Member Spotlight: Julia “Judy” Ade Levering
Robbie Dimond
Julia "Judy" Ade Levering – A Tennis Legacy
Have you ever wondered about all those elegant and well-dressed folks who present the trophies and huge checks to the winners of the Grand Slams? Did you know that our own beloved senior champion Julia Ade Levering was the very first female President of the USTA and the first female on the International Tennis Federation Board? Judy has presented trophies to the Williams sisters, Jim Courier, John McEnroe, and many other champions at top tennis venues around the world during her years serving on the USTA Board. Judy has volunteered and served tennis for over 60 years starting with doing junior rankings for Middle States when her children were competing and then becoming President of the Middle States Lawn Tennis Association. [Yes, they used to put ‘Lawn’ in their name!] With her congenial manner and solid grasp of the sport, she was selected as the very top leader in the USTA from 1999-2000 and a member of the National Governing Board for ten years. Sources say she had a special talent for getting to the crux of the matter and solving problems smoothly. So, that graceful lady with the silver hair who we saw presenting the Open trophies to Venus in 1999 and Serena Williams in 2000 was our own tennis star: Judy Levering.
But Judy/Julia is not only a leader in the organizational aspects of tennis. She is a bona fide champion player with numerous USTA balls to her credit—most of which are silver ones that she has garnered over the years with her two daughters, Laura Athey and Julie Dodd. Including their son as well, tennis has been a family sport for the Leverings. Judy credits her husband, Gordon, with much of her success in the world tennis leadership arena; his support and actual assistance were crucial as they traveled the world together on behalf of tennis. The Levering duo traveled the globe promoting tennis from Zimbabwe to Canada; from Japan to Brazil; from Norway to Australia. Judy was especially known for her enthusiastic support of tennis and gracious representation of the United States Tennis Association.
I asked Judy some questions and her responses were so rich and detailed, that I decided to attach them here.
How did you get started playing tennis?
Brought up I was told that I had a mind and a body and was meant to exercise both. I grew up in Kansas City, MO across from a small park that had one tennis court. When I asked for tennis lessons, my father who was big on education told me to go up to the library and get a book on how to play tennis. Because this was before the trend to hit topspin, it explains why my game is mostly flat and/or slice. I would coax my brother, who was a great athlete, into hitting with me. Mostly, I used our garage door as a backboard with only six feet of hitting space which explains why I love to volley. A boyfriend entered me in a tournament which hooked me onto competition. Northwestern, where I went to college, did not have any women’s varsity teams, but I played in intramurals. There, I met and later married the most handsome baseball star and love of my life, Gordon, and moved to New Orleans. Along with spicy foods and great jazz, New Orleans had a super large backboard in City Park which became a great place to meet other players. This was the beginning of my belief that all communities should have a backboard where those who love tennis can hit when they don’t have someone to play with. My husband’s job with Armstrong Flooring moved us to eight different cities around the world; in all of them, I sought tennis opportunities such as on grass in England and indoors in Montreal. After our three children were born, I started them playing with a small racquet and a balloon.
What are the two most memorable or exciting tennis events you have been involved with?
From the time I was USTA’s First Vice President, I represented the USTA at the slams and Davis Cup and Fed Cup matches where Americans were playing with my husband and President Harry Marmion and his wife Pat. The USTA did not have all of the staff it has now and Pat and Gordon performed the tasks affiliated with these trips as volunteers. As President of a Grand Slam, you were automatically on the ITF Board and were expected to be at six of those meetings which took place anywhere in the world. These were in addition to the monthly USTA Board Meetings. Almost 70-80% of those years, we were either in the air or in hotels daily touching base with the USTA Executive Director whenever it was midmorning in NY. We traveled to Australia, France, England, Zimbabwe, Sweden, Brazil, Japan, Austria, etc. following the Fed Cup & Davis Cup, as well as all the slams.
This was a time when American tennis was at the top and almost always in the finals of Slams and Cups which makes it hard to pick out just two as the most memorable. The top Americans at the time included Sampras, Agassi, Courier, Todd Martin, Chang, Davenport, Seles, Venus, and Serena.
One I will never forget was the Davis Cup Match in Birmingham, England which had Rudseki and Henman playing for them. This was Easter weekend and the venue was packed with mostly English fans. As USTA President, I always had to sit with the rival team’s head official. In this match, that person was a tall, staid, and serious man whose title also contained “Sir.” This meant clapping politely for good points with no emotion shown for your team. After the first day, we were down 0-2. The next day we won the two doubles leaving only the last singles to decide the tie. Jim Courier won that after a very close match. Afterward, the team and the few of us who were for the US were going crazy with joy. I remembered saying to the team ‘JC’ has risen twice today! As I said earlier this was Easter Morning. I had never received such laughter before or since.
Another moment that was more humorous included John McEnroe when he was inducted into the International Hall of Fame in Newport, RI. This was during that period when John was very outspoken and often critical of the USTA. For some reason, he was very positive and extremely cordial to Gordon and me. When he accepted his induction, his speech went on at length thanking those whom he came across during his career. When he came to me, he looked over at those of us who were sitting on the court for the ceremony and said “Judy, you always reminded me of my mother!” As you may remember, his mother Kay had very light-colored blondish hair and I had gray hair when I first met John.
