Ineligible Player Should Cause Women's 4.0 Captain Shannon King and Maureen Dickson To Forfeit State Title

Arkansas League Tennis Coordinator & Arkansas Tennis Association employee Maureen Dickson and Women's 4.0 Team Captain Shannon King used an ineligible player in winning the Women's 4.0 League Team Tennis State Championships held at Burns Park this past weekend. Christie Baker Griffee (pictured right and below), a former NCAA D-I player at Samford University, falsified a self-rate application with the USTA League Tennis Committee in order to play Women's 4.0 Team Tennis. Under USTA League Tennis rules and guidelines, a player under the age of 30 and college experience at a Division I school should start playing in league play at a minimum of a NTRP 4.5 or higher skill level rating. Team member Christie Baker Griffee won the deciding match in Little Rock Athletic Club Women's 4.0 team match win over Little Rock Women's 4.0 Team captained by Melanie Bobo & Teresa Williams. With the matches tied 2-2, Baker-Griffee easily won the final singles match 6-0,6-0 to give Captain Shannon King, her teammate Maureen Dickson, and the rest of the team the victory by the final score of 3-2.

In order to play league tennis, Christie Baker Griffee or a teammate familiar with the process had to fill out the self-rate application by falsifying her college level play. Arkansas League Coordinator Maureen Dickson and/or Team Captain Shannon King could have easily guided her through the application process that omitted important information that would have given Baker-Griffee a higher skill level rating.

Did Maureen Dickson (pictured right at the center of the table along with teammate Lisa Nutt seated far right) and Shannon King knowingly sign Baker-Griffee to their team and hold back important information that would have led to her disqualification? Did any of the other team members- Linda Bland, Christina Byler, Kathryn B. Perkins, Lisa C. Nutt, Cindy Pugh, Lauren Speas Slabaugh, Rebecca L. Kinworthy, Joy Wolf, Marti E. Henson, Kerre L. Gilliland, Christi Jeanette Headlee, Sara B. Barnett, and/or Sheffield Duke recognize that Christie Baker Griffee played at a higher skill level than their own level? Please use the comment area below and leave your opinion.

Free Conway Junior Tennis Program begins its Summer I Session on June 12th

The Free Conway Junior Tennis Program begins its Summer I Session on June 12th. This 3-week tennis lesson plan is free for children ages 6-15. Contact Chuck/Cindy at pinnacletennisacademy@gmail.com or call the office at 501-570-6755.

Lady Razorbacks Tennis Team Receives 5th Straight NCAA Bid

The Arkansas Razorback women’s tennis team is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight year and sixth time in the last seven years. They will play Long Beach State (18-5) in the first round as a No. 2 seed in the Los Angeles Regional hosted by No. 1 overall seed UCLA. The winner of the match between UA and LBSU will play the winner of UCLA and Eastern Kentucky. The regional is set to start on Friday, May 11 and run through Saturday, May 12. The team that wins the four-team regional will advance to the final rounds hosted by the University of Georgia. Arkansas head coach Michael Hegarty said that the team was excited about the opportunity to play a very good Long Beach State team. Also representing the Southeastern Conference in the tournament draw is Ole Miss, Alabama, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, LSU and Florida, which is the reigning national champion. Team members include Emily Carbone of Lexington, Ky. , Laurie Gingras of Quebec City, Canada, Abby Hayley of The Woodlands, Texas, Kate Lukomskaya of Minsk, Belarus, Catherine Parenteau of Montreal, Canada, and Claudine Paulson of Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Stephanie Roy of Montreal, Canada.