North Carolina Tennis Foundation
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North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame Welcomes Three New Inductees Class of 2007 – Tommy Dixon, Sharron Frahm & Fred West
Greensboro, NC – August 25th, 2006 – The North Carolina Tennis Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2007: Tommy Dixon of Raleigh, Sharron Frahm of Greensboro, and Fred West of Charlotte. The inductees will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame January 27, 2007, with a commemoration event held at the Carolina Hotel of the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, NC. The North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame currently rests in Greensboro, NC, a central location for the whole state to enjoy. Tommy Dixon was able to build upon an accomplished junior and collegiate background and turn his experience into a successful teaching career at the Kildaire Farms Racquet & Swim Club. Dixon was quite a force while playing in tournaments throughout the South during his junior years, consistently earning top rankings in both North Carolina and the Southern Section levels. These qualities made him an attractive candidate for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill tennis team. Over the course of his 1973-1976 collegiate career at UNC, Dixon would put together an overall ACC regular season record of 22-2 in singles and 23-1 in doubles. Undeniably Dixon was a great player, but also proved to be an even better leader, setting a respectable example for his teammates. During his senior year, he co-captained the tennis team and received the ACC Tournament Sportsmanship Award. Dixon would graduate on-schedule from UNC Chapel Hill and take on the position of Head Tennis Professional at the Hollow Rock Racquet & Swim Club in Durham. During his last two years at Hollow Rock, Dixon served as the part-time Assistant Tennis Coach for UNC Chapel Hill. Then in 1980, he decided to travel and play in the ATP American and European Satellite Tour. Teaching tennis proved to be Dixon’s true calling and he made his return to North Carolina to become the Director of Tennis for the Kildaire Farms Racquet & Swim Club. He began serving the dual role of General Manager and Tennis Director in 1988 and continues to hold this position today. Tommy Dixon is a tireless promoter for tennis and takes care in his daily efforts to teach to all those who have a desire to learn. Sharron Frahm moved to Greensboro twenty-five years ago from Virginia with a background in teaching tennis to juniors and adults as well as involvement with a local community tennis association. Once here, she carried forward her strong standpoint of advocacy for the promotion of tennis in the area. During the 1980s and 1990s, Frahm held several positions with the Greensboro Tennis Association (GTA), including the office of President. Frahm was integral in the development of many GTA programs and events: sanctioned junior tournaments, wheelchair tournaments and clinics, new divisions in the Greensboro City Tournament, and Special Olympic clinics. She has also served on the Sedgefield Country Club Tennis Committee for many years. Frahm has consistently ended the year with top rankings and currently holds 12 NC State Championship titles gathered over the course of her adult tennis career. As she has made the natural progression through the age divisions of tournament play, her peers have watched her consistently improve her game. Rightly so, she has been asked several times to represent North Carolina in the prestigious Southern Senior Cup, an event pitting the Southern Section’s top players in competition for their state team in various age divisions. Frahm has also been very involved with the popular Carolina Cup and has served as a captain for the Piedmont Region, an event serving as the state-level equivalent of the Southern Senior Cup.
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For those that know and love Sharron Frahm, her dedication to the game of tennis is an echoing theme that will continue on through all of the lives she has touched along the way. Fred West was an amazing tennis player able to play throughout his lifetime, but he was also an intense admirer of the game itself. West made many lasting social and academic contributions, writing several books concerning racial integration, religion and mental health. His outspoken views and support of integration were ahead of his time and he was adamant in sharing his love for the sport with everyone. West’s color blindness afforded him the opportunity to venture where few white men would go and play on Doctor Walter Johnson’s courts in Lynchburg, Virginia. Here he provided competition for the many African American youngsters Doc Johnson was coaching, including Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson. West has several notable accomplishments, including victories over former top ten players Hal Burrows and George Mangin. Over 1945-46, he competed in both the Men’s Singles and Doubles draws of the U.S. Open in Forest Hills. He collected numerous state titles in Virginia, Texas, West Virginia, and North Carolina. While a professor at Pfeiffer College, he coached the tennis team during the last part of his career and earned the 1969 NAIA Coach of the Year award. Perhaps what is remembered most about him was not his fierce competitive spirit or strategic wisdom, but rather the pure excitement he was unable to contain when he spoke about the sport. A knee operation later in life would not dampen his spirits as he shuffled around the court as best he could, losing to friends he had never lost to before. Once unable to play on a competitive level, he traveled to support friends as they played in various tournaments. Fred West’s induction is posthumous and will stand as an acknowledgment to his remarkable passion for tennis that he spread to his family, friends and fellow players.
The North Carolina Tennis Foundation supports organizations and programs that enhance the lives of people through tennis and education, and preserves the history of tennis in North Carolina. For more information please visit us www.nctennis.com/foundation. If you are interested in donating to the North Carolina Tennis Foundation, please call (336) 852-8577.
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