One of the most meaningful occasions for me was when as First VP, I was helpful in the naming of the newly built US Open main stadium at a board meeting. It came down to calling it the USTA Stadium which at that time the USTA was prone to do, selling the name to a corporation which was being done in other sports, or naming it after a player. The board wanted it to be a player but backed off after not being able to choose from those who had the best overall records. It became a long discussion with divided opinions and was late in the afternoon. President Harry Marmion postponed the vote until the next morning. I woke up in the middle of the night with what I thought was the perfect person whose name had not been suggested. Although his overall record was good, there were several with better. However, in my opinion, he was a Champion in Tennis as well as a Champion in Life! Arthur Ashe stood out for what he had done, donating his name and resources to sites and introducing underserved children to tennis. Charlie Passerall, businessman Sheridan Snyder, and Ashe founded The National Junior Tennis League. One of my board's highest achievements was starting the USTA Foundation and then later having the NJTL as a subsidiary of that Foundation.
I used to like to walk around the grounds during the US Open to get a feel for the overall event. I had so many people I did not know come up to me and ask where Arthur's sculpture was. Board Member Michael Ainslie [Sotheby’s] suggested we should commission one to be done. When we were reminded of the additional cost of that beyond what we had just spent on the stadium itself, Michael volunteered to raise that money, and he did. There is a plaque on the wall at the base of the statue with the names of those who contributed.
We had quite a controversy over the sculpture because it didn’t look like Arthur was mostly nude. I tried to explain that the New York artist, Eric Fischel meant it to represent his spirit reaching for the stars with the goal of helping others. If the figure had been clothed and with a racquet in his hand, it would have dated the sculpture. We wanted something that would stand the test of time and always convey his spirit.
What is the best memory you have from being President of the USTA? What years were you President?
I served on the USTA National Board of Directors for 10 years overall and on the USTA Foundation for decades until 2023. My term of office as President was 1999-2000. I was proud to be the first female in this position and the first to become a member of the International Tennis Federation Board. However, I felt as if I had four years because Harry Marmion told me when I was VP that I could work on whatever I felt strongly about and he would support me. He was going to be preoccupied with the stadium being built and its opening. One of the things I had observed was the number of separate organizations having to do with tennis in the US. I also realized that one of the strategic goals of the USTA was to grow participation in tennis which would benefit all of those organizations. However, they never met together to help work on this goal or contribute the money it would take to grow the game. So we formed a committee with representatives from each which included the ATP, the WTA, USPTA, USPTR, Equipment Manufacturers, Officials, Court Builders, Racquet Stringer, etc. and called it ‘The Plan For Growth.’ Each made a monetary or service contribution. It created a synergy amongst them that had not been there.
Since the USTA Nominating Committee instituted the idea that the person chosen as First VP would use that position as training to become the next President, Harry also thought it was important that the rest of the tennis world knew that there was a woman who would in two years be President of a Grand Slam Country’s Tennis Association for the first time. So he made sure I was present at all of the top tournaments, the Slams, and the Davis and Fed Cup matches. Also the President then almost automatically became a VP of the International Tennis Federation which met six times a year almost anywhere in the world where there was a tennis association. Again, I was the only woman on the ITF Board and the first except for Betty Stove, who had been for one year and then quit because she had no time as a player to attend meetings. Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, and the WTA had a training camp for players and included me in their program to advance women in tennis roles as players and leaders.
Hiring Arlen Kantarian to head Pro Tennis was a game changer in several ways. The tax laws governing 501(c)(6) charitable organizations, which the USTA is, changed the restrictions on how much money could be paid to an employee and still maintain their 501(c)(6) status. It was recognized that these organizations needed to pay more to find employees capable of helping them grow. Sports and Entertainment were becoming one and Arlen was able to add entertainment components to the US Open without interrupting or taking away from the tennis being played on the courts. The then Executive Director Rick Ferman and I worked together on that hire. This was one of many times when Rick, our top staff person, and I as a volunteer President worked closely together. At our Board Meetings, which were often two and a half days, we would always take two hours for lunch and play tennis returning to the meeting room much more refreshed. The staff was always able to find us courts nearby and the members were more alert in the afternoon and it showed in the discussions and decisions we made.
My biggest reward from being President was when two other women became President. I felt pressure to do a good job so the association wouldn’t think having a woman in that position was a ‘one-off. ‘
Tell us about your Mother/Daughter tennis achievements.
Playing with Julie [Dodd] and Laura [Athey] was a highlight of my tennis. We won many silver balls and had a wonderful time at Mother–Daughter events around the nation. My 5.0 team from the Middle States in 1977 (we were living in Lancaster, PA) won the first national USTA league championship! My daughters are still tennis champions and all of us have been often selected for the elite East Coast Addie Cup Team competition.
Any words of advice for those who want to make a lasting contribution to tennis?
I certainly never thought I would become President of the USTA. Perhaps it was because there had never been a woman in that position. I just knew that of all the playing events I was a part of, I could see how true success for this great sport required many volunteers in addition to paid staff. My only advice is to raise your hand when you see an opportunity to volunteer. There are many opportunities to do that. Helping out locally can lead to District and Sectional opportunities and those to National. When my children were young, my first volunteer job was keeping records of Junior results which I did on 3x5 cards in a file box (this was before computers). Then suddenly, I became the President of Middle States Tennis and beyond. Thus, helping things to be better can be very rewarding when you are around the sport that you love.