TicketsCINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati tennis team's annual fall invitational has been renamed the UC Tennis Pam Whitehead Fall Invitational, Bearcats head coach Eric Toth announced today. Whitehead, a former standout with the program and active member of the Greater Cincinnati tennis community, passed away in August 2017. This year's event will be held October 26 and 27.
Whitehead was a former student-athlete at UC and was well-known across the tennis community in Greater Cincinnati. Beyond her career at UC, she competed almost annually in the Greater Cincinnati Indoor Tennis Association Interclub league and the Thomas E. Price Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Tournament.
Whitehead still holds many records in the Bearcats record books. She currently holds the program record for doubles wins in a season with 25 and is second in career doubles victories with 69. She ranks among the program's top performers in career victories in singles play with 58, is among the Top 10 for combined wins in a season with 44 and stands fourth in program history for career combined wins with 127. Whitehead won the women's doubles title in the 1995 Thomas E. Price Metropolitan Tennis Tournament and was a six-time doubles finalist.
Whitehead's influence in the community went beyond the court as she was a private business owner involved in the sports medicine field. She worked closely with area universities (including UC) and local professional sports teams serving their respective teams' sports medicine needs. Whitehead was also responsible for pioneering the collaboration of the largest group of national female orthopedic surgeons together as they shared ideas on the latest trends in the sports medicine field.
Whitehead was seen as someone who encouraged others, particularly women, to not just exist in their career, but to be leaders in their field. She defined what is meant to be a successful a student-athlete and to be a success far beyond her years in the classroom and on the court.
// FROM COACH TOTH
"Our Fall Invitational is an annual event and starting this year moving forward it will be played in honor of Pam Whitehead. Pam excelled as a student-athlete at UC in the early 1980's. Pam is one of the best doubles players to date in our program's history. Her competitiveness and drive to be great in anything she involved herself in, whether it was as competitor on the court or as a successful business owner, are qualities all of our current student-athletes should embody as their own. Pam left this world way too soon, but our annual Invitational will offer as a fitting tribute to someone who influenced her beloved alma mater and also the tennis community in and around Cincinnati in such a positive way during her time with us all. It is an honor to name our Fall Invitational in her name and a wonderful tribute to the whole Whitehead family, which includes her daughter, MacKenzie, who is currently a sophomore in the Lindner Honors-PLUS program at UC."
// FOLLOW THE TEAM
Stay connected with UC women's tennis on Facebook (GoBearcatsWTEN), Twitter (@GoBearcatsWTEN) and Instagram (GoBearcatsWTEN).
Whitehead was a former student-athlete at UC and was well-known across the tennis community in Greater Cincinnati. Beyond her career at UC, she competed almost annually in the Greater Cincinnati Indoor Tennis Association Interclub league and the Thomas E. Price Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Tournament.
Whitehead still holds many records in the Bearcats record books. She currently holds the program record for doubles wins in a season with 25 and is second in career doubles victories with 69. She ranks among the program's top performers in career victories in singles play with 58, is among the Top 10 for combined wins in a season with 44 and stands fourth in program history for career combined wins with 127. Whitehead won the women's doubles title in the 1995 Thomas E. Price Metropolitan Tennis Tournament and was a six-time doubles finalist.
Whitehead's influence in the community went beyond the court as she was a private business owner involved in the sports medicine field. She worked closely with area universities (including UC) and local professional sports teams serving their respective teams' sports medicine needs. Whitehead was also responsible for pioneering the collaboration of the largest group of national female orthopedic surgeons together as they shared ideas on the latest trends in the sports medicine field.
Whitehead was seen as someone who encouraged others, particularly women, to not just exist in their career, but to be leaders in their field. She defined what is meant to be a successful a student-athlete and to be a success far beyond her years in the classroom and on the court.
// FROM COACH TOTH
"Our Fall Invitational is an annual event and starting this year moving forward it will be played in honor of Pam Whitehead. Pam excelled as a student-athlete at UC in the early 1980's. Pam is one of the best doubles players to date in our program's history. Her competitiveness and drive to be great in anything she involved herself in, whether it was as competitor on the court or as a successful business owner, are qualities all of our current student-athletes should embody as their own. Pam left this world way too soon, but our annual Invitational will offer as a fitting tribute to someone who influenced her beloved alma mater and also the tennis community in and around Cincinnati in such a positive way during her time with us all. It is an honor to name our Fall Invitational in her name and a wonderful tribute to the whole Whitehead family, which includes her daughter, MacKenzie, who is currently a sophomore in the Lindner Honors-PLUS program at UC."
// FOLLOW THE TEAM
Stay connected with UC women's tennis on Facebook (GoBearcatsWTEN), Twitter (@GoBearcatsWTEN) and Instagram (GoBearcatsWTEN).