EL MONTE MEN'S TENNIS TEAM CROWNED NATIONAL CHAMPIONS AT USTA LEAGUE ADULT 55 & OVER 7.0 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS TOURNAMEN

The men’s tennis team from El Monte, Calif., representing the USTA Southern California Section, captured the national title at the USTA League Adult 55 & Over 7.0 National Championships held at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz.

The El Monte team defeated a team from Mesa, Ariz., 2-1 in the championship match. Earlier in the day, the El Monte team defeated a team from Castro Valley, Calif., 3-0 in the semifinals. The El Monte team advanced this far by winning their round-robin flight contested Friday and Saturday.

The team is captained by Michael Lutz-Paap (resident of West Covina, Calif.), also features Andy Chang (Arcadia, Calif.), Baltazar Valdez Dasalla (Los Angeles), Julio Javier Romo Insuasty (Temple City, Calif.), Mello Loreto (Anaheim, Calif.), Alfredo Sabillo (Stanton, Calif.), Brian Chan (Walnut, Calif.), Sixto Ramin (Azusa, Calif.), Richard Garcia (Whittier, Calif.) and Gerald Hernandez (Pasadena, Calif.), and plays at the Whittier Narrows Tennis Center.

Established in 1980, USTA League has grown from 13,000 participants in a few parts of the country in its first year to more than 865,000 players across the nation today, making it the world’s largest recreational tennis league.

USTA League was established to provide adult recreational tennis players throughout the country with the opportunity to compete against players of similar ability levels. Players participate on teams in a league format, which is administered by the USTA through its 17 sections. The league groups players by using six National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) levels, ranging from 2.5 (entry) to 5.0 (advanced). USTA League is open to any USTA member 18 years of age or older.

The 2015 USTA League season will be the third season with the updated structure and format which offers four age categories (Adult 18 & Over, Adult 40 & Over and Adult 55 & Over and Mixed 18 & Over) to better align participants with players their own age. A fifth age division, the Mixed 40 & Over division, was added last year. The restructuring guarantees more frequency of play opportunities at more appropriate age groups.

Head Penn Racquet Sports is in its 28th year as official ball of USTA League.

For more information about USTA League or the USTA, visit www.usta.com.

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The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 715,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series, linking eight summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships and helps under-resourced youth and individuals with disabilities, and supports wounded, ill and injured service members, veterans and their families. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page, facebook.com/usta, or follow @usta on Twitter. For more information about USTA League or the USTA, visit www.usta.com.