Jodie Adams Named BJK Public Parks Tennis Person of the Year
April 22, 2024
DENVER, COLORADO: APRIL 22, 2024 – USTA Intermountain is pleased to announce that Jodie Adams of Billings, Montana, has received the Billie Jean King Public Parks Tennis Person of the Year award, presented earlier this month by USTA Parks Committee members and Delivery Council members at the USTA Annual Meetings in Orlando, Florida.
The award is given to a person who has greatly contributed to the advancement of tennis in public parks on a national level.
A former pro circuit player, Adams left the tour to take a full-time position in the Missouri parks system and has been involved in tennis advocacy for more than 40 years. She’s been a longtime national volunteer with the USTA, serving on the Parks Committee and many others, including as a member of the USTA Board of Directors from 1990 to 2000. She also spent eight years on the Board of Trustees for the National Recreation and Park Association, including as president.
Adams says her love of the sport developed “growing up as a park kid playing on public courts.” She currently leads the Tennis Executive Ambassadors cohort, a top-down approach working with government decision-makers to impact dollars spent toward the growth of tennis. She and her team work closely with the Public Parks Committee who have a grassroots bottom-up approach.
“Coming at the growth of tennis from both directions has been very effective,” said Scott Laakso, Public Parks Committee Chair with USTA National. “Jodie has and continues to develop relationships with and between nonprofits in the recreation arena, corporations in the recreation world and public recreation agencies.
“Jodie is spearheading a team made up of USTA staff, PlayCore and volunteers to develop family-inclusive areas with tennis courts and tennis-themed playground equipment in addition to other amenities that can be customized to meet the needs of the public parks customer,” Laakso added. “She is working with numerous public agencies to plug these designs into their plans.”
“Intermountain is very fortunate to have Jodie as a recent transplant to our Montana district,” said USTA Intermountain Executive Director Rob Scott. “Her knowledge of tennis in the parks space is unmatched by anyone else in the industry. She has already made a huge impact on the Montana Board of Directors and the parks space in general in Intermountain. We look forward to many fruitful years with Jodie and Intermountain.”