Cindy Prendergast Receives the Charlotte Lee Sportsmanship Award
Charlotte Lee was a national champion in the women’s and mixed draws in the 1960s and 1970s. She was known as a fierce but unfailingly fair competitor on the court, and an ambassador of the game. The Charlotte Lee Sportsmanship Award is given yearly to the woman who displays the most sportsmanlike conduct on and off the court during the season. In that spirit, Cindy Prendergast was chosen as the recipient of the award by the APTA Women’s Players Committee.
Prendergast responded: “Thanks to my paddle peers for this award. I’ve been playing paddle for a long, long time and feel so fortunate to have been surrounded by such a fun, gracious, and competitive group of ladies. The good news is that the game of paddle keeps evolving yet the integrity of the player remains the same. I am so grateful for this sport.”
Prendergast won the APTA Women’s Nationals four times (three times with Lauren Zink and once with Hall-of-Famer Patty Hogan) and has been a finalist ten times. She also holds a Senior Nationals gold in the Women’s 40+.
Charlotte Lee Sportsmanship Award Winners:
1980 Wendy W. Chase
1981 Pat Butterfield
1983 Fay Gambee
1984 Lassie S. Ford
1985 Diane Straus Tucker
1986 Jane B. Fleming
1988 Patty Hogan
1989 Nancy Mangan
1991 Bunny Vosters
2013 Heather Prop
Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 15, Issue 5 April/May, 2014