Welland Sports Wall of Fame

The Welland Sports Wall of Fame was established in 1993. The objective of the Wall of Fame is to honour and perpetuate the names and deeds of those whose athletic abilities brought honour or positive recognition to themselves and their community, and those whose interest in and work for sport resulted in a climate which benefited athletes and athletics.

Stacey Allaster was added to the Wall of Fame on May 3 2015.

Other honourees from the sport of tennis include :

Joyce Cutts (2013)

Maria Dinga (2012)

Harold (Dutchy) Doerr (2005)

Brian Gyetko (2002)

Jimmy Doerr (1998)

A love match with tennis

The Welland Tribune · 1 May 2015 · BERND FRANKE Tribune Staff

When Stacey Allaster was growing up playing tennis in Welland, Al Dicenso, Alison Hannah and Dianne McIver were her doubles partners on the court. On the red clay courts at the tennis club on Hooker Street, she could count on many others for support and to nurture her dream of making a living in sports marketing.

Foremost are her mother, Nora Smith, nee Fox, and Harold ( Dutchy) Doerr, who spent 40 years with the Welland Tennis Club, the last 23 as the club’s pro. “Throughout my journey as a player and then as a teaching professional, Dutchy provided a lot of guidance and direction. However, no one deserves more credit than my mother,” Allaster wrote in an email exchange from St. Petersburg Florida, where she is chairman and chief administrative officer of the WTA ( Women’s Tennis Association.). “As a single parent who could only work part time due to a nursing injury, she sacrificed everything so I could play tennis, attend Western and realize my dreams.”

A sports executive who ranks securing equal prize money at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2007 and getting a $500 million TV deal for women’s tennis among the highlights of the career, spent years in the sport before achieving those milestones. Allaster’s involvement in tennis literally started from the ground up. Her first job at age 12 was cleaning the clay courts for Doerr.

Allaster, who spent 15 years with Tennis Canada before joining the WTA as a president in 2006, is the first to appreciate how far she has come. “He either gave me 25 cents or a pop. From cleaning the red clay courts to chairman and CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association, I’ve never left the sport that I love. How lucky am I.”

As a 20-year-old studying at University of Western Ontario, Allaster began setting her sights on a career in sports marketing after reading Mark McCormack’s book, What They Don’t Teach You at the Harvard Business School. She mentioned her interest to Doerr and, through his and Welland Tennis Club connections, got a summer job with IMG Canada as a runner at the Canadian Open. “It was clear after that experience that I knew I wanted to one day work at Tennis Canada.”

Though Allaster was inducted – along with Andre Agassi – into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame, she doesn’t take her stature and success in tennis for granted. “I pinch myself often, particularly on those occasions where I’m representing the WTA and I have Billie Jean King, the founder of the WTA, on stage with me.”

The 51-year-old mother of two isn’t about to rest on her laurels. That’s why receiving induction in the Welland Sports Wall of Fame wasn’t even on her radar of things to accomplish. “Yes, I am surprised because I’m too young to receive a lifetime achievement award. I’m just hitting my stride,” Allaster, a Notre Dame College School graduate, said.

She was nominated for induction in Welland’s sports shrine by Al Dicenso, her old mixed doubles partner. “For a small-town girl from the Rose City to head all of women’s tennis is a phenomenal achievement,” said Dicenso, who remembered Allaster as a tenacious young player who sometimes was outplayed but never outworked. “What she lacked in size she made up for in heart. She was always a tremendous worker,” he said. “We supported each other very well on the court. We were a one-two punch.”

A work ethic that once had her juggling three part-time jobs is serving Allaster well. Just look how far she has come from maintaining courts at the Welland Tennis Club. “I am the only female in the world leading a global sport. I was a kid, from a small club, from a small town. Anything is possible if you give 110% of yourself to your goals and your dreams,” she said. “Ultimately, you will have coaches who will support you. However, your success is 100% dependent upon you. Own your success, own your destiny and dream big.”