(WNY News Now) Tom Anderson, a former tennis player and inspirational leader, will be admitted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 2025 after helping to shape the Lakewood YMCA for more than thirty years.
In 2025, the person who has represented the Lakewood YMCA for over 30 years will be admitted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame. Tom Anderson was an exceptional tennis player at Southwestern Central and SUNY Brockport before to starting his lengthy professional relationship with the Y. Tom played for the renowned Trojans tennis coach Anne Tenney Smith after graduating from SWCS in 1976. For three years, he was her top singles player.
He started at Brockport for four years, finished second in the SUNY championship tournament, and was ranked as the top singles player in his senior year of 1980.
Among his several tournament victories during his playing career, Anderson won the Chautauqua County championship, the Len Johnson Classic, the Post-Journal Classic, the Jamestown city championship five times, and the Warren city championship twice.
In 1980, Tom started teaching at the old Billie Jean King Tennis Center, where he remained for the next 23 years until it changed to the Lakewood YMCA.
Anderson served as the YMCA’s executive director from 1991 until his retirement in 2022 when Paul Bush gave the tennis center to the organization. During his tenure, the Lakewood Y became a dynamic and sustainable resource for the larger Jamestown community because to his imaginative leadership.
He created the first indoor soccer facility in the area. Every week, about 100 high school, youth, women’s, and coed teams competed in the 10,000-square-foot arena. The multipurpose facility was also utilized for floor hockey, roller hockey, basketball, volleyball, and a number of other leisure activities under Tom’s direction.
Together with Chuck Jambliter, Anderson designed an indoor gymnastics facility at the Y that features Olympic-caliber equipment, a spring floor, an in-ground trampoline, and landing pits.
Tom prioritized making the Y a tennis destination for tournaments, clinics, and summer camps for both seasoned veterans and aspiring players, staying loyal to the facility’s origins. He sponsored Section VI championships and high school competitions in Chautauqua County. Anderson has also been adept at promoting pickleball and, more lately, racquetball.
The Battle of the Businesses, the Amy King Run, the July 4th Firecracker Run, and the March Madness 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament are further notable and long-standing community events that can be directly linked to Tom.Anderson has demonstrated exceptional fundraising skills on behalf of the Y. With his contagious passion and unique style, he has raised money for capital projects and found event sponsors by carefully building a large network. You simply cannot refuse Tom, a local merchant said with a broad smile.
Tom was honored with the Paul B. Sullivan Lifetime Achievement Award and had the Y’s tennis courts named in his honor for his contributions to the organization. Anderson, who resides in Russell, Pennsylvania, retired in 2022.