Beth also won this award in 2015, our first year of the league in STL. Beth is a high school coach, and through her passion and the relationships she has with players and coaches in high school tennis, she was able to recruit most of the players for our new high school league. In addition, she finished with the most wins of all players during the regular season, plus making the finals of the 4.0 playoffs. Based on her extraordinary contribution to growing the league, and strong playing performance throughout 2017, she wins the Gladitaor of the Year Award for the 2nd time!
Beth's tennis story: Softball, not tennis, was always my sport. I played fastpitch in high school and in college and I have always loved chasing down a ball. After college, life became full of responsibilities and sports were so hard to fit in -- I longed to get active again. Then in 2010 a friend invited me to an open house at Steel Shop Tennis Club in St. Charles. I drilled with a doubles group and was immediately hooked! I began weekly drills which led to joining a team as a singles player and then more teams and now tennis has become an integral part of my life. I have loved the game so much that I now also coach high school tennis (girls in the fall & boys in the spring) and I find it very rewarding to help young people learn to love and develop in the game.
Gladiator Tennis has been a perfect match for my love of tennis. Not only do I enjoy playing, but I also enjoy the interaction with other like-minded people. This is the perfect opportunity to meet other tennis players, to have competitive matches, and to have more freedom to experiment and work on my game than when I’m competing for a team. I have found the league to be very well-organized and I love the flexibility. I also feel privileged to have had a hand in kicking off a High School Gladiator League in the summer of 2017. Many of the high school athletes were really enthusiastic about the opportunity to get more matches in! I will continue to invite new players to Gladiator and I can't wait to see how it continues to grow in St. Louis!
Ben proved for the 2nd year in a row that he is the player to beat, the king of the hill. He did have a few challenges in the 4.5 playoff draw, most notably the semifinals where John McCrillis took him to 3 sets on a very cold October day. Ben is ready for a promotion to 5.0! Hopefully, a group at this level can be created in 2018.
Ben's tennis story: I grew up in Wisconsin play tennis with my parents and older brother. Every Sunday we would go take family lessons. My love for tennis grew and I played junior tennis leagues throughout most of my youth and played for Marquette University High School and won a state championship while being named team captain. I went to college to study medicine but was able to play a few years on their team. After graduating college, I focused on my studies and not until I moved to St. Louis in 2014 did I dust off my rackets. I soon remembered the fondness of the sport but wanted to be more involved. I played a USTA match and got beat badly but met some new friends who invited me into Gladiator tennis. Gladiator tennis allows me the flexibility that my schedule demands, satisfies my desire for competition and above all lets me meet great people who share a common love of the sport.
Ben had accumulated a 5-7 record over the Summer and Fall Seasons of 2017, his first year in Gladiator Tennis. But some players know when and how to elevate their game when it matters most. The biggest test Ben would have proved ot be in the first round against Don Tulloch. The two split sets before Ben pullled it out in the 3rd - 7-5,3-6,6-2. After that, Ben took out the #1 and #4 seeds in the quarters and semis before clicnching the championship with a 6-3,6-4 win over finalist Kevin Ziegemeier.
Ben's Tennis Story: My Father started me in tennis at a young age. I began taking clinics at a indoor club here in St Louis at 8 years old. I have some good memories of that and thank those coaches for growing my interest in the game. I grew up in the 80's watching some fun pro's : Agassi, Chang, McEnroe and Connors for a bit, Becker, Edberg, Lendl, etc. It made for some great TV in the 80's when TV is not as we have it nowadays. McEnroe was probably the favorite as its fun to root for someone who is too old and outlandish at times. I had one gradeschool friend in particular named Pat who I spent many summer days hitting with, and he helped make me better for sure. My current favorite player is the un-original answer of Federer.
I didn't play all that much in high school or much of my 20's other than messing around with friends. Two years ago in fall of 2016 I decided to get into USTA and tennis in general as something to do and for the exercise. Like most I heard of Gladiator via word of mouth and jumped in this past spring as something to do following USTA. Life is busy as we all know, and I love the setup of having it be a social league of sorts in terms of scheduling. Reaching out to your new opponent each week to find a mutually agreeable time to play is excellent. I would recommend Gladiator to anyone , even if you are not incredibly serious about tennis.
Some players know how to win when it matters most. Karen won the 3.5 playoffs in our first year of the STL league, and she repeated again this year!
Karen's tennis story: I grew up in Southern California, where everyone took tennis and swimming lessons. I played for recreation until I went away to college then did not pick up a racquet until my son was in the 6th grade. He wanted to take lessons so instead of sitting on the side watching I decided to take some lessons also. While he excelled much faster than I did and soon he was too good to play with me, I had to find others to play with. I joined a club and played a lot of tennis indoors during the winter. Last spring I heard about Gladiator tennis from some friends. I signed up and loved it. It was a great way to keep my skills up and meet other players in the area.
Corey had the most dramatic of runs throughout the 2017 Gladiator playoffs. He prevailed over the #2 seed Michael Brennan in a close first round, 6-3,7-6. Then went to 3 sets in the quarterfinals against Brian Lich, 6-4,3-6,6-4. Having been tested under pressure, he was ready for what proved to be an epic semifinal showdown vs. Dinesh Boara, a seesaw affair that ended 6-2,0-6, and 10-8 in a 3rd set tiebreaker. Corey defeated Michael Koby in the final to become champion in his first year in the league - a great start in Gladiator Tennis!
Corey's Tennis Story: Growing up in the 90s my family and I would occasionally play tennis for fun with wooden racquets that were at least 10 years old. I became more serious about tennis my junior year of high school and went on to play 1st varsity doubles my senior year with a good friend. Having taught my self to play tennis I think we won most of our matches by confusing the opponents. 
Since then I’ve played on and off but started really diving into the sport in 2013. This was my first year playing gladiator tennis which has been a tremendous experience meeting great people – the flexible schedule is the only reason I’d consider doing a league in the summer. Gladiator helped me stay sharp and improve during the off season for my USTA league. To make it to the gladiator finals I came back from 3-8 in a 10 point 3rd set tie break!
This was Courtney's 2nd year in the league, and 2nd year playing tennis! She went undefeated in her final season before the playoffs, then won a nail biting 3 setter over Michelle Larose-Wicks 4-6,6-3,7-6 in the final to become champion.
Courtney's Tennis Story: I grew up playing several sports from basketball, soccer, to golf. However, I somehow missed out on tennis and never played until about two years ago. I started playing because my boyfriend loves the sport and played in college. I began hitting back and forth with him and really enjoyed it. So I decided to look for an outlet to play competitively but also at my skill level, as I was just learning the game.
Gladiator is the perfect outlet. I am able to learn the sport while getting real game experience. The scheduling is very flexible and I am able to play with some really great people. I lost every game my first season! However, my experience playing in the Gladiator league is the main reason I have been able to improve my game!
