We are proud to announce that our hard-working board president, Henry Hagenah, was named 2010 USTA Western MA Volunteer of the Year. He was chosen from a large field of volunteers from throughout the three WMA counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, and Hampton. His VOY award, a silver engraved frame, was presented at the USTA New England Awards Luncheon on Saturday, March 5, 2011.
PRESENTATION SPEECH DESCRIBING HENRY'S VOLUNTEER WORK
by Mike Kolendo, President, WMA
I often joke that I became the president of USTA Western MA by missing the
Board meeting where the nominations and voting took place. While I certainly
wouldn’t say that about our Volunteer of the Year, it’s pretty clear that 6 years
ago he was willing to step into a truly volunteer position that no one else seemed
to want.
As founder of the Lee CTA put it:
“Henry Hagenah has served as our president, under duress, as no one wants to
assume this thankless job. “
Henry oversees a board of directors of 5-11. The number fluctuates over the
years and Henry is constantly recruiting new members who believe in the CTA’s
mission of “providing affordable tennis to those of all ages in Lee and it’s
surrounding towns.”
Henry is an attorney, who has used his legal finesse and personal skills to retain
and improve the CTA’s access to the Lee HS, Lee Town, and Greenock Country
Club tennis courts. This is an ongoing battle and requires meetings with school
committees, country club boards, and town public works depts. It takes hours of
letter writing and meetings to negotiate hours of access and fees for court use.
In addition, Henry oversees year round youth programs, Spring After-School and
Saturday Teams, Summer programs for all ages, and Fall After-School and
Saturday Morning drop-ins. He’s there on-court running the Spring and Fall
programs and assisting with the Summer JTT travel teams.
He makes sure that flyers for all 3 seasons are delivered to the schools. He
assists with an annual JR Tournament which is open to anyone in Berkshire
County—and he as assists as a volunteer coach with the Lee HS Boys Tennis
Team. He’s even gotten them access to Canyon Ranch for practice sessions.
In addition, Henry oversees a Winter Scholarship program that assists the CTA’s
youth in getting access to indoor junior development programs.
He writes the annual grant applications and ensures that young instructors get
training by attending Coaches Development Workshops.
Finally, Henry oversees and negotiates the contracts with the CTA’s Tennis
Director and Administrator – and he’s participated in Berkshire County JTT
committees.
In short. Henry has put his heart into delivering a comprehensive tennis program
for people of all ages with a real focus on families.
And USTA Western MA is proud to name Henry Hagenah our 2010 Volunteer of
the year. Bunnie Lahey, Founder of the Lee CTA is here to accept the award on
Henry’s behalf.