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grow across the U.S. Paddle Sports Show run Cardio Tennis

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TennisIndustry

Contents Nov./Dec. 2019

DEPARTMENTS 20
4 Our Serve Futures Market
7 Industry News
Today’s tennis shoes push the envelope in weight, comfort,
15 Grassroots Tennis: NJTL
16 Court Construction
durability, performance and fashion.
23 Racquet Tech
24 Racquet & Paddle Sports
Show
34 Your Serve, by Howard
Chodak

INDUSTRY NEWS
7 2nd annual Racquet & Paddle
Sports Show set for Jan. 21-24
7 Cardio Tennis added to USTA’s
Program Development group
8 Quarterly equipment sales
at specialty stores
9 Short Sets
10 Babolat’s new Pure Strike
racquets focus on control
10 PTR, Nick Bolliettieri release
‘Tennis in a Can’
10 Dunlop introduces three
premium strings
11 USTA honors Althea Gibson
with US Open sculpture 18 26 30
11 Universal Tennis releases Support Group Guerrilla Pickleball A Positive Spin
free UTR app The right sports bra can A tennis junkie finds Adaptive tennis programs
11 2019 US Open sets help your players fun, friends and fitness in continue to grow
attendance records feel and play better. a Birmingham parking lot. throughout the U.S.
12 Peoplewatch
12 New Slinger Bag a finalist in
SFIA Start-Up Challenge
12 USTA Florida creates
Leadership Academy
13 ‘Little Tennis Library’ grows
the game in East St. Louis
14 Wilson debuts 'Triniti'
sustainable tennis ball

PLUS
36 From the CEO
p.35
38 Vice President's Message
42 USPTA Hall of Fame

36 42 44 45 44 2019 USPTA Award Winners

2019 World Brennan, Gould Ajay Pant Sean Sloane 50 USPTA Master Professionals
Conference Inducted Into Honored as Gains Lifetime 52 2019 World Conference
and Year-End 2019 USPTA Professional Achievement Photo Gallery
Wrap-Up Hall of Fame of the Year Award 55 USPTA Specialist Degree
56 Platform Tennis
Read more articles online at www.ADDvantageUSPTA.com 59 Career Development

2 TennisIndustry November/December 2019 www.tennisindustrymag.com

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PUBLISHER
EDITOR'S NOTE JEFF WILLIAMS

A Building Year EDITOR

PETER FRANCESCONI

The second annual Racquet & MANAGING EDITOR

SCOTT GRAMLING

Paddle Sports Show looks to continue CREATIVE DIRECTOR

IAN KNOWLES

pushing this industry forward. SENIOR EDITOR

ED McGROGAN

ART DIRECTOR
CRHISTIAN RODRIGUEZ

PRODUCTION EDITOR

E
 
ANDREA WOO

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR
BOB PATTERSON

very year, at the USTA’s
Semi-Annual Meeting
during the US Open, I’m
constantly amazed at the
passion and dedication I
see from the hundreds of USTA volun-
Obviously, there are many golf venues
that also offer tennis and other racquet/
paddle sports.
The RAPS show itself is free for
industry attendees; register at Racquet-
PaddleSportsShow.com. The event opens
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
CYNTHIA CANTRELL, PEG CONNOR,
DAVID LASOTA, JUDY LEAND, KENT OSWALD,
CYNTHIA SHERMAN, MARY HELEN SPRECHER
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
BOB KENAS, DAVID KENAS

teers who attend—and who represent just
a portion of the thousands of volunteers
spread across the country working to
deliver tennis to their communities.
That early September meeting in New
York City, along with the TIA Tennis
Forum earlier in the week, is a key gather-
ing point for this industry.
Plan to attend the second
annual RAPS Show
on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at the USTA National ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Campus in Lake Nona, with 16 courts TIM McARTHUR
dedicated to playtesting equipment, along
with a welcome party and other events EDITORIAL DIRECTION
10TEN MEDIA
and tours. The next day, the action moves
to the OCCC, where attendees can meet TENNIS INDUSTRY
with the anticipated 200-plus exhibitors, 250 Park Avenue, Ste 825, NY NY 10017
see and participate in demonstrations on 646-381-8735
info@tennisindustrymag.com
three demo courts, see additional educa-
tional sessions on the two “presentation ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
stages,” and attend the PGA Show, too.
In addition, the TIA’s annual Tennis
JOHN HANNA
770-650-1102, x125
Owners & Managers (TOM) Conference hanna@knowatlanta.com

in January. It will not
only help out your business,
will take place just down the hall from the
APPAREL ADVERTISING
show floor. The TOM features topics that
include facility operations, event man-
CYNTHIA SHERMAN

but also this industry. agement and hospitality, marketing and

But now, there’s another rallying
point—the annual Racquet & Paddle
Sports Show. Yes, we can now officially
use the word “annual” with the RAPS
show; the inaugural event took place in
January 2019, and the second edition will
be Jan. 21-24, 2020, again in Orlando.
This show is important for this
industry, and it’s important for industry
stakeholders to get involved. The event
takes place at the Orange County Con-
vention Center (OCCC) at the same time
as the massive PGA Merchandise Show,
which draws about 40,000 attendees each
year. (The PGA Show is produced by Reed
Exhibitions, which, in partnership with
the TIA, also produces the RAPS Show.)
promotions, innovation and technology,
administrative and professional services,
and more. Sessions are eligible for PTR
and USPTA continuing ed credits. The
TOM requires a separate registration fee;
you can access registration and pay at
RacquetPaddleSportsShow.com.
Let’s all plan to meet in Orlando in
January at the Racquet & Paddle Sports
Show. Do something to help not just your
business, but this industry as a whole.
Peter Francesconi
Editor
Peter@TennisIndustryMag.com
203-558-5911
cstennisindustry@gmail.com
Tennis Industry is published 10 times per year:
monthly, January through August with combined
issues in September/October and November/
December, by Tennis Media Company, 250 Park
Avenue, Suite 825, New York NY 10017. Periodical
postage paid in Duluth, GA and at additional mailing
offices (USPS #004-354). Nov./Dec. 2019, Volume 47,
No. 10 © 2019 by Tennis Media Company. All rights
reserved. Tennis Industry, TI and logo are trademarks
of Tennis Media Company. Printed in the U.S.A. Phone
advertising: 770-650-1102 x 125. Phone circulation
and editorial: 646-381-8735. Yearly subscriptions
$25 in the U.S., $40+ elsewhere. POSTMASTER: Send
address changes to Tennis Industry, 250 Park Avenue,
Suite 825, New York NY 10017. Tennis Industry is the
official magazine of the USRSA, TIA and ASBA.
Looking for back issues of Tennis Industry/Racquet
Sports Industry? Visit the archives at our website
at TennisIndustryMag.com for free digital versions.

4 TennisIndustry November/December 2019 www.tennisindustrymag.com

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IndustryNews Information to help you run your business
HEALTH & FITNESS
Cardio Tennis Added to USTA’s
‘Program Development’ Group
I 
n late August, the USTA
announced that it had reached
a “mutually beneficial agree-
ment” with the Tennis Industry
Association to transition owner-
ship of Cardio Tennis to the USTA.
“We believe the USTA can drive the
advancement of Cardio Tennis at this
stage of its life cycle,” says TIA Execu-
tive Director Jolyn de Boer. Cardio
Tennis was founded in 2005 by the
USTA and TIA, then managed by the
TIA since that time.
Cardio Tennis will now be a part of the
newly created Program Development
SHUTTERSTOCK
department of the USTA, led by Elliott
Pettit, with the charge to introduce the
game in innovative ways to new and ex-
isting markets. Overseeing Cardio Tennis
www.tennisindustrymag.com
With 2.5 million players,
Cardio Tennis grew 12.6
percent from 2017 to 2018,
according to TIA research.
will be Michael Harper, who was hired by educational spaces devoted to facility con-
the USTA in July and has been part of the struction and court renovations.
TIA’s Global Cardio Tennis training team
since 2009.
“We are thrilled to be adding Cardio
Tennis to our lineup of programs that
support the growth of the game,” says
Craig Morris, USTA chief executive of
Community Tennis. “Today, exciting,
engaging and effective group exercise
options have become a necessity. Cardio education credits. Separate TOM Conference
Tennis is well-positioned to introduce
the fitness consumer to the health and
wellness benefits of the tennis lifestyle.” early pricing incentives.
IndustryNews
Second Racquet & Paddle Sports
Show Set for Jan. 21-24 in Orlando
Racquet sports professionals and others in
the racquet/paddle sports industry can reg-
ister for free for the 2020 Racquet & Paddle
Sports Show, held Jan. 21-24, in Orlando,
Fla., at RacquetPaddleSportsShow.com.
The second annual RAPS Show will bring
together industry leaders, sports profession-
als, facility suppliers and product manufac-
turers from around the world for four days
of merchandise sourcing, product testing,
education and professional networking.
On Tuesday, Jan. 21, there will be a Demo
Day at the USTA National Campus in Lake
Nona. Starting on Jan. 22, the Show Floor at
the Orange County Convention Center
(co-located with the PGA Merchandise
Show) will feature more than 200 compre-
hensive exhibits, multiple demonstration
courts and two industry presentation stages.
The Tennis Owners & Managers (TOM) Con-
ference will also take place Jan. 22-24 at the
Convention Center.
“After a tremendous response to the inau-
gural event in 2019, we are excited to renew
our collaboration with industry stakeholders
to build the Racquet & Paddle Sports Show
to grow all aspects of racquet sports,” said
Elizabeth Reed, the senior director of indus-
try development for Reed Exhibitions and
the RAPS event director.
New for 2020 will be a “Pop-Up Retail
Talks” area; a focus on fitness, performance
and nutritional products on the show floor;
and additional exhibits, demonstration and
The RAPS Show will again include the
TIA's TOM Conference, featuring industry
presenters on topics that include Facility
Operations, Event Management and Hos-
pitality, Marketing/Promotions, Innovation
and Technology, Administrative and Profes-
sional Services, and more. TOM sessions also
are eligible for PTR and USPTA continuing
registration is open simultaneously at
RacquetPaddleSportsShow.com, and offers
November/December 2019 TennisIndustry 7
IndustryNews

Tennis Racquet Performance

at Specialty Stores

January-June, 2019 vs. 2018

Units 2019 265,175
2018 262,105
% change vs. ’18 1%
Dollars 2019 $44,832,000
2018 $42,288,000
% change vs. ’18 6%
Price 2019 $169.07
2018 $161.34
% change vs. ’18 5%

Top-Selling Racquets
at Specialty Stores
By year-to-date dollars, Jan.-June 2019

• Best Sellers
1. Wilson Clash 100 2019 (MP)
2. Babolat Pure Aero 2019 (MP)
3. Babolat Pure Drive 2018 (MP)
4. Wilson Clash 100 Tour (MP)
5. Wilson Ultra 100 CV 2017 (MP)

• “Hot New Racquets”

(introduced in the past 12 months)

1. Wilson Clash 100 2019 (MP)

2. Babolat Pure Aero 2019 (MP)
3. Wilson Clash 100 Tour (MP)
4. Head Graphene 360 Speed MP
5. Babolat Pure Aero Team 2019 (MP)

Top-Selling Tennis Shoes

at Specialty Stores
By year-to-date dollars, Jan.-June 2019

1. K-Swiss Hypercourt Express

2. Nike Zoom Vapor X 2018
3. Nike Zoom Cage 3
4. Asics Gel Resolution 7
5. Nike Zoom Vapor X 2019

Top-Selling Strings
at Specialty Stores
By year-to-date units, Jan.-June 2019

1. Babolat RPM Blast

2. Wilson NXT
3. Wilson Sensation
4. Luxilon Alu Power
5. Head Synthetic Gut PPS

(Source: Tennis Industry Association)

8 TennisIndustry November/December 2019 www.tennisindustrymag.com

 IndustryNews

Short
Sets
DecoTurf has been chosen as the
tennis court surface for the 2020 Olympic
Games in Tokyo. It’s the fifth time that the
California Sports Surfaces product will
be the surface for the Olympics. The col-
ors chosen for the event are two tones: US
Open blue and US Open green. DecoTurf
has been the playing surface of the US
Open since 1978.
Luxilon celebrated its 60th anniversary
in August with the release of the new ALU
Power 130 Diamond Anniversary Edition
string. In a new, larger 130-gauge offer-
ing, the string offers the same combina-
tion of power, control and spin, says
Luxilon, but now with added durability.
Visit Wilson.com for more information.
GameOn, a ChatOS engagement plat-
form that helps premium content owners
and brands improve their fan experiences,
has partnered with ATP Media to deliver
videos and other rich content to fans
through the Tennis TV bot.
The ITF has made a series of changes to
the ITF Seniors Circuit for 2020 and 2021,
which the organization says are designed
to increase the number of players, na-
tions and tournaments on the Seniors
Circuit. Among the changes are revisions
to entry-level tournaments (Grade 4) to
provide a greater number of competitive
opportunities and appropriate formats.
Additionally, a new tier of tournaments
will be introduced in 2021.
The International Tennis Federation has
named Sandever as the global develop-
ment partner for Beach Tennis.
The Springfield Lasers of World Team-
Tennis claimed the season-ending King
Trophy in August, edging out the New
York Empire, 20-19, in the 44th WTT
championship match in Las Vegas.
The ITF Wheelchair Tennis Commit-
tee launched its new Wheelchair Tennis
Development Plan, designed to help grow
the sport around the world. The new plan
will benefit from an annual investment of
$1 million from Kosmos as part of its Davis
Cup partnership with the ITF, alongside
support from the Cruyff Foundation.

