Eleanor Cole Sportsmanship Award
Each season the OPWTC honors a member who exemplifies good sportsmanship. This award is named after Eleanor Cole, who not only was an avid tennis player, but the first and only woman to coach men's and women's tennis at the same time at San Joaquin Delta College. She was such a tennis enthusiast that Eleanor often wore her sweat pants and tennis shoes under her choir robes at the Central Methodist church because she had either just finished a match or was headed to the courts to play after church. Eleanor competed in tennis as long as she could and won the California State 60's+ women's singles title in 1981. That same year she was ranked number one in women's singles and doubles in Northern California for 60+. She was also president of the NorCal Senior Tennis Players Association from 1980-1982.
Eleanor established the Eleanor Cole Tennis Scholarship in 1981. She provided additional funds for scholarships in her will upon her death in 1984. When she was inducted into the Stockton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, a fellow tennis player spoke of her, "We will always remember her beautiful smile, her kind personality, and her love of the game."
Eleanor established the Eleanor Cole Tennis Scholarship in 1981. She provided additional funds for scholarships in her will upon her death in 1984. When she was inducted into the Stockton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993, a fellow tennis player spoke of her, "We will always remember her beautiful smile, her kind personality, and her love of the game."
