CONTACT: Terry St. John, 713-524-3027, stjohn@pdq.net

HOUSTONIAN IS HONORED FOR SERVICE TO THE TENNIS COMMUNITY
Emily Schaefer will receive prestigious USTA award in Atlanta in February

          HOUSTON (Dec. 8, 2006)--Emily Schaefer will receive the Eve Kraft Community Service Award for 2006 from the United States Tennis Association during the 2007 Community Tennis Development Workshop in Atlanta, Ga., in February.

The prestigious annual award is named after the developer of the national model for community-based tennis programs, the Princeton Community Tennis Program.  Kraft was a visionary, a pioneer and an inspiration to all who loved the game.  She founded the USTA Education and Resource Center in Princeton and became co-founder and director of the USA Tennis Teachers Conference and the USTA Recreational Tennis Leadership Workshop and was a mentor to many who are still active in tennis.

Schaefer, director of tennis for the Houston Parks & Recreation Department since 1999 and a Houston Tennis Association Advisory Board member, is being recognized for her significant contributions to tennis in Houston and for dedication which extends well beyond the 40 plus hours required of her job.

“The city of Houston and the HTA are fortunate to have someone as experienced and dedicated as Emily in charge of our public tennis facilities,” Harriett Hulbert, executive director of the HTA, said.

“She spends many extra hours each week as a volunteer–managing and developing programs, mentoring and encouraging young players, assisting them with scholarships and job interviews, networking with potential sponsors and partners, chaperoning NJTL teams to out-of-town competition and assisting in writing grants to expand programs,” Hulbert continued. 

“Emily promotes tennis as an all-inclusive sport, where people with differences in income, ethnicity, religion, skill levels and age can work and play together and enjoy and appreciate each other’s company.  She works with the Wheelchair Tennis Association and Special Olympics and has promoted senior tennis and beginner adults as well.”

Under her guidance, the free HTA/NJTL program has grown from 10 sites for three weeks in the summer to 38 park sites operating for eight weeks, four days a week, and has added educational and artistic components to provide an entire experience for the children.

After playing high-school tennis and four years for Princeton, achieving an NCAA Division I singles ranking as high as 24 in the United States, Schaefer played a few circuit events, then became a teaching pro.  In 1993 she became the assistant tennis coach at Rice University and in 1999 was hired as director of tennis for the Parks Department, the first such position dedicated solely to tennis.

She and her mother Bambi Schuette have won eleven national mother-daughter doubles titles.
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