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 Dunlop Introduces
Three Premium Strings

Babolat's Pure Strike line

includes eight frames,
shoes and accessories.

EQUIPMENT Dunlop added three new tennis strings

Babolat’s New Pure Strike

to its lineup, each designed to deliver
unique playing characteristics: Explosive
Red, Silk Pro and Comfort Pro. All come in
Racquets Focus on Control 16- and 17-gauge, in sets and reels.
Explosive Red is a premium monofila-

B
 
ment polyester string with a heat-treated
abolat’s third generation of Pure Strike racquets hit the market during the surface that results in greater snapback
US Open. The company says the frames are engineered to provide “sharp for spin and less friction for durability,
control” that combines dynamic control with intact feel and responsiveness says Dunlop (sets, $14 suggested retail;
for hard-hitting, offensive players. The Pure Strike line features six adult and two reels, $225). Silk Pro is a super-premium
junior models, plus Jet Mach II Pure Strike shoes, accessories, socks, a towel and a multifilament designed to deliver power,
cap. “We offer the Pure Strike for control, the Pure Aero for spin and the Pure Drive spin and comfort (sets, $19; reels $260).
for power,” says Bryan Ogle, Babolat’s national sales director. —Judy Leand Comfort Pro is a premium string with a
multifilament core surrounded by thicker
fibers, increasing energy efficiency mak-
ing it comfortable at impact, says the
company (sets, $12; reels, $140). Visit
dunlopsports.com for more information.

PTR and Nick Bollettieri

Release ‘Tennis in a Can’
PTR and legendary coach Nick Bollet-
tieri have jointly released a new online
program, “Tennis in a Can,” designed
for high school tennis coaches.
The 11-week online program fea-
tures week-by-week lesson plans,
videos and templates for challenge
matches, drills, court diagrams and
more. Tennis in a Can gives coaches
the tools to run and manage a success-
ful high school season, from try-outs
to play-offs, says the PTR. The pro-
gram and accompanying resources
can be accessed from any device.
“High school and middle school
sports’ budgets are very limited,
yet many coaches need coaching
C O U RT E S Y B A B O L AT, D U N L O P

expertise for their teams,” says Bol-

lettieri. “PTR and I want to provide a
complete tennis coaching curriculum
for those who will be coaching a scho-
lastic team.”
Tennis in a Can is now available at
ptrtennis.org for $39.99 for PTR mem-
bers or $129 for non-members.

10 TennisIndustry November/December 2019 www.tennisindustrymag.com

 IndustryNews

Universal Tennis Releases (1950), she was the first African- 2019 US Open Sets
UTR App, Available for Free American to win singles titles at the Attendance Records
Universal Tennis has released a French Championships (1956), Wimble- The 2019 US Open set an all-time atten-
mobile tennis application now avail- don (1957) and the U.S. Nationals (1957). dance record, with 737,872 fans coming to
able in the App Store designed to In 1958, she repeated both her Wimble- the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis
make it easier for players of all skill don and U.S. Nationals wins. She was Center throughout the two weeks of the
levels around the world to dis- inducted into the International Tennis main draw. Arthur Ashe Stadium sold out
cover more opportunities to connect Hall of Fame in 1971. 23 of 24 sessions.
through tennis.
At the core of the Universal Tennis
platform is the Universal Tennis
Rating (UTR), which measures tennis
skill across age, gender and geog-
raphy. UTR and the Universal Tennis
platform have been adopted by play-
ers, coaches, organizers, academies,
clubs and colleges worldwide.
The new UTR app is free for all
tennis players of any age and skill
level. In the U.S., all USTA and college
players already have a rating and
profile on UTR. Every tennis player
worldwide can use the new UTR app
to claim or create their free profile.
Visit MyUTR.com.

USTA Honors Althea Gibson

With Sculpture at US Open

On the first day of play at the

US Open, the USTA unveiled a
dramatic new sculpture honoring
trailblazer and tennis great Althea
Gibson. The sculpture, created
by Eric Goulder, was unveiled
outside Arthur Ashe Stadium on
the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean
King National Tennis Center, home
of the US Open.
Gibson became the first African-
American tennis player, male or
female, to win the title at the U.S.
National Championships (now the
US Open) in 1957. In addition to
breaking the color barrier in tennis

www.tennisindustrymag.com November/December 2019 TennisIndustry 11

IndustryNews
People
Watch
Longtime USTA volunteer Barbara
Fackel of Rock Island, Ill., passed away
on Aug. 22. For more than three decades,
Fackel served in a variety of capacities
at both the section and national levels,
including as USTA Missouri Valley presi-
dent (1995-96). She received the USTA’s
three highest service awards for her
dedication to the sport.
The 2019 inductees into the USTA
Middle States Hall of Fame are Shari
Bucklin-Webber, Virgil Christian, Dan
Faber and Ann LoPrinzi.
USTA Missouri Valley is inducting Kathy
Loepp, Jenny Dent and Ben Ford into the
USTA Heart of America Hall of Fame.
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12 TennisIndustry November/December 2019
Bianca Andreescu and Daniil
Medvedev were honored as the 2019
US Open Series' Breakout Performers.
Andreescu later won the US Open singles
championship, while Medvedev reached
the men’s final.
Lighting manufacturer LSI Industries
has named Erin Nichols as its new
national accounts sales manager, Richard
Abernethy as senior director of product
management for outdoor products and
controls, Thomas Caneris as senior VP for
human resources and general counsel,
Ross Horton as chief commercial officer
for Atlas Lighting Products, and John
Bank as national sales manager for
national retail accounts.
®
play more. win more. ®
USTA Florida Creates
Leadership Academy
The USTA Florida Leadership Acad-
emy is a new section initiative to recruit
volunteers and increase engagement.
The academy includes a development
program designed to grow the profes-
sional skills and organizational knowl-
edge of potential future leaders to the
organization.
“The Leadership Academy, along
with our Volunteer Engagement Initia-
tive, are critical to our future success,”
says section President Clark Higgs. “We
recognize that identifying, recruiting
and developing the next generation
of leaders will enable us to continue to
grow the ‘game of a lifetime.’”
Leadership Academy participants
will learn skills from advocacy and team
building to communication and man-
agement through a series of modules
and two in-person workshops in
Orlando, Nov. 22-23 and May 29-30.
Visit florida.usta.com.
Dis
cov
er
the
be
st s
ea
t in
the
h ou
se
A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S ; C O U RT E S Y S L I N G E R B A G
with domestic and
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www.tennisindustrymag.com

New Slinger Bag a Finalist
in SFIA Start-Up Challenge
The Slinger Bag is a versatile and por-
table ball launcher for tennis players of all
levels. The lightweight unit (26 pounds
empty) has a 144-ball capacity and can
be carried or wheeled. In September,
Slinger Bag (slingerbag.com) was select-
ed as one of five finalists in the Start-Up
Challenge by the Sports & Fitness Indus-
try Association.
The manufacturer says Slinger Bag
sets up in minutes and can launch balls
between 10 and 45 M.P.H. The unit pro-
vides storage space for racquets, towels,
water bottles and more. In addition,
there are connections to charge mobile
phones and other devices.
The Slinger Bag company, headed up
by former Prince executive Mike Ballar-
die, is expected to launch in November
2019.
“We’re the newest company in tennis,
and delighted that our game-changing
innovations and corporate vision are be-
ing recognized so soon,” Ballardie says.
ITA Adopts PlaySight's
PlayFair Video Replay
After a three-year pilot program, the
C O U RT E S Y E A S T S T. L O U I S CTA
Intercollegiate Tennis Association has
officially approved PlaySight’s PlayFair
video challenge replay system heading
into the 2019-2020 season. PlayFair
enables multi-angle video review for
line-call challenges, with the mission to
improve sportsmanship throughout col-
lege tennis and increase participation in
and viewership of the sport.
www.tennisindustrymag.com
IndustryNews
college tennis, first piloted PlaySight’s
PlayFair technology at the 2016 SoCal
Intercollegiate Championships. Since
then, there have been over 100 PlayFair-
sanctioned college tennis matches. Play-
Fair video replay is a feature of PlaySight’s
Smart AI and connected camera sports
technology platform.
‘Little Tennis Library’ Grows
the Game in East St. Louis
Often, it’s the simplest ideas that are the
most effective at growing the game. For the
East St. Louis (Ill.) Community Tennis As-
sociation, getting racquets into the hands
of those who don't have them is a lot easier “After presenting the Little Tennis Library
with a unique “Little Tennis Library.” concept at the USTA’s Semi-Annual Meet-
The structure, which holds tennis balls, ing in September, a number of people have
foam balls and at least eight racquets do- asked me about starting one for their local
nated by local players, was the brainchild courts,” says Taryn Archer, a member of the
and handiwork of East St. Louis CTA board USTA’s National CTA Committee, who visited
member Bob Faust. It’s attached to a fence the East St. Louis CTA and Lincoln Park this
at the four revitalized tennis courts at Lincoln summer. “This concept is a quick, easy way
Park, so players of all ages who may not to get more people to play and bring tennis
have a racquet can borrow what they need. to communities.”
888-366-4711
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for more game-changing products.
November/December 2019 TennisIndustry 13
IndustryNews

Wilson Debuts ‘Triniti’

Sustainable Tennis Ball

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maintaining the high performance
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sional tennis players.”
Wilson says it used state-of-the-art
materials to redesign the ball's core and

THE EXPERTS IN felt cover, substantially increasing the

lifespan of the ball, while also enhanc-

STRINGING MACHINES ing its performance consistency. Trin-

iti’s packaging is made from recycled
cardboard and is fully recyclable.
“We see Triniti as a big win for play-
SPECIAL OFFER ers, the industry and our environment,”
says Hans-Martin Reh, Wilson’s general
REFURBISHED NEOS 1000 manager of racquet sports. “While
BY OUR WORLD-RENOWNED TECHNICIANS the tennis ball has not fundamentally
changed over 40 years, it has contrib-
uted to landfill issues across the world.
We decided to re-engineer the ball to be
gentler on our world.”
REFURBISHED
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CALL US NEOS 1000 Master Racquet Technicians
TODAY! $899 Beckett Chung, Victoria, B.C., Canada
Mark Fronrath, Cornselius, N.C.
Lyndon Krause, Melbourne, Australia
Vinh Nguyen, League City, Texas
Lee Wee Shen, Singapore
Ee Lim Som, Singapore
Since 1934, Tennis Machines has been selling, servicing, and repairing
C O U RT E S Y W I L S O N

stringing machines from every major brand in the industry. Certified Stringers
Justin Chen, Highland, Ohio
1.800.572.1055 WWW.TENNISMACHINES.COM ST. LOUIS, MO
Thomas Mizera, Lubbock, Texas
Chris Shannon, Plano, Texas

