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Three Branford Residents Lead Connecticut Team to Thurston Cup Title

Three Branford tennis players helped the State of Connecticut win the United States Tennis Association (USTA) New England/Thurston Cup tennis team competition among all the New England states.

The Thurston Cup, the annual interstate USTA New England Tennis Competition, brings together the best senior tennis players in New England who are 60 years of age and older. This year, the competition was held on Sept. 17 in Concord, Massachusetts.

Four teams competed for the Thurston Cup, which has been a USTA New England event for over 50 years, with teams representing Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the North (Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine).

There were three Branford residents on the Connecticut team in Carl Norbeck (team captain), Billy Previdi, and Peter MacPartland. Previdi was the Branford High School tennis coach for 23 years and is in the Branford Hall of Fame. Norbeck was a former No. 1 ranked doubles player in the U.S. in the 60-and-Over Division. MacPartland is a former men’s assistant tennis coach at Yale University and a former No. 1-ranked singles player in New England in the 45-and-Over Division. The Connecticut team went undefeated, winning all three of its matches to bring home the Thurston Cup, with all team members contributing to the victory.

The competition was held on clay courts. Norbeck and MacPartland are both members of the Owenego Beach and Tennis Club, as well as the Dorr St. Tennis Club, and were able to train for the competition on those clubs’ clay courts. Previdi is the head tennis professional at the Guilford Yacht Club and trained on the clay courts at the club, where he teaches tennis. As Branford residents, all three of them also practiced on the clay courts at Foote Park.