Kings Park Women Take 4th Place At USTA Championship

A team of female tennis players from Long Island Team SUMO Citrus finished fourth at the USTA League Adult 18 & Over 4.0 National Championships last weekend. The USTA League National Championships were held in Tucson, Arizona. Team SUMO Citrus is captained by Michelle Stoerback and Diann Starcke. The Coach is Tina Buschi. 

After becoming league director at Sportime in Kings Park, Stoerback met Buschi, adult regional Sportime director and coach. During the winter of 2014, the two of them worked together to form the team made up of tennis friends from Sportime. “Our leadership, friendship, shared love of the game and competitive spirit unified this team,” Stoerback said.The novelty of having Buschi as the coach provides the captains with the opportunity to make other team decisions.

“There is so much added pressure when you are the captain and co-captain of a team, not to mention setting up matches, making teams and forming line-ups,” Stoerback said. “Buschi relieved us of this pressure by helping us make these decisions. Her experience in the USTA and knowledge of the game led us to where we are today.”

To raise money for the trip to Nationals, Team SUMO Citrus organized a fundraising event, Oktober-Tennis-Fest. The event took place on October 10 and was sponsored by Sportime in Kings Park.

“We raised about $7,500 and had very generous sponsors. Spuntino of Saint James supplied all of the food to feed over 150 people. We also had very generous donations of gifts and baskets from various businesses around town such as Cactus Salon, Mercedes Benz of Smithtown, DJ Tony Kerr, Wineries from the east end and our number one sponsor, Sportime of Kings Park. Sportime of Kings Park supplied our team with uniforms, a coach and the use of their entire facility for our fundraiser on October 10” said Michelle.

In addition to captaining Team SUMO Citrus, Stoerback enjoys playing tennis with her nine-year-old daughter, Hailey Stoerback. “Hailey shares a love for the game and the USTA,” Stoerback said. “Watching our practices and cheering for us in matches has given her motivation to practice and work hard.” Hailey is currently ranked third in the USTA Eastern Section and first on Long Island.

According to Michelle, the team is named after a very large, juicy sweet orange. “Sumo Citrus is a tangerine-orange hybrid. It’s a combination of the famous easy-to-peel Japanese Satsuma and big, juicy, sweet oranges from California. These oranges are only available during the months of March and April. In March, Marie Woitach, a member of our team, came across the fruit at Whole Foods. For our first practice she purchased one for everyone. Not only were these oranges unbelievably delicious, they were easy to peel, without the sticky mess. Before we knew it everyone was buying them on a weekly basis. We ate them so much that we decided to name our team Sumo Citrus.” 

The USTA Eastern Section, based in White Plains, N.Y., is a not-for-profit community service organization whose mission is to promote and develop the growth of tennis. The section encompasses all of New York State, Northern New Jersey and Greenwich, Conn. It is one of 17 geographic sections of the United States Tennis Association, the governing body of tennis in the United States, and supports more than 49,000 members. The section also establishes and maintains rules of fair play, high standards of sportsmanship and represents, in its jurisdiction, the programs and policies of the USTA. More information about the USTA Eastern section is available by visiting: www.eastern.usta.com<http://www.eastern.usta.com>.