14 TennisIndustry November/December 2019 www.tennisindustrymag.com


Grassroots Tennis
NJTL NETWORK
Play It Forward!
As NJTL turns 50 this year, we celebrate
the people who continue to create a
legacy of learning and tennis.
RAY BENTON
Energizing Kids to Be Leaders
P H O T O S C O U RT E S Y R AY B E N T O N/J T C C ; DA L L A S T E N N I S A S S O C I AT I O N
R
ay Benton’s ties to NJTL go
back to 1971. He was living
in Denver, working for a law
firm, had taught tennis and
was president of the Colorado Youth
Tennis Foundation. Then he met Davis
Cup Captain Donald Dell, who was
starting a law firm in Washington, D.C.
One of Dell’s first clients was Arthur
Ashe, an NJTL founder. Dell asked
Benton to join him in Washington and
spend half his time running NJTL.
“I jumped at the opportunity,” Benton
says. “For seven years, I spent 50 percent
of my time as the first national executive
Visit USTAFoundation.com for more on the 50th anniversary of the NJTL network.
www.tennisindustrymag.com
S
director. We were able to grow from four
chapters to 50 in the years I was leading
NJTL, which was very gratifying.”
Since 2008, Benton has been CEO of
the Junior Tennis Champions Cen-
ter—an NJTL chapter—and the College
Park Tennis Club in College Park, Md.
“I love the fact that we energize
people to be leaders at the grassroots
level and to be self-sufficient and run
their own programs,” Benton says.
“People learn to raise their own money
and to be totally self-sufficient, which
is what any healthy industry needs.”
—Erin Maher
November/December 2019
TennisIndustry
BERT COLE
Developing Strong
Life Skills
eventeen years ago, Bert Cole
was teaching tennis privately
in Arlington, Texas. Then a
colleague asked her to get
involved in programs with the Dallas
Tennis Association (DTA)—to get away
from those “luxurious sites” where
she was teaching and into the reality of
public tennis in Dallas.
When she walked onto the courts
at the Samuell-Grand Tennis Center,
“I saw all these kids of different colors
out there, and I said, ‘Wow, this is so
cool,’” Cole says. “I just fell in love with
it at that moment.” She accepted an
offer to be on the DTA’s staff.
Today, Cole is the director of Junior
Recreation for the DTA, and a pillar
of the Dallas tennis community. Last
year, she was presented with the 2018
USTA Foundation NJTL Founders
Service Award, which recognizes her
dedication to helping children develop
strong life skills and pursue educa-
tion—all while using tennis to bring
opportunities. She also was named
Tennis Industry's 2018 PTR Member of
the Year.
“The one thing I’m most proud of,”
Cole notes, “is that in the 17 years I’ve
been running [ junior recreation for
the DTA], we’ve had 100 percent of our
members graduate high school and go
on to college.” —Arthur Kapetanakis
TennisIndustry 15
TennisIndustry
Court Construction
The new Acrytech courts
at Houston County High
School in Warner Robins,
Ga., were build by Court
Makers of Marietta.
SURFACE SUPPLIERS
Building on Success
With an emphasis on customer service
and cutting-edge products, Acrytech
Sports Surfaces continues to grow.
By Peter Francesconi
T
alk with Caldwell Robin-
son about the company
his father started in 1995,
Sport Surfaces Interna-
tional Inc., and you can
hear not just the pride in his voice,
but also the excitement about serv-
ing a sport and industry with quality
products, cutting-edge innovation and
responsive, top-notch service.
The company makes tennis court
coatings—including the Acrytech sur-
face. In the 1990s and 2000s, it grew to
become one of the largest tennis court
installers in the Atlanta area.
“In 2012, after realizing we had pret-
ty much perfected our base products,
we decided to sell off the installation
part of the business and focus on manu-
facturing court surfacing products,”
16 TennisIndustry November/December 2019
says Robinson, the company president.
At the same time, the company changed
its name to Stegas Inc. “Since then,
we’ve had tremendous growth.”
Earlier this year, Stegas moved from
an 8,000-square-foot building into a
35,000-square-foot facility in Decatur,
Ga., that contains headquarters and
manufacturing for its acrylic products,
paints and coatings.
Stegas’ flagship product is Acrytech,
designed to suit the demands of profes-
sional coating applicators, as well as
court owners and players. The technol-
ogy that goes into Stegas’ surfacing
products makes them highly compat-
ible with crack repair practices.
“Our products are unique,” Robinson
says. “First, our colors are very vibrant;
we frequently hear compliments from
owners and players. But also, we’ve
worked hard to develop products that
are crack-resistant and strong, so we
have some highly flexible products
that maintain their strength, which is
unique. Our products allow surfaces
to look better longer, and to continue
performing at their best.”
Acrytech was the surface of choice
for the 2017 Memphis Open, and Rob-
inson says many park and rec facilities,
high schools, colleges and universities
use the surface. Court contractors rave
about the products and service.
“We’re probably Acrytech’s largest
customer,” says Marshall Dye, founder
of Court Makers in Marietta, Ga., which
has worked with Robinson for about
five years. “We can use any product out
there, but we specifically chose Acry-
tech because of its quality, their service
and the fact that it's a local company.
They take care of us big time.”
“A company that provides great
products and excellent service—you
can’t ask for more than that,” adds
Darrel Snyder, owner of Mid-American
Courtworks of Wichita, Kan., which has
worked with Acrytech for about a year.
“You’re not treated like one of many,
and they seem to be on the cutting edge
in terms of new ideas and products.”
In fact, Robinson says, customers
often call asking about a certain type of
product for a particular situation, and
Stegas will look into developing what
they need. That’s how the Acry-Lock
stain blocker, which is still being tested,
was developed.
Another attraction for customers is
the company’s history in court installa-
tion, says Robinson, who has a back-
ground in engineering and business.
“We have installation experience with
our products,” he says, “which is unique
compared to other manufacturers.”
The company continues to expand
P H O T O C O U RT E S Y S T E G A S /A C RY T E C H
every month, shipping products around
the country and internationally. But
essentially, “We’re a family company,”
says Robinson, whose father, Horace,
retired last year. “When our customers
call, we’re always quick to respond with
what they need.” •
For more information on Stegas and
Acrytech, visit tennispaint.com or call
770-734-3000 or 888-294-0428.
www.tennisindustrymag.com
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TennisIndustry

S E LRL EI N
TAG I LF IRNAGM E S

2 0 1 7 R A AC PQ PA
U E RT ESLE L E C T O R

Support Group
The right sports bra can help your players
feel better and play better.
By Cynthia Sherman
1

W
ith increasing participation in high-intensity sports, companies 1 /Brooks Rebound Racer Bra
have created a thriving niche in sports bras, a $7 billion industry, brooksrunning.com
dominated by millennial and baby-boomer buyers. 800-227-6657
Believe it or not, the prototype for the original “jogbra” from the For a controlled fit, this
mid-1970s consisted of two jock straps sewn together. (That proto- pullover racerback ($50)
type is now in the National Museum of American History.) Today, features seam-free interior
designers of new iterations of the sports bra continually seek to make them look better, feel molded fabric cups with no
better and perform better. Manufacturers are designing sports bras with different levels padding. The wide, padded
of compression and targeted activities in mind, to move with the wearer. New fabrics add straps adjust in front, with
features such as moisture wicking, ventilation and anti-microbial properties. hook-and-loop closures that
Sports bras from these manufacturers just may provide your players with the comfort attach under the strap. Flat
they require to perform their best on court. (Prices are suggested retail.) lock seaming prevents chaf-
ing, and the hook-and-eye
closure is under the keyhole
in back. It’s available in sev-
eral colors and patterns.

18 TennisIndustry November/December 2019 www.tennisindustrymag.com

 Manufacturers are designing sports bras with
different levels of compression and targeted activities in
mind, to move with the wearer.

2 3
P H O T O S C O U RT E S Y B R O O K S, C H A M P I O N, C H E ATA , U N D E R A R M O U R , WA C OA L

4 5

2 /Champion 3 /Cheata Trotter Bra 4 /Under Armour Rush 5 /Wacoal Sport

champion.com
800-315-0563
The Motion Control line
($40-$45) provides maxi-
mum support, moisture-
wicking, adjustable straps,
“Double Dry” technology and
reinforced laminate side pan-
els for all-around support.
Available in both band and
cup sizing, these versatile
bras come in several colors
and three styles: cross-back
(shown), zip-front racerback
and underwire.
cheatasport.com
800-227-6657
The unique Trotter Bra
($69.95) was first developed
with the high-impact activi-
ties of equestrian events in
mind. But it’s also used by
the military, marathoners
and law enforcement, so you
know this is one serious gar-
ment. The bra has built-in
thoracic back support and
ultra-comfortable shoulder
straps. It’s also offered in a
tank version.
Sports Bra
underarmour.com
917-679-7506
The Rush compression bra
($45) features a “mineral-
infused” fabric that Under
Armour says reflects energy
back into a player’s muscles.
The bra also has a mesh
lining for breathability, soft
breathable removable cups
and a strappy back, with
anti-microbial properties in
a comfortable, poly-elastane
fabrication.
Underwire Bra
wacoal-america.com
800-922-6250
For any high-impact activity,
this Wacoal sport bra ($65)
features a unique outside
underwire that minimizes
movement during running
and quick stops and starts. It
also has two-ply fabric cups,
moisture-wicking proper-
ties, and close-set stay-up
back straps with slide-and-
hook adjustment. It’s avail-
able in blue, sand and black.

www.tennisindustrymag.com November/December 2019 TennisIndustry 19

TennisIndustry

R E TA I L I N G

FOOTWEAR

Futures Adidas
adidas.com / 971-234-2300

Market The laceless Stycon (suggested retail $160), launching in

Tennis shoes continue December, takes midfoot stability and support for lateral
movement to a new level. The neutral-toned, fashion-for-

to push the envelope. ward design supports play up and down the court, as well
as side to side. The shoe will be a part of Stefanos Tsitsipas’
game, among others, by the 2020 Australian Open.
By Kent Oswald

I
t’s hard to imagine Mary Ewing Outer-
bridge, mother of American tennis through
her introduction of the game to the lawns
of Staten Island, N.Y., in 1874, playing
tennis in any of today’s footwear. Or Stan
Smith playing during those early 1970s
glory years in any of the non-white variety
of shoes that now bear his name.
Today’s tennis footwear manufacturers push the
envelope to create lighter, more comfortable, more
durable shoes with performance features designed to
improve one’s game—and health—from the ground up, Babolat
in ever more fashion-forward styles. What was available babolat.com / 877-316-9435
a few years ago at all price levels pales in comparison to
lessons learned in the battleground of the running shoe Stability continues to be a hallmark for Babolat, which
category, which is applied to what is available now in adds colorways. All shoes feature responsive, durable Mi-
tennis and court footwear. chelin soles. The top-of-the-line Propulse comes in Rage
Based on talks with manufacturers, the trends will ($150), Fury ($140), Blast ($100) and Junior ($60) ver-
continue for the foreseeable future, with features and sions. The lightweight Jet Mach II ($140) is built to help
technology that Outerbridge, Smith—and probably players race through the court, and is also offered in Jet
many among us— could not have envisioned just a few Tere ($100) and Jet Mach Junior ($70). The SFX3 ($100) is
short years ago. a leader in both its interior comfort and cushioning.

20 TennisIndustry November/December 2019 www.tennisindustrymag.com

 Tennis footwear manufacturers push the envelope to
create lighter, more comfortable and more durable shoes with performance
features designed to improve one’s game.

New Balance Mizuno

newbalance.com / 800-595-9138 mizunousa.com / 800-392-9899

The knit 996v4 ($129.99), with more breathable uppers
and FuelCell foam inside, had its origins in the company’s
running category, where lightweight responsiveness is es-
sential. Americans Coco Gauff and Reilly Opelka will sport
these kicks in Melbourne.
P H O T O S C O U RT E S Y A D I DA S, B A B O L AT, N E W B A L A N C E , W I L S O N, M I Z U N O, L O T T O, F I L A , H E A D, K- S W I S S
The men’s and women’s Wave Exceed Tour 4 AC ($140)
launches in mid-January for both men and women. The
shoe is expected to be seen on the feet of Roberto Bautista
Agut, Bradley Klahn and others on Team Mizuno, and
updates include greater durability and additional support

throughout the foot bed.

Wilson Lotto
wilson.com / 773-714-6400 lotto.sportlife.us / 484-261-2100

Wilson’s Amplifeel 2.0 ($159), for men, is built with extra
ankle support. The lightweight Kaos 3.0 ($129), for men
and women, offers full bootie construction and lateral
webbings for feel and comfort. Brand extensions include
the Kaos 3.0 ($119), for men and women, and Kaos 3.0
Junior ($79). Aggressive players will seek out the Rush Pro
3.0 ($129), for men and women, or perhaps the Rush Pro
2.5 ($99) for men, all featuring updated color combos.
Continuing its aggressive re-entry into the North Ameri-
can market, Italian sportswear manufacturer Lotto
brings its lightest performance shoe to market in 2020.
The Mirage 200 SPD ($125) offers both men and women
an extra-durable sole, breathable upper and support for
quick, multi-directional cuts.

www.tennisindustrymag.com November/December 2019 TennisIndustry 21

TennisIndustry

Fila offers fun colorways

and designs for its Axilus
2 Energized shoe.

Fila
fila.com / 800-845-FILA

The lightweight, stylish and comfortable Axilus 2 Energized

($110), with both all-court and clay-court options, will be
John Isner’s shoe of choice, as well as Sofia Kenin, one of
the rising young Americans on the WTA tour. The new year
will offer new colorways in a staggered rollout, as well as the
debut of a Junior version ($65).

Head K-Swiss
head.com / 800-289-7366 kswiss.com / 800-938-8000

Head’s performance court shoe lines for men and women,
the Sprint Pro 3.0 ($129.95) and Revolt Pro 3.0 ($119.95),
will add new colorways for the new year. The low-profile,
lightweight Sprint will also be available in Team versions
for women ($99.95) and in a junior model ($59.95). The
stable and durable Revolt series will also be available in a
Team version for men ($99.95) and in the Junior Revolt
Pro 3.5 ($79.95).
The Hypercourt Express Supreme ($135) launches in
January and will feature technology providing greater
energy return in styles for both men and women and
target aggressive players with bold colorways and design.
The company’s best selling Hypercourt Express 2 ($110)
adds new stylings to the men’s and women’s lines. The new
year will also see continuing development of the Express
Light Pickleball ($100) shoe line.

