2017 Awards
Photos by Jag Gundhu
March 19, 2018
March 19, 2018
While Bill is best known for his role as an Olympic Runner and top athlete in the 1960s, he spent over 30 years contributing to the growth of tennis in Ontario while running a successful pharmacy business in Markham and acting as Trustee for the York Region District School Board. He served on the board of the Markham Tennis Club in the 80's and was President of that club in 1987. Bill expanded his love for tennis and eventually became deeply involved in the expansion of the Intercounty Tennis Association (ICTA) and became Division Chair and then Mixed League director spanning over 32 years of volunteer service. That position managed league play for up to 60 clubs in the GTA area (most were OTA member clubs) and up to 160 teams which spanned from the Lakeshore to Newmarket and from Pickering to Milton. Bill is inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1965), Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1971) and Ontario Sports Hall of Fame (1997). He received the Tennis Canada DSA Award in 2003.
Margaret is an exceptional example of dedication to the sport of tennis. She had a successful career as a singles and doubles player, playing at Grand Slam events in Australia, France and England (Wimbledon) before becoming a coach. She was the Manager of the Canadian Junior National Team working for Tennis Canada in the early 1980s; however, it her commitment to developing juniors of all ability levels for more than 30 years in Ottawa that makes her so deserving of this award. Through her round robins, countless juniors have developed a life-long commitment to the sport. Her focus has been as much on helping develop valuable members of the tennis community as it has been on creating top players. She always emphasizes the right way to behave on and off the court, and she has guided many parents through the process of learning to live with the ups and downs of having competitive children in tennis. Margaret is constantly promoting tennis to juniors and their parents in the local community. She is an unwavering source or encouragement for players, parents and professionals alike.
Michel’s tennis leadership has been outstanding over the past 25 years. He was involved at the board level of his own community tennis club, Aldershot, for many years, serving as President from 1998-2000, and contributed much to its growth and development. He first began volunteering with the OTA in 2004 as a Director-at-Large and then in 2006 as VP of Membership and Regional Development. He served as President for five years from 2007-2012 and made a number of significant contributions in the areas of risk management and policy development. He sat on Tennis Canada's Council of Provinces during that time and influenced them to grow and expand the provincial funding model. Michel was awarded the Tennis Canada DSA in 2012. He was always a big proponent of recognizing volunteers at the club and community level and really promoted the OTA’s club awards and OTA's DSA awards.
The Bruce Childs Volunteer Awards are provided to OTA member clubs to help them recognize volunteers who have made a significant contribution to tennis at the club level. In 2016 the following clubs recognized the listed people with these awards.
| Club Name | Award Winners |
|---|---|
| Alliston TC | Kelly Gripper |
| Beaver River TC | Andrew King |
| Bellbury TC | Habib Toossi and Raphael Leong |
| Bracebridge TC | Shig Nakamoto |
| Dunmoore TC | Anna Wald |
| Brampton TC | Carolyn Miller |
| Brighton TC | Mike Pothier |
| Brighton TC | Anu Greenwood |
| Dunmoore TC | Karl Wald |
| Grimsby TC | Bob Pride |
| Hespeler TC | Sherri Dyer |
| Markham TC | Dorice Ross, Jim Fehr and Roy Antoine |
| Newmarket TC | Laura Willcox |
| North York TC | Simon Kriksciunas, Claudio Ricci and Gilberto Guiza |
| Renfrew TC | Randle Donnelly |
| Scarborough Bluffs | Steve Gilchrist, Kristian Gravelle, Thi Ho and Louise Merenda |
| Stephen Leacock TC | Thomas Maikawa |
| Tournament Park TC | Christina Lawrence |
| Uxbridge TC | Louise Sanders |
| West Rouge TC | The Cabell Family |
| Whitby TC | Aaqib Shah |