If you’ve been on the tennis scene in the neighbourhood over the past 30 years, chances are you know Rita Lee.
This hyper-energetic volunteer has been the face of both the Leaside and Thorncliffe Park tennis clubs as well as a presence in the tennis world beyond our local borders.
Her foray into the tennis world began as a player in her adult years in the late 1980s. But being a player became only a part of her life in the sport. She has been tireless in her efforts, with volunteer positions almost too many to count.
Lee was president of the Thorncliffe Park Tennis Club from 1989 to 2009 and has sat on their board each of those years and every year since. She began volunteering with the Leaside Tennis Club in 2008 and was club president from 2010 to 2020. She was the director of the Junior League for Tennis Toronto from 2004 to 2012.
Lee has also volunteered with the Ontario Tennis Association for almost 30 years. Among her many volunteer positions is a key presence at the Canadian Open Tennis Tournament for over 20 years.
She sat on a tennis policy committee with the City of Toronto and was a founding member of the Leaside Sports Hall of Fame, serving on their board for five years.
At one point, in fact, she sat on five boards concurrently!
But wait. There’s more to this tireless volunteer.
Lee finds immense joy in working with and for children. She ran the Tennis Pathways program for two years. Thanks to her efforts, more than 700 kids at Thorncliffe Park School received free rackets and lessons at the Thorncliffe Club.
She has also volunteered with Philpott Children’s Tennis, which, for the past 30 years, has provided free tennis programming to over 4,000 kids and families across 16 priority neighbourhoods in Toronto.
“To me,” notes Lee, “that’s why I volunteer. I see the smile on kids’ faces and the happiness of people working for a cause.”
No surprise, Lee has been recognized with multiple awards, including Volunteer of the Year twice by the Ontario Tennis Association (OTA), the OTA’s Bruce Childs Award recognizing volunteers who have made outstanding contributions to their community tennis clubs, the Leaside Tennis Club Honorary Lifetime Membership Award and the OTA’s highest honour, the Distinguished Tennis Award.
The OTA praised Lee, noting that “her positive attitude encourages others to work with her to promote the sport of tennis in Toronto.”
Since 2020, she has been the general manager of the Leaside Tennis Club. She’s truly done it all, but her game’s not done!