22 TennisIndustry November/December 2019 www.tennisindustrymag.com


CUSTOMER SERVICE
Maintain Your Investment
Your stringing machine is critical
to your business, so be sure to give it
the care and attention it deserves.
By Bob Patterson
Executive Director, USRSA
I
f you offer racquet service,
your stringing machine is
critical to your bottom line.
Without it, your business will
suffer. So you need to make
sure you maintain it properly.
C O U RT E S Y U S R S A / B O B PAT T E R S O N
Keeping modern, professional string-
ing machines properly maintained
isn’t difficult. Keeping them clean and
calibrated is critical to the machine
delivering standout service.
Cleaning
Most stringing machines are cleaned
using simple rubbing alcohol, a clean
cloth and a small brush—but be sure
www.tennisindustrymag.com
Racquet Tech
to consult the owner’s manual for your
specific machine before cleaning.
You will want to wipe down glide rails
or turntables to remove any grime and
dust. Use a small gun-cleaning brush,
or even a toothbrush, to clean clamps
and tight spaces. As with any liquids,
though, be careful to avoid electronics.
Wipe the surfaces with a dry cloth to
remove any remaining residue—al-
though there probably won’t be much,
since the alcohol will evaporate quickly.
Some machines may require lubri-
cation on certain parts, but be sure to
check the owner’s manual before appli-
cation. Many machines do not require
November/December 2019
TennisIndustry
Check the machine’s
calibration following every
cleaning, or whenever
you have a big increase or
decrease in tension.
lubrication and can be harmed by it.
We recommend cleaning your string-
ing machine after every 20 racquets. It
only takes a few minutes, and you can
develop a routine based on your volume
to clean daily or weekly, to make sure
your machine stays in peak condition.
Calibration
Just because your machine is set to 55
pounds doesn’t mean that it is actually
pulling 55 pounds. Mechanical instru-
ments need to be checked regularly.
Make sure you have a calibration scale.
Spring-loaded scales are less than
$50. Digital calibration scales are also
available. It’s important to check the
machine’s calibration following every
cleaning, or whenever you have a big
increase or decrease in tension, such as
going from stringing a tennis racquet to
stringing a badminton frame.
If your machine needs to be reca-
librated, it’s usually a fairly easy task,
but make sure to check the manual for
your specific model. On lockout string-
ing machines, recalibration usually
requires adjusting a thumbscrew on
the spring. Most electronic machines
hold calibration well, so you may not
need to make adjustments. But if you
do, calibration adjustments are usually
handled through a series of commands
on the keypad.
Keeping your stringing machine in
top shape will ensure your work is as
accurate as possible, and will give your
customers exactly what they need for
their games. •
TennisIndustry 23
ALL IN ONE PLACE, DISCOVER INNOVATIONS &
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LAKE NONA EXPERIENCE TOM CONFERENCE
TUES, JANUARY 21 WED-FRI, JANUARY 22–24
USTA National Campus, Lake Nona Orange County Convention Center

CO-LOCATED WITH THE PGA MERCHANDISE SHOW

The Tennis Industry Association’s TOM

Conference, held during the Racquet & Paddle
Sports Show, features the popular “TOM Talk”
format – short presentations led by experts,
followed by roundtable discussions, to generate
and share best practices and innovative ideas.

TOPICS INCLUDE:

• Successfully Implementing Racquet & Paddle Sports from A to Z

• Incorporating New Trends to Engage & Retain Your Members

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• Main Stage Industry Presentations SUPPORTED BY:
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• Racquetfit Education Program
TennisIndustry
D I S T I N G U I S H E D PF AA D
RECREATIONAL PLAY
Guerrilla Pickleball
A tennis junkie finds fun, friends and
fitness in a Birmingham parking lot
with the Downtown Pickleball Club.
By Bob Patterson
I
’ll admit that I’m slow
to embrace new things.
Pickleball has been a
hot topic for a while—a
topic I did my best to
ignore. I’m in the tennis
business, and it seemed
that in every meeting I
attended over the last
couple of years, the sub-
ject of pickleball came up, but I never
really engaged.
I listened to the discussions and
knew many of my tennis friends had
embraced the sport, but my cynical
mind wouldn’t let me entertain it for
too long. I didn’t know much about the
game and, frankly, had no interest in
learning about it.
I had stopped playing tennis a few
years ago due to some physical limita-
tions, and although several friends
26 TennisIndustry November/December 2019
CDI LLIET Y-
S POOFR- TTHS E -Y E A R A W A R D S
C O U R PT I C OK NL ES BT AR LULC T I O N
encouraged me to try pickleball—“less
running,” “your height will make it
easy”—I was still resistant. It’s played
with a wiffle ball, of all things! And it
uses a paddle, with no strings. I had
made a living for the last 30 years
stringing tennis racquets. This was an
affront to my sensibilities.
Early this summer, I began to hear
many of my neighbors talking up pick-
leball and how much fun they were hav-
ing. Knowing my tennis background,
they all asked if I played pickleball.
“No,” I told them, “I’ve never played.” I
continued to decline invitations to play.
But a few weeks into the summer, I
noticed friends posting on social media
about a new “Downtown Pickleball
Club.” This intrigued me. I live in a
downtown loft in Birmingham, Ala.,
and like many other cities, our down-
town has been undergoing a resurgence
over the last few years, with real estate
prices escalating at an alarming rate.
So I wondered just where this club was
and who was bankrolling it. I kept tabs
on the social media page and noticed
the number of followers seemed to
double almost daily. Finally, I decided
to go check it out.
Play in a Parking Lot
What I found was a swarm of players
gathered in a large public parking lot
that stretches about five blocks along
the railroad tracks around which the
city was founded almost 150 years ago.
The parking lot fills a void between the
tracks and the buildings lining Mor-
ris Avenue, the city’s first commercial
street. The street retains the original
cobblestones laid in the 1870s and most
of the buildings date back to the last
century as well. What once were store-
fronts and warehouses now house lofts,
offices, restaurants and bars.
The northwest corner of this expan-
sive parking lot was the home of the
Downtown Pickleball Club—pickleball
courts outlined over the parking spaces
with duct tape, with portable nets. An
assortment of camping chairs sur-
rounded the courts, as players waited
their turn. It was an inspiring sight.
I was used to no-frills courts; I didn’t
start playing tennis until my senior
year of high school and I always played
at public parks. The Downtown Pick-
leball Club made the city park tennis
courts look like Wimbledon. But no one
seemed to mind.
Soon I was loaned a paddle and given
a brief overview of the game (“must
serve underhand,” “only get one serve,”
“service return must bounce before
playing,” “can’t volley past the ‘kitchen’
line”). Then someone said, “You’ll catch
P H O T O S BY J I M B AT H I E
on to the rest. Let’s play!”
I was never a great tennis player.
Throughout my USTA League days I
got bumped up to 4.0 a few times and
was always bumped back down to 3.5
the next season. But, after more than
www.tennisindustrymag.com
 TennisIndustry

As I met with my neighbors and friends in the afternoons and

weekends, it was apparent that everyone came out for both a bit of fresh air
and exercise, and also for the game’s inherent social aspects.

30 years of playing tennis, my brain and
instincts needed to be reprogrammed,
or at least adjusted, for pickleball. The
ball would come over the net toward me
and I’d shuffle into position to make my
swing, except the ball never arrived—at
least not where I was expecting it. The
bounce of a pressurized tennis ball is
much different than a hard plastic ball
with holes in it.
But before my first game was in the
bag, I was beginning to get the hang
of pickleball. Even though the court is
small and I was playing doubles, I was
completely spent after only two games.
But, thanks to a seasoned partner, I left
the Downtown Pickleball Club on my
first day undefeated.
A Foundation for Tennis?
That evening I discussed my experi-
ence with some tennis friends who had
also embraced the new sport. My main
observation was that pickleball is a
good foundation for tennis. As I played
and watched others play, it occurred to
me that a follow-through is essential in
this game. If you don’t swing through
the ball, your shot is going nowhere.
In my years of playing and observing
tennis, the main issue with players was
not following through, which results
in errant shots and also contributes to
injuries. If tennis players first learned
pickleball and programmed their
brain to always swing through the ball,
then once they moved to tennis, their
strokes would be much more fluid. It is
a great sport for players young and old.
In less than a month of playing two
or three times a week, my skill as a
pickleball player matched my former
level of tennis abilities. It’s an easy
game to learn, but more than that, it’s a
A foursome gets
ready to serve it up
at the Downtown
Pickleball Club in
Birmingham, Ala.
social game, much like tennis.
As I met with my neighbors and
friends in the afternoons and week-
ends, it was apparent that everyone
came out for both a bit of fresh air and
exercise, and also for the game’s inher-
ent social aspects. Soon I was meeting
new downtown dwellers, and even
people from the suburbs who would
come downtown because they had
heard about this makeshift club.
Three of my downtown neigh-
bors—Carrie Hill, Steve Duncan and
Sonya Johnson—are responsible for
the Downtown Pickleball Club, which
started from nothing and by the end of

www.tennisindustrymag.com November/December 2019 TennisIndustry 27

TennisIndustry

D I S T I N G U I S H E D PF AA D
CDI LLIET Y-
S POOFR- TTHS E -Y E A R A W A R D S

C O U R PT I C OK NL ES BT AR LULC T I O N

With portable nets and

hand-drawn and taped
lines, pickleball takes
over a part of the city's
historic downtown.

the summer had more than 100 mem-

bers, and continues to grow.
Hill, a local real estate agent, was
introduced to the game two years ago
when her dad came to town to partici-
pate with his basketball team in the
National Senior Games. She happened
to see the pickleball competition and
became intrigued. Soon afterward,
she encountered a client who was an
avid pickleball player and talked up
the game nonstop. She was invited
to weekly pickleball games that had
started at the downtown YMCA, and
she became hooked.
“After I maxed out my visits to the Y,
Steve and Sonya and I began to explore
setting up a court in a parking lot so there
would be no fee or travel,” Hill says.
Duncan and Johnson live in a down-
town high-rise and are avid pickleball
players. They used to live about 20
miles south of Birmingham, and were
tennis players. Then their county park
added two pickleball courts next to the
tennis courts. There, they met Jarick
People are coming from neighborhoods all
Rager, an ambassador for the USA around to join this welcoming community and
Pickleball Association, who explained to play pickleball in a city parking lot.
the game to them and loaned them
paddles—and they were hooked, too.
After the couple moved to their new
downtown home, they continued to media. Within a couple of weeks, the Park. The new park will stretch eight
make the drive back to the suburbs club had 25 players, and within a month blocks adjacent to the city’s convention
to play several times a week. They it had nearly 100. The club now lines center complex, and it will be com-
soon decided they needed to get more multiple courts in the public lot, and at pleted in 2022.
downtowners involved and to play least six members own portable nets. “I love this game because almost any-
closer to home. The enthusiasm of the players con- one can play,” Duncan says. “People are
tinues to drive the club’s phenomenal coming from neighborhoods all around
Social Media Connections growth. “What keeps me coming back, to join this welcoming community to
Together with Hill, Duncan and John- other than exercise, is how welcom- play pickleball in a city parking lot. No
son started a Facebook page for the ing everyone is,” says frequent player one complains about the surface, the
Downtown Pickleball Club and found Reddy Horton. “It's like Cheers—every- elements, the trains coming by … they
there were a handful of players living in body knows your name.” just enjoy the exercise and hospitality.
the city center. They chalked off a court The Downtown Pickleball Club is “Everyone encourages each other
in the public parking lot and began to now lobbying the city to have pickleball to play no matter their skill level, and
play, posting their adventures on social courts included in the new CityWalk everyone enjoys playing.” •

28 TennisIndustry November/December 2019 www.tennisindustrymag.com

TennisIndustry

D I S T I N G U I S H EA D
D AF P
A TCIIVL EI TPY-ROOFG- R
THAM
E -Y
S EAR AWARDS

RC EOCURRETATC OI ONNSATLR UT CE TNINOINS

ROSWELL, GA.

