At our annual banquet at Guadalajara's Restaurant on December 14, 2019 the Spearfish Tennis Association inducted Maury Etem and Dick Hicks as the first members of the Spearfish Tennis Association Hall of Fame.

Pat Salcone, an STA board member, introduced Maury and presented him with a certificate inducting him into the STA Hall of Fame.
Kent Meyers, an STA board member, presented Dick's wife, Rita, with Dick's certificate.

Maury Etem

Maury Etem grew up in Lead. Though he left the area to work in the aerospace industry, he returned after retirement. He and his wife Patti settled in Spearfish, where both of them became active in tennis. Maury started the Spearfish Tennis Association after recognizing the need for an organization to coordinate tennis activities, and was its first president. He was instrumental in establishing tennis as a varsity sport in the high school and volunteered for several years as the first coach. Besides being a skilled player, Maury was constantly teaching, and giving advice to other players. Everyone who played with him or against him became a better player through his encouragement and insight. Maury passed away in 2021.

Richard "Dick" Hicks

Richard "Dick" Hicks grew up in Detroit and came to Spearfish to teach in the Art Department at Black Hills State University, Like Maury Etem, Dick was a skilled player and generous in sharing his knowledge of the game. Dick was one of the STA's original board members and remained on the board until his death in 2017. He was instrumental in working with the City of Spearfish, the Spearfish School District and the USTA to build the current nine-court tennis complex and he contributed both time and money to that effort. He volunteered his time to teach in the city's Summer Rec program for several years, was a volunteer coach for the Middle School program and helped teach in the STA's winter tennis clinics at the Donald E. Young Center. In his seventies, Dick's interest in teaching the game led him to take classes to be certified as a teaching professional.