The Team Behind “Little Mo”: Making Memories On and Off the Court

This weekend, some of the top junior tennis players from around the country will arrive in New Jersey for the annual “Little Mo” North Regionals, one of the many tournaments that make up the iconic and historic “Little Mo” event series.

For decades, the “Little Mo” tournaments have provided tennis players from around the world with a combination of competition and sportsmanship that have shaped the method of not just the tournaments themselves, but the MCB Tennis Foundation, named for Maureen Connolly Brinker, the legendary professional tennis player from the 1950s who was nicknamed “Little Mo”. In that spirit, the staff at the MCB Tennis Foundation who run the tournament series continue to make lifelong memories for players and their families a top priority.

And it’s those staff members who are at the heart of what makes the “Little Mo” tournaments so successful and so memorable. Everyone sees the post-tournament photos on social media, or reads about the long list of champions who have gone on to accomplish amazing things on the pro tours, but without the men and women of the foundation, none of it would be possible.

One of those key members is Tiffany Hollebeck, who serves as the event’s Tournament Operations Manager. A native of Texas, Hollebeck was a top junior tennis player growing up and would go on to have a decorated collegiate career, first at SMU playing Division I tennis before finishing at Midwestern State University where she would earn her master’s degree. Her arrival at the MCB Tennis Foundation initially came as a surprise, when she received a phone call from the organization’s Executive Vice President, Carol Weyman.

“I remember it was 2022, and ‘Little Mo’ needed a site director at the last minute,” recalls Hollebeck. “I was referred to Carol, and she called me to see if I could manage the desk at the tournament. Running a tournament desk was something I had done before so I knew what the job required. It was a wonderful experience and it was great meeting the team there.”

They were looking to hire full-time, and while Hollebeck declined because she had already accepted another job offer elsewhere, she remained in touch with Carol.

“She played it very smart,” Hollebeck says jokingly. “We would continue to talk, and she would send me a text once a month or so asking how I was doing, how everything was going. So when I realized working in an office full-time, which was what I was doing at my other job, wasn’t for me, I reached back out to Carol.”

It turned out to be a perfect match. Hollebeck joined the MCB Tennis Foundation full-time, and little by little would assume more responsibilities as her role expanded. She handles all the details and logistics that it takes to get ready for the tournament, and once it is done, the work begins on planning next year’s event. And that work is extensive.

“She handles all these different aspects not just at our tournaments, but year-round, and does it so well. It’s important to be organized and manage your time well, and she does it with such ease. Everyone on the team respects her, as do I, and she’s always eager to learn more,” said Weyman.“If you’ve ever seen the Ed Sullivan Show where they had the guy on who had all the plates spinning, or someone who is juggling, that’s what Tiffany does.”

With a smile, Weyman added:

“Tiffany can actually juggle also, so it’s perfect.”

Hollebeck and the team prepare all the materials needed for the tournament and ship them to the host site ahead of time so that they are ready for their arrival. About two days before the tournament is scheduled to begin, the staff gets to the location and is presented with a blank canvas.

“We get to the club and it’s just the tennis courts, but we make it very presentable and very fun, in the spirit of ‘Little Mo’,” explains Hollebeck. “We set up all of our desks, and our booths. The day before, it’s quiet at the club, it’s usually just the members, but it’s the calm before the storm. The day of the tournament, all of a sudden there’s hundreds of kids with their tennis bags scattered around. There’s an energy that comes over the place, mixed with a little nerves. But it’s a fun vibe there and it sets the stage for a fun week.”

But if you have ever been to a junior tennis tournament, you know that that fun vibe can oftentimes change to an adversarial one. Between the emotions of the players, the demands of the parents, and even unpredictable weather, Hollebeck and her team have to handle an array of issues that will inevitably arise.

It’s in those moments where Hollebeck’s leadership and experience plays a vital role.

“There’s a lot of things we can control, and also things that we can’t,” she says. “We always make sure to listen to parents, because at the end of the day they just want to and deserve to be heard. We don’t take anything personally, we know we have done all the preparations in order for the tournament to run how it should run. But things do come up and we make sure we hear from everyone if they want to talk to us, and do the best we can in order to handle any complaints.”

Thankfully, those moments prove to be the outlier as the atmosphere around the “Little Mo” tournaments is extremely positive, and reinforced by the booth where players can exchange their “Mo” Coins, which they earn for sportsmanship and fair play, for prizes. This is a key factor in maintaining the spirit the tournaments are supposed to be played in.

And it’s because of that spirit that Hollebeck, Weyman and the entire MCB Tennis staff develop such a rapport with the players and parents, many of whom they see multiple times throughout the year at different tournaments, and also year-after-year, and watch unlikely friendships get developed amongst the players and families as well.

“It’s funny because when they’re young, eight or nine years old, and it’s their first time playing our events, the second time they play an event they say, ‘Oh, it’s you guys again’, and we develop a friendship of sorts,” Hollebeck says. “We remain professional, of course, but it’s important that we see the same players, and the same families, and watch them grow from eight-years-old to 12-years-old. A lot of kids are nervous when they first come, but by the end of the circuit, they have made a whole group of friends, and sometimes friends from across the world. These relationships get built and it’s so cool to see. We can see we are providing a great tournament experience, but it goes beyond that.”

The “Little Mo” tournaments are a unique stop on the calendar for top junior tennis players, and the appeal of them goes much further than wins and losses on the court. They are a chance to appreciate the power that tennis can have in bringing people together, and it’s because of all the work done by the staff, and their caring personalities that can be felt when you attend one of them.

The work for the next tournament begins as soon as the previous one ends, and Hollebeck and her team are in the thick of it now preparing for the North Regionals at the West Orange Tennis Club in New Jersey. After that, it moves to Austin for the “Little Mo” Nationals, before closing out the year with the “Little Mo” Internationals event in Palm Beach Gardens, the third and final leg of the “Little Mo” Slam.

“We’re so excited to get back up to the Metropolitan area, especially with it being around the time of the U.S. Open,” said Hollebeck. “The energy up there is unlike anything else, and it’s great to be reunited with the players and all of our staff.”

Tennis has been a huge part of Hollebeck’s life since she was a little girl, and she feels honored to work for such a prestigious organization that embodies the best of what tennis can be.

“It’s been an honor to work for the Foundation, and learn all about Maureen Connolly as well. Her story isn’t shared enough, and I think the tournaments and the foundation do a great job of making sure we remember her the way she deserves to be. Between all of the history, and all the work we do, it’s an honor to work here and keep that legacy going.”