Special Pops
Tennis
> The mission of Special Pops Tennis
is to “enrich the lives of children and
adults with intellectual disabilities
through the lifetime sport of tennis,”
says Jim Hamm, SPT’s executive direc-
tor and chair of the USTA Southern
Special Populations/Adaptive Tennis

A Positive Spin Committee. “Our slogan is ‘Play Tennis,

Make Friends, Live Life.’”
The growth and popularity of adaptive SPT began year-round training in
2005 at three sites in metro Atlanta
tennis programs are helping with 25 athletes. Today the program
utilizes 18 sites, serving more than 600
participants, as well as the sport. athletes ages 8 through adult—with no
upper age limit—and has more than 575
volunteers, including 50 coaches. Free
By Judy Leand programs include year-round instruc-
tion, league play and tournament
competition. Other SPT events include
travel to tournaments in the Southeast
daptive tennis programs provide physical, mental and emotional and participation in the Special Olym-
advantages to three groups of athletes: Those with cognitive and pics Georgia Summer Games.
developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome and autism; players The 14th annual Fall Classic, SPT’s
with physical disabilities, such as ambulatory on-court without a wheelchair, and preeminent tournament, was held over
the vision-impaired; and those with emotional and social disorders, such as PTSD. three days in late September, attracting
more than 140 athletes from 10 states,
“Health and intellectual benefits are Adaptive Committee. “This is impor- and over 400 volunteers.
prompting program directors around tant because, post school-age, not a Local league play consists of Special
the country to develop and expand lot of programs exist for cognitively or Populations Unified Doubles, which
programs,” says Marcy Hirshberg, chair intellectually disabled adults.” pairs the group’s athletes with local
of the USTA’s National Adaptive Tennis In 2017, adaptive tennis was put un- tennis players in competitive doubles.
Committee. “The USTA is very sup- der the auspices of the USTA’s Diversity Athlete exhibitions have taken place at
portive of these programs, which makes and Inclusion Department. The USTA local clubs and the BB&T Atlanta Open,
it easier to grow them.” offers grants to run programs, and Oc- and SPT hosts several volunteer and
To date, there are 340 USTA- tober saw the second annual national coaches’ training clinics to teach people
registered adaptive tennis programs adaptive tournament at the USTA how to begin adaptive tennis programs
in 44 states, the District of Columbia National Campus in Orlando, with 11 in their communities.
C O U RT E S Y S P E C I A L P O P S T E N N I S

and Puerto Rico. Each program serves
between 10 to 500 players, and together
encompass 43,000 athletes and 41,000
volunteers. (Wheelchair tennis is a
different classification and is not part of
the adaptive tennis category.)
“The majority of adaptive programs
serve more adults than children,” adds
Jessie Taliaferro, vice chair of the USTA
USTA sections participating. For 2020,
an Adaptive Tennis Day is in the works.
“It’s exciting to see the growth in adap-
tive programs and to know how much
more we can accomplish,” says Hirsh-
berg, who points to these three organiza-
tions as great examples of groups that
go above and beyond to develop, provide
and promote adaptive tennis programs.
“Our vision is that every person
with intellectual disabilities in metro
Atlanta should have the opportunity
to participate in an adaptive tennis
program,” Hamm says.
“We’ve witnessed the results that
have come from our programs. Just one
tennis enthusiast can be a spark that
will ignite the entire community.”

30 TennisIndustry November/December 2019 www.tennisindustrymag.com

 TennisIndustry

The health and intellectual benefits of tennis are prompting program directors
around the country to develop and expand adaptive programs.

www.tennisindustrymag.com November/December 2019 TennisIndustry 31

TennisIndustry
D I S T I N G U I S H EA D
LAREDO, TEX.
Laredo Tennis
Association
> The Laredo Tennis Association aims
to provide anyone in the local area
who wants to play tennis a chance to
do so. The LTA’s adaptive programs
include Tennis for the Blind and Visu-
ally Impaired, launched five years ago,
and the Stroke Survivor Tennis Club,
now in its fourth year. Earlier this year,
LTA launched a program for those with
Down syndrome. LTA serves about 55
athletes across all of its programs, and
has nearly 40 volunteers.
“The challenge now is to grow these
groups,” says Tina Trevino, LTA presi-
dent. “We’ve beefed up awareness via
local newspapers, TV, posters around
the city and especially Facebook and
other social media.”
The Tennis for the Blind and Visually
32 TennisIndustry November/December 2019
D AF P
A TCIIVL EI TPY-ROOFG- R
THAM
E -Y
S EAR AWARDS
RC EOCURRETATC OI ONNSATLR UT CE TNINOINS
Impaired program began when a tennis
pro who was teaching at a school for the
blind approached the LTA. Trevino con-
tacted the Laredo Braille Club and the
Special Ed departments of two school
districts and the city’s Parks & Leisure
Services Department for use of a gym.
“The tennis balls are made to jingle,
so that blind and visually impaired play-
ers can hear them,” says Trevino.
The LTA now holds two tourna-
ments a year for both its blind/visually
impaired players and for its Stroke
Survivor Club members. In April, LTA
players will travel to Austin to compete
against players from the Texas School
for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
A large pool of volunteers is key to
making these progams work. To that
end, LTA actively seeks high school
tennis players by offering scholarships.
Between $10,000 to $18,000 per year
in scholarships is given to local high
school varsity players for higher educa-
The Laredo Tennis
C O U RT E S Y L A R E D O T E N N I S A S S O C I AT I O N, W O U N D E D WA R R I O R T E N N I S P R O G R A M
Association continues to
grow its programs and
volunteer base, serving
dozens of adaptive athletes.
tion or vocational training; these play-
ers must compete on their school team
and volunteer in LTA programs.
In addition, the organization helps
its graduating high school volunteers
start tennis programs on their new col-
lege and school campuses.
Going forward, LTA is hoping for a
boost in participation and awareness
following the city’s construction of an
18-court tennis complex, expected to
open by early 2021 on the Texas A&M
International University campus.
“The joy of tennis is the passion,
friendships and ability to share with
people of all ages and abilities,” says
Trevino. “That’s the motivating factor
for why LTA does what it does.”
www.tennisindustrymag.com
 TennisIndustry

It’s exciting to see the growth in adaptive programs

and to know how much more we can accomplish.

SAN DIEGO

Wounded Warrior
Tennis Program
> In San Diego, tennis is a means of
rehabilitation and community inte-
gration for wounded, ill and injured
service members and veterans of all
ages. The Wounded Warrior Tennis
Program consists of free weekly tennis
clinics and annual national camps that
have served more than 800 participants
since 2009. The program is run by more
than 100 volunteers, and serves 30 ath-
letes per week and 60 at annual camps.
“Our goal is to use tennis as a vehicle
to get out of the hospital environment
and to promote reintegration,” says
Steve Kappes, director of military
outreach for San Diego District Tennis
Association. “The experience creates a
new sense of optimism and hope.”
Every week, the program provides 30
participants with an hour and a half of
tennis, followed by lunch. In addition,
for the past eight years the organization
has offered an annual, weeklong camp
for up to 60 wounded warriors across
the country at no expense to them.
“We’ve had successful fundraising
and support from San Diego and local
businesses, and have enjoyed broad
support from the USTA Foundation,
USTA sections and vendors in the ten-
nis industry,” Kappes says.
The success of the Wounded War-
rior Tennis Program has been instru-
mental in the establishment of similar
grassroots-based programs across the
country. In the near future, Kappes
would like to see more clinics per week,
and he’d like the organization to host
more annual tennis camps, either in
San Diego or other parts of the country.
“It’s a labor of love,” he says. “Ev-
eryone involved has full-time jobs and
family responsibilities, but we’re grati-
fied to see the positive results. We’re
very proud of what we do and appreci-
ate everything our partners provide.”

www.tennisindustrymag.com November/December 2019 TennisIndustry 33

TennisIndustry
RECREATIONAL TENNIS
Building the Complete
Tennis Player
Teaching pros need to be in the
business of creating tennis ‘players,’
not merely ‘lesson takers.’
By Howard Chodak
O
ur sport faces many
challenges, including
retaining players,
increasing our player
base and inspiring the
next generation to embrace the game
that we love. Those of us who devote our
lives to dealing with these challenges
have a huge role in determining the
future of tennis, because I believe our
entire industry is driven by the quality
of each player’s on-court experience.
Every time someone takes a lesson,
we have the opportunity to impact their
tennis experience. If we do our jobs well,
our industry will flourish. Conversely,
many of the challenges we face are a
result of our failure to make the most of
our teaching and coaching opportunities.
34 TennisIndustry November/December 2019
YourServe
As teaching pros and coaches, the ten-
dency is to look at the pieces of a player’s
game, rather than what those pieces add
up to. Your students are the players they
are because of the combination of their
strengths and weaknesses, their deci-
sion making, their ability to handle pres-
sure, among other qualities. What we
work on, and how we work on it, must be
based on how we can best impact them
as complete players. If what we choose
isn’t impacting how they play, then we
are failing as professionals.
When our students come to us with a
specific need—like a backhand or a serve
issue—we often try to improve that shot
without considering the impact it will
have on them as a player. Is their success
or failure directly related to the shot
in question? If it isn’t, then our time
should be spent elsewhere. It is our job
to make choices that will enhance their
game in the shortest amount of time
with the least disruption.
The greatest failure of our industry is
the lack of rapid and tangible improve-
ment in how our students play. This is
reflected not only in what we choose
to work on, but also in how we work on
it. During a match, shots don’t exist in
a vacuum, so we shouldn’t teach and
practice them that way. Drills have their
place, but they must be combined with
as much live-ball drilling that simu-
lates play as possible. Our feeds should
re-create what players see at their level,
rather than be balls that tend to make
them successful. Creating false success
in practice won’t help students in real
play situations.
Most students probably are happy
with the instruction they receive, but I
believe most of those lessons will have
little to no impact on the actual on-court
experience of those players. That’s a
problem, and it must change if we are to
live up to our potential as professionals
and stewards of the future of the game.
When students are playing better, ev-
eryone notices. This creates real value in
our lessons and increases the likelihood
of that student continuing to play. It also
generates interest from others who have
seen the results. That enthusiasm has
an impact seen throughout our industry.
To achieve this requires a shift in our ap-
proach away from viewing our lessons as
something for our students to just enjoy,
and toward us taking full responsibility
for their on-court experience.
Let’s use our lessons as the means to
actually create players. The future of our
sport depends on it. •
Howard Chodak is a
USPTA Master Pro
with over 40 years of
teaching experience.
He authored "The Seven
Deadly Sins of Doubles."
He can be reached at
racquetdance@aol.com.
SHUTTERSTOCK
We welcome your opinions and
comments. Please email them to
info@tennisindustrymag.com.
www.tennisindustrymag.com
 November- December 2019

Alex Gordon Professional

of the Year Ajay Pant at the
2019 World Conference in
Las Vegas.

Nov-Dec 2019.indd 35 9/27/2019 2:57:45 AM

 USPTA CEO’S MESSAGE
YEAR END
WRAP-UP
John Embree
USPTA CEO
A s I write this last message for
2019, I want to opine on two
items: what just transpired at our
World Conference in Las Vegas in
late September and the urgency
for compliance on the continuing
education requirements for the
current cycle, which ends on Dec. 31.
Most of you know that our stated
International Tennis Center Hall of Famer Andre Agassi spoke on coaching
influences during the 2019 World Conference.
36 - USPTA ADDvantage Magazine — Nov.-Dec. 2019
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 36
mission is “to elevate the standards
of tennis-teaching professionals and
coaches” in the USA and around the
world. In order to truly raise our
professional knowledge and provide
our clients a better experience on
the court, each professional needs
to make a commitment to learn by
seeking educational opportunities
that will improve their performance
and enhance their clients’ experience
when coming to our facilities. It would
be impossible to do so without making
a concerted effort to take online
courses, to attend division and national
conferences or participate in many
local regional education offerings.
After 20 years with no educational
requirements needed to maintain
your membership in good standing,
the national Board of Directors and
Executive Committee implemented
a modest requirement of 12 hours/6
credits over a three-year cycle that
began in 2014. Failure to comply with
this mandate by the end of December
2016 resulted in the suspension of
over 660 members. There were many
amongst you who did not believe we
would stick to our guns and jettison
members for not fulfilling this
obligation. But, we did.
Here we are, coming up on the end
of the second three-year education
window. The following numbers are
startling and should be taken very
seriously: there were approximately
5,300 pros whose education cycle
ends in a few weeks. The good news is
that 58% of that total have crossed the
finish line. Thank you to those who
lived up to that responsibility.
But the reality is that almost 2,200
members have yet to comply with the
education requirements, and 1,200
pros have no credits whatsoever during
this three-year period. Just as we did in
early 2017, we will suspend those who
are delinquent beginning Jan. 1, 2020.
They will not be allowed back into our
Association until they have complied.
I don’t want to come off as a
taskmaster, but the national Board
of Directors and the Executive
Committee have made it very clear
as to the action that will be taken. If
you are one of those professionals
who have not made this a priority or
who may have forgotten about this
requirement, please take the time to
get it done before Dec. 31. And if you
know of colleagues that are lagging,
please reach out to them. We don’t
want to lose them and hopefully, they
do not want to be without their USPTA
certification.
On a more pleasant note, I could
not have been more pleased with how
9/30/2019 8:56:57 AM

