Diane LeBow, Bebe Burns, Chuck Pecka, Rick Miller, Steve Andryszewski, Randy Van Heusden, Mark Hanses, Bill Krekling, Tom Osmon, Gail Benzler and Edgar Longoria.
Presidents
1990-1994 Shawn Fivecoat
1994-1995 Quinten Welch
1995-1997 Steve Scholz
1997-2001 Tony Hill
2001-2005 Brant Lyerla
2005-2006 Tony Hill
2007-2008 Claudia Diorio
2008-2011 Jon Girsch
2011-2013 Andy Inthavong
2013-2017 Steve Andryszewski
2017-2021 Gary Renville
2021- Present Ian Guenther
If you know anything about the STA history please feel free to share your knowledge and experiences with the STA Board for inclusion here to share.