Ron Ghitter
Major Accomplishments
Tennis Canada Board of Directors
Chair, Board of Directors OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre
Order of Canada, 2018
Biography
Ron Ghitter was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1935 and has spent a lifetime helping to grow tennis in Canada as a player, coach, member of the Board of Directors at Tennis Canada, and driving force to develop year-round training facilities. Ghitter’s connection to tennis began in the 1950’s as a player and developed into coaching at the Kinsmen Club in Edmonton, Alberta starting a junior program with 130 players. In 2007, Ghitter joined Tennis Canada’s Board of Directors and served for a 6-year period. While a member of the Board of Directors, he played an instrumental role helping to develop Tennis Canada’s plans to advocate for and invest in year-round tennis facilities. Ghitter created a successful non-profit operating model after spearheading the development of the Osten & Victor Alberta Tennis Centre by personally raising financial support from all levels of government and private donors. In addition, Ghitter spent nearly a decade single handedly pursuing the Alberta Tennis Centre, which opened in 2016 and has introduced tennis to over 50,000 Calgarian youth through the Centre’s school tennis program. The Alberta Tennis Centre and remains the only non-profit, public accessible year-round tennis facility in Alberta, providing tennis services to 30,000 Albertans on an annual basis. A leader and builder that has spent a lifetime supporting tennis’ growth in Canada, Ghitter will join the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame in the Builder category for his decades of dedication and lasting influence on tennis in Canada.