2019 USPTA Hall of Fame inductee Frank Brennan, Jr.
our World Conference went in Las
Vegas. We had our largest attendance
since the last time we were in Las Vegas
in 2006. Close to 1,000 people were
registered, 65 unique vendors came to
display their products and services at
our Merchandise & Trade Show, and
there were over 40 distinct educational
sessions, plus two specialty courses.
Candidly, I think this was the strongest
lineup of speakers in my eight World
Conferences since being in this role!
We sold out of the two IPTPA
(pickleball) certifications that were
held on the beginning weekend and our
colleagues from RacquetFit held their
level 1 certification on the final weekend
with over 30 participants. Seven people
took their certification exam along with
one member who wanted to upgrade.
Naturally, we began the week by
hosting our usual Board and Executive
Committee meetings, dedicated
to addressing the business of our
Association. Two days later, we hosted
our General Membership Meeting,
which gave the rank-and-file member
the chance to be updated on most
important issues that we face and how
we are performing.
But the real highlights of the week
were the full day of female speakers on
Tuesday and Andre Agassi’s appearance
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 37
that preceded our Awards
Lunch on Wednesday. To
have the brightest women
coaches presenting their 2019 USPTA Hall of Fame inductee Dick Gould
learnings to professionals
of all genders was
impactful. We are committed to
reaching out to diverse coaches who
have a message to tell so that all our
professionals can benefit from their
perspective. Expect to see more of that
in the future.
Andre’s take on coaching, his personal
impressions of his mentors and the
lessons that he has learned from those
individuals was enlightening. Thanks
to Mark Knowles, Tennis Channel
commentator and tour veteran, for
moderating this enjoyable session.
And thanks to Todd Martin of the
International Hall of Fame for making
this special event happen.
Finally, our awards ceremony
put a spotlight on the best that
our Association has to offer. We
recognized those individuals who have
contributed so mightily to tennis and
their communities, not only for this
past year but over their entire careers.
Congratulations to all the winners,
including our latest inductees into our
USPTA Hall of Fame, Frank Brennan
and Dick Gould. As legendary coaches at buckle your seat belts! *
Nov.-Dec. 2019 — USPTA ADDvantage Magazine - 37
USPTA
Stanford and both long-time members
of the USPTA who started their careers
as tennis-teaching professionals in the
USPTA, they took their rightful place
with other icons in the coaching and
tennis-teaching world.
I would be remiss if I did not
acknowledge the untiring efforts of
our entire staff who made the week
the success that it was. We began the
planning process of this extravaganza
nine months ago; it takes that long to
make sure that every detail is thought
through and executed, much of which
is done behind the scenes and with
little fanfare. We had 16 people on-site
working morning until night while
seven members stayed back to mind the
fort in Lake Nona. I am sure the staff
would appreciate a word of thanks and
congratulations on a job well done if
you are so inclined. I am so proud to be
a small part of this incredible team!
Enjoy your holidays, everyone.
Thanks for your support of the USPTA.
2020 is going to be one heck of a ride –
9/30/2019 8:57:00 AM
 USPTA VICE PRESIDENT MESSAGE
FOCUS ON I hope that
those
WHAT IS of you that
were able to join us
IMPORTANT
at the World Conference
in Las Vegas enjoyed it.
This event is always
amazing and the
Mark Faber, USPTA National Staff
USPTA Vice President puts in countless
hours to provide a top
notch event for us all. If you
could take a brief moment to send the staff a quick
e-mail thanking them, that would be awesome.
Also, I would like to take this opportunity to
congratulate all the award winners. It is an amazing
accomplishment to be recognized and I encourage
each of you to treasure this moment.
As I sit and write this article, I have gone back and
forth on what subject matter would be of interest. My
fellow board members have hit on some great topics
over the past two years and hopefully they have made
as big an impact on you as they have on me.
Several weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to
attend the USTA Semi-Annual meeting during the
US Open. I attended many committee meetings
and had some outstanding conversations with
passionate volunteers that truly love the game of
tennis.
There is no denying the importance of both the
USPTA and the USTA in growing the game of tennis.
It could be through a USTA program, a club-created
program or a personally created program. But that
doesn’t mean the USPTA can’t lead the charge.
It does not matter where it comes from!
What stood out to me while attending the
committee meetings and in my conversations is
that people simply want to see the game grow. The
USPTA does not need to wait and see what is next,
38 - USPTA ADDvantage Magazine — Nov.-Dec. 2019
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 38
we just need to
lace up the work
boots, pack our
lunches and put
on our hard hats.
We can never
ignore the negatives,
but the USPTA
should focus more
on the positives. The USPTA needs
to continue sitting down with people that do not
always agree with us, for this challenges us to be
better and allows us to learn. The more we learn and
the more we execute, the better the Association we
will become.
Great leaders understand that they do not know
everything and it is the team that accomplishes
things, not the leader themself. I truly believe that
the USPTA and our professionals are great leaders
in the industry. That means each of you reading this
article is a leader in your community. That, in turn,
means your ability to influence others to help grow
the game is beyond measure.
It would be great next year to sit in these
meetings and hear about USPTA professionals that
have run or created a program that helped change
the current trend of tennis. Each and every one of
you has that power.
It is time that we stop worrying about items
such as scoring formats in junior tennis, ratings
and rankings, short courts and beyond. It is time to
start worrying about getting more people into the
sport of tennis so we can develop not only the next
American Grand Slam champion, but the next high
school JV, Tennis on Campus, Junior Team Tennis
and Adult League players, not to mention the
next you or I as industry leaders. We, the USPTA,
need to step up, lead by example and impact the
conversation!*
9/27/2019 2:57:51 AM
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 USPTA TIM HECKLER HALL OF FAME AWARD
2019 USPTA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE FRANK BRENNAN, JR.
One Generation to the Next
T he name Frank Brennan carries
weight in Palo Alto, Calif. Indeed,
the name is known throughout the
tennis world. It began with Frank
Brennan, Sr., who coached the legendary
Billie Jean King in her youth. It
continues today with Frank Brennan III,
or “Frankie,” as he’s known, who’s been
the Stanford women’s tennis associate
head coach for nine years.
But for 21 years before that, Frank
Brennan, Jr. led the Cardinal women
on the court. He orchestrated an
unprecedented series of championships
– his 10 NCAA team national titles set
a record – and solidified Stanford’s
program as the best in the nation.
His record of success and personable
nature brought class after class of future
stars to Stanford. He presided over four
undefeated seasons and coached nine
NCAA singles champions. Forty-one of
his players became All-Americas.
Brennan, Jr. led the Cardinal
to six consecutive team national
championships in six years from 1986
Brennan, Jr. poses with his family
42 - USPTA ADDvantage Magazine — Nov.-Dec. 2019
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 42
Lucas Casás, USPTA Communications
to 1991, an NCAA record, and posted
a 76-match winning streak in the
process. He made 18 NCAA Final Fours
in 19 years. Only two senior classes
graduated without at least one national
championship ring.
After compiling a 510-50 win-loss
record and becoming the second-
winningest women’s collegiate tennis
coach of all time, Brennan, Jr. retired
from coaching after the 2000 season.
But his work at Stanford’s Taube
Tennis Center didn’t stop there.
In 2008, eight years after Brennan, Jr.
retired from coaching, his son picked up
the phone and asked him to come back.
And so he did, as a volunteer assistant.
“I will do all the matches and travel,
but I’m not much of a morning person,
so I’m not doing the 8:30 a.m. hits on
Monday and Wednesday,” Brennan, Jr.
told his son in What Makes Tennis Tick.
With Brennan Jr. as a volunteer
assistant, Brennan III as associate head
coach and Lele Forood as Director of
Women’s Tennis, the Cardinal reached
Brennan, Jr. won 10 team national
championships at Stanford.
two NCAA finals and won the 2010
national championship – Forood’s sixth
of 10 titles.
“How to relate to people, how to treat
people,” Forood responded when asked
how Brennan, Jr. impacted her. She first
met him when she was 10 years old and
through the years of tennis camps and
lessons, they’ve become “like family.”
She was an assistant on his staff for over
a decade. “He’s just an unbelievable
person and I learned a lot about – again,
he was like another parent for me, so I
learned a lot of values that are important
to take not only into the workplace but in
personal relationships.”
Over his illustrious career, Brennan,
Jr. was named USPTA Northern
California Coach of the Year six times,
USPTA Coach of the Year twice, ITA/
Wilson Intercollegiate Coach of the Year
four times and Intercollegiate Coach of
the Decade for the 1980s and 1990s. He
was inducted into the Stanford Athletics
Hall of Fame in 2001 and the ITA
Women’s Hall of Fame in 2006. He has
been a USPTA member for 54 years.*
9/27/2019 2:57:53 AM
 TIM HECKLER HALL OF FAME AWARD
2019 USPTA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE DICK GOULD
Origin of Excellence
I n the summer of 1966, when Dick
Gould was hired as men’s tennis
coach at Stanford, the university
“tolerated athletic mediocrity,” he
wrote in Dick Gould: My 57-Year
Stanford Story. Stanford, with its elite
academic tradition, could not excel the
same way in sports, he was told.
He didn’t buy it. His alma mater
could compete with – and beat – the
behemoths of USC and UCLA, which
had won 16 of the previous 21 national
championships.
It took seven seasons, but in 1973,
Stanford defeated USC 33-28 to win
its first team national championship.
Stanford repeated as team national
champions in 1974, and also captured
singles and doubles national
championships in both years.
In the 24 seasons from 1977 to
2000, Stanford captured 15 more team
national titles. They were propelled
by some of the game’s all-time greats
– John McEnroe, Roscoe Tanner,
Sandy Mayer and Bob and Mike Bryan,
to name a few. The tennis program’s
success mirrored that of Stanford’s
entire athletic department, which had
only won two team national titles since
In addition to his Hall of Fame induction, Gould
served as a speaker during the 2019 USPTA
World Conference
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 43
USPTA
Lucas Casás, USPTA Communications
1953, yet today sets the
standard for excellence
in collegiate athletics.
“When I started, it
seemed impossible
to even think of
winning one national
championship. I was
influenced by football
coach John Ralston,
who led Stanford to its
first Rose Bowl victories
in more than 30 years,”
Gould wrote. “He
taught me a lot. I like
to think that maybe we
were the two guys who
helped change the way
of thinking in Stanford
Athletics and turned
things around.”
Gould poses with Roscoe Tanner (left) and Sandy Mayer
But Gould’s legacy (right) after winning the 1972 NCAA doubles title.
at Stanford extends
far beyond the trophy championship. It was then, after 38
case. Gould led the charge to raise $20 years, that Gould decided it was time to
million for the Taube Tennis Center, hang it up. He then became Director of
which went from three courts to 17, Tennis at Stanford until his retirement
bleachers to over 2,300 individual in January 2019.
stadium seats, a clubhouse, players’ Gould became a legend in Palo
lounge, video center, conference room Alto. He produced 50 All-Americas.
and more. Thirteen went on to win Grand
“Not one penny was Slam championships. Eight became
from the department Olympians. Nine players reached the
or the university,” he top 15 in ATP world singles rankings; 14
wrote. “I’m really proud reached the top ten in doubles. He also
that nearly all of the authored the book Tennis, Anyone?
endowment that covers in 1969.
our men’s program was Gould has been a USPTA member
money we also directly for 38 years and was awarded the
raised from donors.” USPTA Northern California Lifetime
Until his retirement Achievement Award in 2004 and
from coaching in 2004, the USTA Northern California
every senior class at Diversity Icon Award in 2008. Gould,
Stanford won at least now 81, lives in Palo Alto with his
one team national wife Anne.*
Nov.-Dec. 2019 — USPTA ADDvantage Magazine - 43
9/27/2019 2:57:56 AM
 USPTA 2019 AWARDS

ALEX GORDON PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR: AJAY PANT

Recognition Comes With Responsibility Lucas Casás, USPTA Communications

I f everything had gone according

to plan, Ajay Pant never would’ve
become a tennis professional.
But life rarely cares about the plans we
make. Pant was preparing for medical
school when his life took a detour.
“I was doing some work with Welby
Van Horn. I was still in college,” Pant
remembers. “I can’t tell you why, I was
doing a very good job, I was working
hard, but I didn’t have any technical
expertise. He pulled me aside and said,
‘I just want to talk to you.’ I’m like, it’s
Welby Van Horn. Oh geeze.”
The late Van Horn, an accomplished
player who became one of the greatest
coaches ever, assured Pant that he’d
make a great doctor before asking if he’d
ever considered coaching tennis. He
hadn’t. Van Horn told him he should.
“He saw something,” Pant said. “He
said some pretty neat things. In his
opinion, I would be good at this. In
fact, he said some nice things about the right.”
potential.”
By all accounts, Pant has realized
Pant lectures at the USPTA Leadership Academy.
that potential. In 2009, Pant became
a USPTA Master Professional. In
September 2019, he was named USPTA
Alex Gordon Professional of the Year.
“He’s a jack of all trades,” fellow
Master Pro Feisal Hassan said. “He’s
what I call the complete professional.
He’s an expert in the industry.”
For the last three years, Pant has
served as national tennis director at
Life Time Fitness in Minneapolis,
where he oversees all of Life Time’s
tennis programs and directors across
the country, committed to “student-
centered learning.” Pant also supervises
the business aspects of Life Time tennis,
at the club and national level.
“I spend a lot of my time, besides
everything else, tending to the
curriculum, modules, progression,
certificates, updating learning
methodologies for the whole company,”
Pant said. “Someone has to get the vision
He’s also very involved with the
USPTA Leadership Academy, which
trains tennis professionals to
move off the court into tennis
management. Pant began
his career coaching on-court
before becoming a tennis
director.
“He helps with the
Leadership Academy that
we host,” Hassan said. “He’s
instrumental in several aspects
of the Leadership Academy. His
strength is obviously budgeting
because he deals with so many
clubs. He has a strong financial
acuity.”
Pant has been recognized
several times in his career – he
was named Person of the Year
in 2018 by the Tennis Industry
Magazine – but for Pant, being
Pant received the USPTA Alex Gordon
Professional of the Year award at the 2019
USPTA World Conference.
named Alex Gordon Professional of the
Year is an added responsibility.
“When you look at folks who have
received this award in the past, I went
as far back as I could go, people who got
this award are mentors and legends,
big-time names,” Pant said. “What you
do post award is very important. Quite
frankly, there’s a big responsibility after
that. You have to step it up.”
For Pant, stepping it up means
furthering his efforts to grow the game.
He wants to get more beginner-level
youth and adults involved, and he
develops programming to fit their needs.
He also works to ensure his teaching
professionals adhere to the highest
standards of tennis teaching, because
that’s what will keep students coming
back.
“If the coaching is not conducted
correctly, you can be pretty
dysfunctional playing tennis,” he said.
“But if the coaching is delivered and the
learning is happening, it’s really different
than just a forehand or a backhand. You
could change someone’s life.”*

