Prowess on the courts

MICHELLE DODEK

It’s not every day we read about a Canadian Jewish woman reaching the pinnacle of competitive sport. And Shiera Stuart’s story is even more unique.

Stuart’s career began when she was 10 years old, and saw her through an NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) tennis scholarship, all the way to winning the 2010 Senior National Amateur Women’s Tennis Championships in both singles and doubles at the age of 37 this summer.

This year’s nationals, which were held in Vancouver, saw Stuart play doubles with a woman who, not incidentally, she had only ever battled against in singles matches. On Aug. 27, Stuart and Margit Aardma became the doubles champs, defeating their competition over a grueling week of tennis battles and then, the very next day, they played against each other on the singles court for that championship.

“I kept thinking that I had to leave it all on the court, and I did,” said Stuart of the huge effort she made, with the last few years being plagued by injury. “I looked ridiculous on the court. I had a knee brace and an ankle brace and my thigh was taped!”

Stuart has had a lengthy and successful career. Laughing at the memory of winning her first trophy, she said it was her father who wanted athletes in the family and he began by feeding her tennis balls at the Richmond Country Club as a girl. Three years later, her sister, Yael, got into the game as well.

As they grew up, both sisters, four years apart in age, traveled all over North America to compete in various tournaments, requiring a great deal of parental coordination, especially after Stuart’s parents divorced and her father remarried. “The three of them get along really well,” said Stuart. “I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they had to speak to each other every day when I was growing up to coordinate their schedules around mine and Yaeli’s tennis. They were so busy helping us, they had to get along and they always attended every local tournament together to cheer us on.”

Of her most memorable wins, Stuart said that, although winning the nationals was a huge highlight, one of her most special competitions was the 1997 Maccabi Games. It is the only time she has ever been to Israel and she went there with her sister, who was also representing Canada in tennis. In Israel, it took Stuart six rounds to get to the singles bronze medal match, which she won.

She also played doubles with her sister in those games, but admitted that the family dynamics and both of their Type-A personalities get in the way of them being good doubles partners. But that drive took Stuart to the finals in the biggest amateur tennis tournament in the world, the Stanley Park Open, in 2000, though the outcome was not as she imagined it would be.

“It was a really close match,” she recalled. “I lost 6-4 in the third set to Yael and I was so upset! I’ve never won that tournament.”

Stuart’s tennis prowess sent her on a full scholarship (tuition, books, room and board, and travel) to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she studied business and earned a bachelor of commerce degree. She traveled to at least 40 states during her undergraduate years to play tennis. When she returned to Vancouver, she did an MBA and is now the Western Canada representative in government relations and public policy for the German company Bayer.

Stuart continues to play tennis, competing in the provincials and other tournaments until her big win this summer. Although her win at the nationals qualifies her to travel and compete in February in New Zealand at the worlds, she is not particularly interested. With a busy career involving many weeks of travel, as well as the many injuries she’s incurred over the years, Stuart doesn’t feel the need to continue serious competition. She is a member at Richmond Country Club and enjoys playing there. She said she will continue to enjoy burning off some energy on the courts whenever she has the chance. However, with her recent wins, the question could be asked: What more could one want from a career of amateur tennis than a double gold medal at the national level?

Michelle Dodek is a Vancouver freelance writer.

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