As an Officer of the WYOTA board and close friend of Julia Fenn, I (Jesse Chavez) want to congratulate her on winning the 2016 ITA Nikos Ridle Award! This is a very distinguished award and very well deserved! She was the only Wyoming resident to receive an ITA award this year!
For those of you who do not know Julia or the Fenn family, they are the most genuine people you will ever meet! If they had one dollar left and you wanted a drink for a dollar, they wouldn’t think twice about giving it to you! Without the love and support Julia received from her mom and dad throughout her tennis career, she wouldn’t be the powerhouse in Wyoming tennis that she is today! I’ve personally had the pleasure of playing mixed doubles with Julia on numerous occasions, and you would never know if we were winning or losing because their was never a moment where Julia got mad, or upset. She was just out there for the game, for the camaraderie, and for the desire to make the game a better place! Julia has played junior tournaments, Team Wyoming, Team Montana, adult tournaments, and never once have I heard her say no to play tennis with anyone! She is currently rated a 5.0, which is VERY impressive for Wyoming, and she doesn’t care if you’re a 4.5 guy from Colorado, or a brand new player to the game, she will get out on the courts with you if you ask. That’s the kind of person she is! A lot of people think she is unbeatable, but I have actually seen Julia lose a match (which is far and in between) but she came off the court and I had never seen her lose before, so I was interested to see her reaction. She ran off the court smiling to her mom and I and said, “Man that was so much fun! Did you see how good she was?” It was at that point I knew Julia was a gift to the Wyoming tennis community! Enough about my personal experiences with her, looking into some of her statistics to further show her tennis prowess! Her four year high school career, she won the Wyoming State Championship all four years and only dropped 10 games in the entire state championships!
Freshman Year (2012) – 3 games
; Sophomore Year (2013) – 2 games
  Junior Year (2014) – 4 games
Senior Year (2015) – 1 game
Julia has touched the hearts of many in the entire Intermountain region, from Montana to Colorado, and from Wyoming to Nevada and all in between! Adults and juniors alike should all aspire to have your humility, you integrity, and your passion and love for the game! Congratulations Julia! No one deserves this more than you! You’re making Wyoming Proud!