Belton Hosting 39th Chick-fil-A of Anderson Hall of Fame Classic

Belton to Host 39th Chick-fil-A of Anderson Hall of Fame Classic on September 27-28

Each year in late September or early October since 1987, Belton Tennis has hosted the Chick-fil-A of Anderson Hall of Fame Classic. This year’s tournament will be played September 27-28 and feature Belton-Honea Path and 7 of the state’s top girls tennis teams. Six of the eight teams were 2024 region champions, and the other two were runners-up.

Every team won at least one round in the state playoffs. Two teams won three or four rounds and were upper or lower state champions.

This year's tournament field includes:

·     T. L. Hanna (Region 1AAAAA Champion and AAAAA Division 2 Upper State Champion; finished 24-2)

·     A. C. Flora (Region 3AAAA Champions and AAAA Upper State Champion; finished 22-1)

·     Waccamaw (Region Champion and AAA Lower State Finalist)

·     Daniel (Region 4AAAA Champion and AAAA Upper State Finalist; finished 14-2)

·     Belton-Honea Path (Region 2AAA Champion and finished 14-3)

·     J. L. Mann (Finished 12-5 and won 2 playoff rounds)

·     Chapin (Won 1 playoff round)

·     Greenville (Won 1 playoff round and finished 12-2)

Last year’s tournament was the weekend after Hurricane Helene, and schools in Greenville and Spartanburg counties suspended all academic and athletic events the remainder of the week. This eliminated four schools (Greenville, Riverside, J. L. Mann and Spartanburg), so the tournament was played with four teams (BHP, T. L. Hanna, Daniel and A. C. Flora).

T. L. Hanna was undefeated in team competition to win the championship. It was their fourth team title, including the inaugural tournament in 1987. They also won back-to-back team titles in 2012 and 2013. Three T. L. Hanna singles players and both doubles teams won flight championships.

All four schools were awarded the team sportsmanship award. The 2024 flight champions included:

·     #1 Singles-Emery Tripamer, T. L. Hanna

·     #2 Singles-Emily Smith, A. C. Flora

·     #3 Singles-Sarah Yaekoub, T. L. Hanna

·     #4 Singles-Lauren Yaekoub, T. L. Hanna

·     #5 Singles-Julie Wolin, Daniel

·     #1 Doubles-Tripamer and S. Yaekoub, T. L. Hanna

·     #2 Doubles-Hope Johnson and Mari Drake Venturella, T. L. Hanna

Tournament Director, Rex Maynard, who founded the tournament had this to say: “We’re excited about this year’s field and expect some very competitive matches. Every school had an excellent 2024 season and they all have great coaches and a tradition of fielding strong teams year-after-year. Since we played flighted draws and players earn team points with win, several teams can win the championship. T. L. Hanna returns most of their 2024 roster and will be a strong defending champion.”

A Legacy of Outstanding Tennis Talent

“We started this tournament in 1987 when my two girls were playing high school tennis.  The South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame had been opened in the Belton Depot in 1983, and I wanted to something special to recognize that, so that’s where the tournament got it’s name. I also wanted the BHP girls to have an opportunity to play strong competition toward the end of the season to help them prepare for the playoffs. I didn’t expect we’d still be doing it 39 years later, but it’s been such a special event and so much fun, we just kept doing it! We’re proud to have hosted the best of South Carolina high school girls tennis for so many years. When we started we invited top teams from all over the state, including the state champions in each division.

This statewide invitational has included coastal schools like Myrtle Beach, Bishop England, Wando and Socastee.  As a matter of fact, Myrtle Beach holds the record for the most team titles with 8. It was such a long trip for them, we began focusing more on teams from Columbia and the upstate around 2008. This year we’re excited to have Waccamaw competing. They contacted me last year and asked to be invited if we had a spot, so they are our first coastal team in almost 20 years. The coaches who’ve brought teams here are a ‘who’s-who’ list, including Rivers Lynch (Myrtle Beach), Patricia Owens (Bishop England), Bill Porter and Suzanne Gray (Irmo), Sherry Adams (Christ Church), Rob Spencer (T. L. Hanna) and Amy Martin (A. C. Flora), to name a few. 

“The players and the coaches are the key part of the tournament, but we couldn’t do it without the support of Chick-fil-A of Anderson. They are a great partner and support our tournaments and events throughout the year, including the Palmetto Championships, which are played over Memorial Day weekend.”

Longevity and Tradition

“The Hall of Fame Classic has a proud tradition with many of the state’s top junior players winning individual titles. Every individual winner, team champion, and team sportsmanship recipient has their names on the fence at the Belton Tennis Center. As I mentioned, Myrtle Beach has won 8 team titles, followed by Christ Church with 7, T. L. Hanna with 4, and Irmo, Bishop England and J. L. Mann each winning 3 times. Of course BHP has played in the tournament every year but one followed by Clinton’s 29 years and Christ Church’s 23 years.”

Matches will begin at 9:30 Saturday at the Belton Tennis Center and Leda Poore Park and continue throughout the day. Alternate matches will be played at BHP High School. The tournament continues at 8:30 Sunday morning and should finish by 3:30.

Pictures courtesy of Rex Maynard:

#1: Emery Tripamer and Sarah Yaekoub (T. L. Hanna)-#1 and #3 Singles and #1 Doubles champions.

#2: Emily Smith (A. C. Flora)-#2 Singles champion

#3: T. L. Hanna Yellowjackets with the Hall of Fame Classic team trophy