44 - USPTA ADDvantage Magazine — Nov.-Dec. 2019

Nov-Dec 2019.indd 44 9/27/2019 2:57:59 AM


GEORGE BACSO LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: SEAN SLOANE
Teaching Life Lessons on the Court
M any years ago at the Fairfield
Beach Club in Connecticut, John
Conroy taught a lesson.
But not a typical tennis lesson. It was
at a tournament, and a player, 16 years
old, threw his racquet. It was the second
time, and he’d already been warned.
So Conroy, then the tennis coach at
Princeton, defaulted him.
The player’s father, who was on the
club’s board of directors, fumed as he
confronted Conroy.
“Conroy simply said, ‘Look, I warned
him. He can’t do that. He’s not going
to do that as long as I’m the pro here,’”
remembered Sean Sloane, who was
Conroy’s assistant pro at the time. “Wow.”
That was one of many lessons Sloane
learned from Conroy. It resonated with
him, and he instilled that in all his players
over his next five decades as a coach.
It’s just one aspect of Sloane’s legacy. As
is his most recent recognition, the George
Bacso Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Tennis is a sport where you call your
own lines. You have sole control over
how honest you’re going to be,” said
Jeff Monhait, who played for Sloane at
Haverford College from 2005-09. “One
Sloane coached college tennis for
38 years at Williams College and
Haverford College.
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 45
2019 AWARDS USPTA
Lucas Casás, USPTA Communications
of my most lasting
memories of Sean
was that he was
always explicitly
clear that if you
were not 100%
certain that a ball
was out, it was
in. That’s a very
important life
lesson because you
can’t cut corners
and you need to
do things honestly
or it doesn’t really Sloane is a champion of sportsmanship and respect.
matter.” Sloane also always prioritized
Sloane coached tennis and squash academics. If there was a guest speaker
at Williams College for 17 years before somewhere during practice, or if they
coaching both sports at Haverford for 21 were behind on schoolwork, “You go
years. His teams were always known for do that, it’s alright,” Sloane would say
their sportsmanship. And, well, their size. calmly. His teams were consistently
It wasn’t uncommon for Sloane among the nation’s leaders, across
to carry 24 players on his roster. His Divisions I, II and III, in academic
promise was that if his players showed achievement.
up every day and worked hard, he Sloane’s contributions to the sport
wouldn’t cut them. Haverford had extend beyond his teams. He was
12 courts to split between men’s and instrumental in publishing the USPTA’s
women’s practices, so he’d put four Tennis: A Professional Guide in
players on a court and run drills with 1983, and in 2005, the College Squash
two balls at a time. That way, everyone Association renamed its men’s team
got court time and everyone played sportsmanship award after him.
together. But his proudest achievement, he says,
It was also important to Sloane that “rests with the players that I coached
all his players got to experience a varsity because I think they learned from me
match. He “was prepared to take a loss,” the right way to play the game. They’ll
he said, to give everyone an opportunity continue to carry that forward.”
to play, but always put his team in a Just as the lessons he learned from
position to win. Conroy all those years ago stick with
“What college coach would say, ‘it’s him, so will those he imparted into his
important for me that the guy who’s 15th players.
on our ladder gets a chance to play in He was about honesty. He was about
a varsity match,’” Monhait said. “Who integrity. Above all, he was about
does that?” respect.
“The kids all believed it because “I just felt, well, this is the way,”
at practice every day, everybody was Sloane said “Respect the game. Respect
there,” Sloane said. your opponents. Respect yourself.”*
Nov.-Dec. 2019 — USPTA ADDvantage Magazine - 45
9/27/2019 2:58:00 AM
 USPTA 2019 AWARD WINNERS
2019 USPTA
AWARD WINNERS
2019 Star Award
Betty Sue Welch has
been coaching tennis,
from middle school
to college and from
clubs to international
tournaments, for
almost 50 years. She was involved
with the Special Olympics for many
years, and the “Betty Sue Welch Angel
Award” is given annually to a Special
Olympics tennis athlete who embodies
values including friendship, bravery,
determination and sportsmanship.
Through her community involvement
with tennis, Betty has touched
countless lives across generations.
2019 Star Award
Alex Marcial
founded Friends of
Philippine Tennis
in 2012. Since then,
he’s worked to
collect used tennis
equipment, including racquets, shoes,
balls and nets, to donate to his native
Philippines, where tennis equipment
is expensive and many families
cannot afford it. Alex was inspired to
establish FOPT by his own childhood,
when he had the opportunity to play
tennis because of donated equipment.
In 2018, FOPT delivered over 750
racquets, 1,200 pairs of shoes, 5,000
tennis balls and 50 nets.
46 - USPTA ADDvantage Magazine — Nov.-Dec. 2019
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 46
2019
Diversity Award
Chris Champion
serves as tennis
coach, program
administrator,
operations manager
and director of tennis at First Serve
Miami, an NJTL program that offers
tennis lessons and educational
support to disadvantaged youth in
Miami. Under Chris’ leadership,
First Serve Miami implemented the
Community Partners and Adopt-A-
Player programs, which helped over
650 participants. He established
programs at eight area elementary
schools and even set up a special visit
from 2017 US Open champion Sloane
Stephens. He volunteered his time
at different camps and programs for
kids and encourages others to as well.
2019 High School
Coach of the Year
Paul Lauterbach has
coached tennis at
Lake Geneva Badger
High School for
more than 30 years.
Throughout his tenure, both the boys’
and girls’ teams have contended for
the conference title and in 2018, both
teams were dominant. Each team
won the conference tournament –
the girls became the first team ever to
win every tournament match – and
both qualified for states. Seven of his
players from 2018 have gone on to
play collegiate tennis from DIII to DI.
Paul has been a USPTA member for
over 30 years.
2019 Steve
Wilkinson College
Coach of the Year
Evan Isaacs has
been coaching
men’s and women’s
tennis at Columbus
State University for 18 years. The
Lady Cougars have made the NCAA
Tournament every year under Isaacs,
and in 2018 they reached the national
semifinals for the first time. The men,
meanwhile, captured the program’s
first national championship. Isaacs
has coached 45 All-Americans, 96 All-
Conference players, four Peach Belt
Conference Players of the Year, and has
won PBC Coach of the Year five times.
2019 Tom Gullikson
Touring Coach
of the Year
David Marshall
coaches doubles
pairs Bob & Mike
Bryan, Jack Sock
& Mike Bryan, and John Isner in
singles, in conjunction with coach
David MacPherson. Marshall
prepares his players for ATP 1000
events and majors. Under Marshall’s
leadership, the Bryan brothers have
a 3-1 record against Nicolas Mahut
& Pierre-Hugues Hebert, whom
they had never beaten in six tries prior
9/27/2019 2:58:02 AM

to Marshall’s coaching. Marshall is
a USPTA Elite Professional and was
presented the 2018 Nitto Doubles
Finals Winning Coach Award by the
ATP after Mike Bryan & Jack Sock won
the season-ending championship.
2019 U30 Award
Amanda Fink has
shown tireless
commitment to
growing tennis
through grassroots
initiatives. In 2018,
she recruited a volunteer crew of
almost 50 pros to run Tennis Fest for
roughly 700 participants at Balboa
Tennis Club in San Diego. She also
organized several other programs to
foster tennis community involvement
and provide information on college
recruitment. Amanda chairs the San
Diego Division U30 Committee, which
ran six education events in 2018. At one
seminar, her spirit shined as she gave
instructions on running a drill, all while
singing at the top of her lungs.
2019 U30 Award
Greg Heartt grew the
USPTA Florida U30
program to over 250
professionals through
his volunteer work
as the Membership
Project Team Lead. He is also the
president of the USPTA Florida
Orlando Division and was recognized
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 47
for his community involvement and
work in connecting tennis pros in
the Orlando area. He also teamed up
with USTA Florida to grow tennis
involvement in local schools. His
passion for the game is evident through
his commitment to the U30 program.
2019 Lessons
for Life Award
Jose Pastrello
organized 21 pro/
ams, exhibitions
and fundraisers in
2018 that raised over
$45,000 for various university tennis
teams and scholarships. He spoke at the
USPTA Leadership Academy and was
awarded the Most Innovative Course
by Tennis Industry magazine. Jose
is involved with the USPTA National
Education and Testing Committee and
is a USPTA Florida Board Member.
2019 Industry
Excellence Award
Sally Frame is
president and
director of Ace
Tennis Services,
which she founded
in 2017 and dramatically increased
tennis participation in Plano, Texas.
Sally created “Wilson Nights,” a
non-elimination singles and doubles
event for juniors between 10 and 14
years old, and other special doubles
events. She has worked diligently to
Nov.-Dec. 2019 — USPTA ADDvantage Magazine - 47
USPTA
create a program full of opportunities
for juniors and even organized trips
for adults and juniors to professional
tournaments in California and Chicago.
She also began coaching varsity tennis
at John Paul II High School.
2019 Small Facility
Manager of the Year
Len Simard is the
general manager
at New Canaan
Racquet Club in
Connecticut, where
he increased the club’s programming
by 300% by adding pro/ams, junior
tournaments and other socials, as
well as a full pickleball program. His
additions led to a revenue increase
of $150,000. He maintains a staff
of seven USPTA professionals, and
three other staff members will join
the USPTA in 2019. He also instituted
benefits and performance bonuses for
his employees.
2019 Large
Facility Manager
of the Year
Wendy Tatum
manages the Palm
Beach Gardens
Tennis Center and
put together an exciting slate of
programming in 2018. She organized
a women’s weekday team, men’s and
women’s senior teams, as well as
senior mixed doubles, adult and junior
9/27/2019 2:58:05 AM
 USPTA 2019 AWARD WINNERS
leagues and more. Wendy manages a
staff of over 10 USPTA professionals
and the center’s robust slate of
programming led to a 25% increase
in revenue from 2017. Her success
prompted the City of Palm Beach
Gardens to build a new, 10,000 sq. ft.
structure, to be completed in 2019.
2019 Tester
of the Year
Allan Jensen is
the tennis service
representative at
USTA Southern
and also works with
Hispanic outreach and Net Generation.
In 2018, Jensen conducted nine tests
for a total of 43 applicants. He was
INTRODUCING
Take the inconvenience
out of applying sunscreen
a product by:
48 - USPTA ADDvantage Magazine — Nov.-Dec. 2019
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 48
one of the first to be trained in and
implement the USPTA on-court testing
app. Jensen went above and beyond
when he flew out of his region to assist
with a test that had an overflow of
applicants.
Top Education
Earner
Mike Friedman
earned the most
continuing education
credits of any USPTA
member in 2018, with
179.5 credits. Friedman is a tennis pro
at Winnetka Park District in Winnetka,
Illinois, and coaches through the
USTA’s Net Generation program. He
was recognized as USPTA Midwest
Illinois Professional of the Year in 2014.
Water Resistent Sweat Proof
He has taught tennis for 30 years and
has been a USPTA Professional for 29.
USTA/USPTA
Community
Service Award
Neal Hagberg has
worked at Gustavus
Adolphus College,
his alma mater, since
1981, and has been the Tennis & Life
Camp Director since 2011. In his role,
he teaches tennis, leads music and
entertainment, directs counseling and
leads the “life” portion of TLC. Neal
uses tennis and music – he and his wife
Leandra are an accomplished singer/
songwriter duo – to inspire, motivate
and develop leadership skills in his
students.*
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9/27/2019 2:58:07 AM
 USPTA

