Columbia, SC
Inducted December 2004
ANN SWEENY WAS BORN IN BEL AIR, MD, MOVED TO HOMESTEAD, FL IN 1961, TO LEXINGTON, VA IN 1963 AND THEN TO COLUMBIA, SC IN 1978. SHE STARTED PLAYING TENNIS IN 1961 BUT DIDN’T COMPETE UNTIL SHE MOVED TO COLUMBIA, SWEENY PLAYED HER FIRST TOURNAMENT IN 1978 AGAINST BETSY MCCOLL. SINCE THEN SHE HAS BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN STATE, SECTIONAL AND NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS, SOUTHERN SENIOR CUP, INTERSECTIONALS AND LEAGUE TENNIS.
SWEENY HAS WON MORE THAN 60 STATE TITLES AND HELD A #1 RANKING IN EVERY AGE GROUP FROM 45s TO 65s. IN 2003, SHE WON SINGLES, DOUBLES AND TWO MIXED DOUBLES TITLES AND FINISHED THE YEAR WITHOUT A LOSS IN DOUBLES AND MIXED DOUBLES IN THE STATE.
SWEENY ALSO HAS WON MORE THAN 50 SOUTHERN SECTION TITLES. SHE HELD A #1 SOUTHERN RANKING IN THE AGE GROUPS OF THE 50s TO 65s. IN 2001, SHE WAS RANKED #1 IN SINGLES, DOUBLES AND MIXED DOUBLES, HAVING WON FIVE SOUTHERN TITLES THAT YEAR. IN 2002, SHE HAD A GOLDEN SET (NOT LOSING A POINT) IN THE SOUTHERN HARDCOURTS IN AGUSTA, GA, PLAYING WITH JACK MCGINN.
SWEENY HAS BEEN PLAYING NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS SINCE 1987, WINNING THE DOUBLES CONSOLATION THE FIRST YEAR AND FINISHING THIRD IN ONE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP THE FOLLOWING YEAR. HER HIGHEST NATIONAL RANKING WAS #5 IN DOUBLES AND #16 IN SINGLES. SHE HAS BEEN RANKED IN THE TOP 10 IN DOUBLES FOUR TIMES, ONCE IN THE 55s, TWICE IN THE 60s AND ONCE IN THE 65s. IN SINGLES, SHE HAS BEEN RANKED IN THE TOP 25 THREE TIMES – ONCE EACH IN THE 55s, 60s AND 65s.
IN 1996, SWEENY PLAYED ON THE WINNING SOUTHERN TEAM IN THE USTA 60s NATIONAL INTERSECTIONAL TEAM DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIPS.
SWEENY HAS SUPPORTED LEAGUE TENNIS SINCE ITS BEGINNING IN 1980. SHE HAS ADVANCED TO THE SECTIONAL PLAYOFFS SIX TIMES AND IN 1985 CAPTAINED THE 4.5 TEAM THAT WENT TO THE NATIONALS AND WON THE CONSOLATION ROUND. UNTIL AN INJURY THIS YEAR, ANN CONTINUED TO PLAY IN THE WOMEN’S, MIXED AND SUPER SENIORS LEAGUES.
SWEENY HAS REPRESENTED THE SOUTHERN SECTION AT THE NATIONAL INTERSECTIONALS FOR 11 YEARS. SHE HAS BEEN A MEMBER OF THE SC SENIOR CUP TEAM FOR 16 YEARS.
AMONG ANN’S OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS AND INVOLVEMENTS:
- LINESPERSON AND MONITOR AT STATE AND SOUTHERN TOURNAMENTS 1979-81
- THE FIRST FEMALE LEAGUE VERIFIER, TRAVELING SC FROM 1980-84 VERIFYING PLAYERS IN ORDER TO GET LEAGUES STARTED
- TREASURER OF THE COLUMBIA TENNIS LEAGUE (CTL) FROM 1986-89. DURING THESE YEARS SHE ALSO WAS A MEMBER OF THE CTL GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE.
- JUNIOR TENNIS LEAGUE COACH 1979-80
- TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE MEMBER FOR THE SAM DANIELS TOURNAMENT 1986-96
- MEMBER OF THE TOURNAMENT COMMITTEE FOR THE SC HARDCOURTS 1986-94
- CHAIRMAN OF THE ROCKBRIDGE AUTUMN CLASSIC FOR 15 YEARS, DURING WHICH TIME THE TOURNAMENT WON “TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR” HONORS TWICE. PLAYERS CAME FROM 12 STATES TO COMPETE.
- SOUTH CAROLINA TENNIS BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND ADULT TENNIS COUNCIL MEMBER 1983 AND 1984
- ORGANIZED ROCKBRIDGE TENNIS CLUB MEMBERS TO PREPARE THE BULK MAILING OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA TENNIS MAGAZINE FOR TWO YEARS. FOR THIS THE WOMEN OF ROCKBRIDGE WON THE 1986 TENNIS ASSOCIATION SERVICE AWARD
- ORGANIZED ROCKBRIDGE TENNIS CLUB’S WOMEN TO PROVIDE AND SERVE LUNCH FOUR DAYS FOR THE BOY’S 18s INTERSECTIONALS. ROCKBRIDGE WON “CLUB OF THE YEAR” FOR THAT EFFORT.
- CHAIRMAN OF THE SC SENIOR CUP IN 1994 AND 1995. IN THAT CAPACITY, SHE INITIATED AN OFFICIAL SELECTION COMMITTEE, A HOSPITALITY SUITE FOR PLAYERS AND A WELCOME PARTY, WHICH WAS ENVIED BY OTHER STATES AND OFTEN “CRASHED.”
- SINCE 1996, A MEMBER OF THE SC SENIOR CUP SELECTION COMMITTEE
- IN 2003, SWEENY SUCCESSFULLY LED THE DRIVE TO SECURE A CARDIAC DEFIBRILLATOR AT ROCKBRIDGE
- SHE WILLINGLY ASSISTS USTA SC STAFF WHEN ASKED WITH VARIOUS PROJECTS INCLUDING:
- PREPARATION OF MASS MAILINGS
- ORGANIZATION OF MATERIALS FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING
- ASSISTANCE WITH ANNUAL MEETING REGISTRATION AND NUMEROUS OTHER VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES
TENNIS IN SOUTH CAROLINA HAS GROWN AND PROSPERED IN NO SMALL PART BECAUSE OF THE DEDICATION ANN SWEENY HAS BROUGHT TO THE GAME. HER SERVICE TO USTA SOUTH CAROLINA, HER INITIATIVE IN FINDING WAYS TO PROMOTE THE GAME, HER PLAYER RECORD AND MOST OF ALL HER SPIRIT AND ENTHUSIASM AS A ROLE MODEL FOR FUTURE PLAYERS HAVE HAD A MAJOR IMACT ON SOUTH CAROLINA PLAYERS OF ALL AGES AND LEVELS.
SWEENY’S HUSBAND TED DIED IN 2000. SHE HAS THREE SONS, SIX GRANDCHILDREN AND THREE GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN.
