Mimi Kennell TOURNAMENT HIGHLIGHTS - PMAG/Creative Energy Women's Night Doubles 2012

1 year ago
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The PMAG / Creative Energy Women's Night Doubles
Kailua Racquet Club, Kailua, HI (Oahu)
November, 2012

Player Feature:
Mimi Kennell

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For those of you new to Hawaii Tennis, certain individuals in the game have made a great impact in helping shape the sport in their community. This is most accurate regarding Mimi Kennell, former Director of Junior Tennis for the United States Tennis Association Hawaii Pacific Section.

Originally born in Taiwan, Mimi's love for tennis started in her youth. She rose to become the top Taiwanese junior player & later the 3rd best open level player for her country. Her competitive years were highlighted by playing on the WTA Pro Tour as well as helping Brigham Young University Hawaii (BYUH) earn a division 2 college tennis national team championship in 1997.
After her playing career, Mimi focused on coaching & soon became what she is well known for today: Mentoring the next generation of the game! She coached junior tennis at Kamehameha Schools, Iolani School, Pearl Harbor, & most recently for the USTA Play to Learn program. In 2006, she began her tenure serving as the USTA Hawaii Pacific Section Director of Junior Tennis.

Mimi had a hand in helping many junior players along the way in their tennis journeys. Lots of them competed in a range of levels from Junior Team Tennis to USTA Junior tournaments, high school varsity tennis, & even collegiate & professional wheelchair tennis (Shelby Baron). Every weekend, you'd find her either presenting trophies to top finishers at a USTA L4 or guiding her Jtt kid's team through the ups & downs of learning to compete. Mimi was involved in virtually every level of the game in Hawaii & many would say her standout qualities were her kindness & patience when helping kids.

In 2022, Mimi was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, which lead her to traveling back to her home country of Taiwan to be around family during this challenge time in her life. Even dealing with a tough situation, she continued to be involved with junior tennis in Hawaii. She helped organize the Fall Jtt & Jtt for Kids regular seasons as well as helped create & manage junior tournaments at a variety of levels. Despite her health, Mimi put others first before herself which is a true showing of how big of a heart she had for the kids in Hawaii.
In November 2022, Mimi Kennell passed away at the age of 48 years old surrounded by her family in Taiwan. Lots of people would say to this day that she had done so much for juniors in Hawaii that her legacy will for sure live on in the hearts of all that she had touched.

Thank you Mimi! :-)

Check out highlights of Mimi Kennell mentoring then Hawaii junior Cori Cummings & competing in the 2012 Kailua Women's Night Doubles tournament!
#TennisNinja #ThankYouMimi #CummingsKennell #WomensNightDoubles

Here are some sources related to this match!

Mimi Kennell USTA Hawaii Pacific Section Staff Page:
https://www.ustahawaii.com/staff

Mimi's GoFundMe Page (Donate to the Kennell Ohana):
https://www.gofundme.com/f/mimi-kennell

Mimi Kennell Tribute Video by Pearlridge Tigers Jtt coach Mike Shima:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op3GDf2fkFc

2nd Tribute video by Coach Mike Shima:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX4Pn7vqUIY

2012 PMAG/Creative Energy Women's Night Doubles tournament Draw:
https://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=134570#&&s=7Draws3

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