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Nov.-Dec. 2019 — USPTA ADDvantage Magazine - 49
uspta.fromuthtennis.com
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 49 9/27/2019 2:58:08 AM
 USPTA 2019 MASTER PROFESSIONALS
2019 USPTA
MASTER PROFESSIONALS
by Mark Centrella, Master Professional Committee Chair
B ecoming a USPTA Master
Professional is among the top
achievements a tennis professional
can accomplish. To even qualify to
apply takes 10 years of holding an
Elite Professional rating, but it takes
more than just years. Each applicant
must also complete the required
continuing education hours and fulfill
a broad spectrum of industry service
in preparation for placement into
positions including, but not nearly
limited to, general manager and
director of tennis.
Each of the following tennis
professionals has met and exceeded the
requirements for Master Professional
status. They are excellent instructors
that have committed themselves to the
future of the sport. As chairman of the
Master Professional Committee, it is
my honor to introduce them to
you here.
Jason Hazley has
worked at the New
Orleans Lawn Tennis
Club since 2012, and
for the last year has
served as Director of
Tennis. In his time
at the club, Hazley has helped run the
Louisiana State Clay Court Junior
Open Championships and the National
USTA Iberia Bank Men’s 60-65 Clay
Court Championships. Hazley joins
50 - USPTA ADDvantage Magazine — Nov.-Dec. 2019
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 50
general manager Brett Schwartz as
the two USPTA Master Professionals
at the club. Hazley is the president
of USPTA Louisiana and served on
the New Orleans Metro Area Tennis
Association board from 2014 to 2018.
Hazley played collegiately at
Louisiana State University and was
a two-time Second-Team All SEC
selection and a First-Team All SEC
selection in 2003. After a brief career
on the ATP tour, Hazley worked as an
assistant professional at clubs in Baton
Rouge, La., and as an assistant men’s
tennis coach at LSU.
Dan Hopkins has
been coaching
tennis for over 40
years, including
31 years at Rose-
Hulman Institute of
Technology, where
he founded the women’s team in 1996.
Hopkins also coached the Terre Haute
South High School (Indiana) boys’
tennis team for 17 years and the girls’
team for nine. Under Hopkins, the
Terre Haute South boys’ team made
state Final Four appearances in 1980
and 1983, and the girls’ team finished
second in the state in 1980. He was
named Indiana Coach of the Year
in 1992. Hopkins was tested for his
USPTA Professional certification by
the late George Bacso.
Since retiring in May 2019, Hopkins
has traveled the country playing tennis
and pickleball. He also coaches seniors
at Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort in Casa
Grande, Ariz. He also remains involved
at Rose-Hulman as a volunteer
assistant, helping with fundraising and
working towards building an indoor
tennis facility.
Levander Kelley
currently serves as
the boys’ varsity
tennis coach at
Powhatan High
School in Powhatan,
Va., where he led
the team to its first-ever playoff
appearance in his first season as coach.
Kelley has been very involved in the
community, volunteering his time
and tennis expertise with several area
high schools over the past 25 years.
Additionally, Kelley works weekend
junior clinics for inner-city children
and for Tennis Across America.
Kelley overcame racial discrimination
and taught himself how to play tennis as a
child and while he served in the U.S. Army.
He retired in 1995 as a Sergeant First Class
Medic after 20 years of service. He has
been recognized as USPTA Mid-Atlantic
Professional of the Year, USPTA and
USTA Mid-Atlantic High School Coach
of the Year, and USPTA Top Education
Credit Earner twice.
9/30/2019 8:57:21 AM
 USPTA
Dave Moyer is the regional
USPTA MASTER PROFESSIONALS
vice president of the Lee Adams Ed Garcia Avis Murray
USPTA Southwest Division Janet Adkisson David Gary Sidney Newcomb
Board of Directors and, Greg Alexander Barry Goldsmith Jack Newman
since February 2011, has Bob Anderman Sylvia Gothard Dan O’Connell
served as Director of Kirk Anderson Tommy Gray Mike O’Connell
Tennis at The Country Jorge Andrew Ian Griffin Stan Oley
Club at DC Ranch in Scottsdale, Ariz. In Jim Annesi Jack Groppel Desmond Oon
his nearly nine years, Moyer has overseen a Mike Baldwin Spike Gurney Ajay Pant
tennis operation that has more than Rosie Bareis David Hagler Jim Parker
doubled in adult participation, increased in Van Barry Feisal Hassan Guy Parks
junior participation by 600% and grown to Craig Bell Jeff Hawes
have three full-time USPTA professionals Jimmy Pitkanen
Lorenzo Beltrame Jason Hazley
on staff. Joseph Pizzat
Marvin Benzing Don Henson
Moyer previously worked as the Director David Porter
Jay Bewley Will Hoag
of Tennis at Homestead Country Club in Warren Pretorius
Marc Blouin Dan Hopkins
Kansas and at Woods Tennis Center in Adrian Rattenbury
Nick Bollettieri Gary Horvath
Lincoln, Neb. He served on the Missouri Donnia Bondallian Glen Howe Mark Rearden
Valley Division Board of Directors for three Chip Brooks John Ingram Jim Reffkin
years and has earned numerous USTA and Dave Brown R J Tessier Hans Romer
USPTA awards. Bunny Bruning Gordon Johnson Raul Saad
Moyer started playing tennis at age 5 Fred Burdick Jack Justice Mark Savage
and played collegiately at the University of Peter Burwash Kurt Kamperman Paula Scheb
Nebraska. He coached college tennis for two Donato Campagnoli Leo Katz Brett Schwartz
years before going into tennis management. Jorge Capestany Levander Kelley Diane Selke
He and his wife, Wendy, are avid tennis Mark Centrella Dick King James Shaughnessy
players, as is his youngest son, Jake. Dave Kozlowski
Michael Chamberlain Len Simard
Howard Chodak Jim Krimbill Dave Sivertson
Holly Chomyn Chuck Kuhle Sean Sloane
Sidney Newcomb has
Chris Chopra Ron Lague Dean Snyder
served as USPTA National
Will Cleveland Phil Lancaster Tom Sweitzer
Head Tester since January
Steve Contardi Darryl Lewis Keith Swindoll
2016. In his role, he
Alan Cutler Larry Lineberry Joseph Thompson
oversees the certification
Tom Daglis Jim Loehr John Trinity
and testing process for all
Jim Davis Angel Lopez Gary Trost
incoming teaching pros
Robert Davis Bob Love
and coaches. Prior to joining the USPTA, Bill Tym
Ken DeHart Rick Macci
Newcomb was the Director of Tennis at Todd Upchurch
Becky Desmond Doug MacCurdy
Peninsula Community Center in Redwood Mike Van Zutphen
Kim Dillard Paul MacDonald
City, Calif. While in California, Newcomb Fernando Velasco
Joseph Dinoffer Paul Marcum
helped found the Life Advantage Tennis and John Verde
Rod Dulany Patrick Mason
Tutoring program, which offers free tennis Rick Vetter
Larry Dupleich Jay Massart
and English lessons to Hispanic immigrants Betty Walsh
David Dvorak Ken McAllister
at McKinley Middle School. Russ Warner
Fred Earle Tom McGraw
Newcomb began playing tennis at age Doug Welsh
Todd Ellenbecker Mark McMahon
9 and played collegiately at John Brown Pat Whitworth
Doug Eng Ed McQuillin
University. He enjoyed a brief ATP tour
Trish Faulkner Luis Mediero Glenn William
career before beginning his coaching career
John Foley Michael Mercier Ted Withall
in 1990. He and his wife, Linda, have five
Dexter Fong David Minihan Ron Woods
children and the whole family is involved
Jack Foster Bal Moore Ron Woods
in tennis.*
Ty Fuller Dave Moyer David Zeutas-Broer

Nov.-Dec. 2019 — USPTA ADDvantage Magazine - 51

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 USPTA 2019 WORLD CONFERENCE PHOTO GALLERY

Images from the 2019 USPTA

World Conference

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 USPTA

Nov.-Dec. 2019 — USPTA ADDvantage Magazine - 53

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 USPTA

54 - USPTA ADDvantage Magazine — Nov.-Dec. 2019

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The New & Improved USPTA
Specialist Degree in Tennis Fitness
Lane Evans, USPTA Elite Professional
I ’ve never liked the term “think outside
the box.” It’s a little broad for my
liking. I need a little more structure
and organization. In my 40 years of
teaching tennis, 30 of them as a USPTA
professional, I have seen much change.
With a little luck, I will become a Master
Professional next year. Aside from my
kids, my relationship with tennis is
probably the longest one I’ve ever had.
However, like many relationships, it’s had
twists and turns, good and bad, over the
years. Relationships are like that and they
always will be. Change is a good thing. No
matter how hard we fight it, it will always
be there.
Our game has changed, too. Tennis
athletes, both men and women, are bigger,
stronger, faster and more powerful than
ever before. This trend isn’t going away
any time soon. Sports instruction and
training in general have become very
complicated and now require different
skillsets. Tennis-specific fitness is
a relatively new concept that keeps
growing by the day. The iTPA, TPI
and RacquetFit have shown us unique
ways to train athletes in many different
sports, including tennis. It’s now up to
tennis professionals to absorb this new
information and use it to build their
tennis athletes.
Throughout my career, I’ve been
blessed with the vision and ability to
reinvent myself as my work environment
has changed. As the industry changed,
I became a certified fitness trainer, a
specialist in senior fitness and exercise
therapy, strength and conditioning, as
well as tennis and golf performance.
As chairman of the USPTA National
Fitness & Wellness Committee,
I’ve worked to emphasize to tennis
professionals the importance of tennis
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 55
USPTA SPECIALIST DEGREE USPTA
fitness, even pushing them to get certified
in tennis fitness where applicable. I built
my tennis program at Champion Hills
is not for the weak. This degree is tough,
but well worth the work. When you are
finished, you will have valuable knowledge
Club in North Carolina around fitness. I that will certainly give you a “leg up” in
had seniors who hadn’t played tennis in this area of your coaching. The degree
years. I needed them to get to a reasonable isn’t an “end all,” but rather an important
level and without pain. It was a long and educational step towards your future as a
arduous process, but we did it. tennis professional.
To teach professionals about fitness, The USPTA National Education
the USPTA offers a Specialist Degree in staff reviewed the content, made a few
Sports Science. However, the degree was changes and is now formatting the revised
terribly outdated. Its
resources were out of
print and no longer
available. So with
the USPTA National
Fitness & Wellness
Committee Dream
Team of Dr. Nick
DiNubile, Dr. Stephan
Esser, Christy Bennett,
Josh Jorgensen, Kevin
Theos, Jason Kinder,
Alex Shusis and myself, Proper fitness is key to enjoying tennis in later years.
we set out to re-write
the degree. curriculum for online use. We hope to
First, we removed the term “Sports have it out very soon.
Science.” It just didn’t seem to fit. Until then, please continue including
We are not scientists. We are tennis tennis fitness in your state and division
professionals. The new and updated newsletter articles and convention
degree covers a variety of tennis-specific presentations. It will become more
fitness areas such as training, rest and important as we move our game forward
recovery, nutrition, tennis injuries and and hand it down to the next generation of
injury prevention, tennis-specific fitness tennis professionals. If you have questions
terms, reading and video assignments and regarding the new Specialist Degree in
situational case studies and analysis. Tennis Fitness, please direct them to:
I’ll be the first to tell you, this degree Lane Evans, Levans290@gmail.com. *
Lane Evans is an incoming USPTA National Board Member and is the chairman
of the USPTA National Sports Science Committee. He also serves as director of
tennis & wellness at Champion Hills Country Club in Hendersonville, N.C. He is a
USPTA Elite Professional and has been a member for 30 years.
Nov.-Dec. 2019 — USPTA ADDvantage Magazine - 55
9/27/2019 2:59:16 AM
 USPTA PLATFORM TENNIS

Platform Tennis Season is Here

Matt Davis, USPTA Platform Tennis Chair & USPTA Elite Professional

H ello Platform Tennis Teachers

and Tennis Teachers! Welcome
to the 2019/2020 Platform Tennis
Season. The USPTA Platform Tennis
Committee has accomplished quite a
lot in the past year and in the offseason on the website, you will find the
to make this the best season yet.
The USPTA Platform Tennis
Committee is made up of members
in player-populated Platform Tennis
Divisions. They are Jason Love,
Mike Rahaley, John Cassas, Gary
Horvath, Betsy Heidenberger,
Andrew Sorontino,
Geoff Jagdfeld and
Todd Hiscox. Thanks
PLATFORM TENNIS
to all of them this past
year for their hard work,
and, of course, John, Sid
and Risa on the USPTA
National Staff.
Here are a few of the things from
which USPTA Platform Tennis
members will benefit. First, you will
start to see Platform Educational
Workshops this year. As of now, we
have one planned for Washington, D.C. Platform Tennis Certified and are
We are planning them in New York,
Illinois, Connecticut and possibly
Colorado. Our goal is to host education
seminars in the most popular platform
areas with a little social event after.
Whether you have taught for one
year or more than 10, it’s important
to continue to improve as a Platform
Tennis Professional. It’s also a good
time to share ideas and best practices
that work on and off the court.
The USPTA Platform Tennis
Committee encourages members to
visit TennisResources.com, which
does have Platform videos but they are USPTA Platform Tennis banner at
limited. So, we intend to improve the
Platform section on our website with
more robust information and a more
user-friendly interface. We would
also like to do a Platform Tennis
webinar this season on teaching
the game and skills needed to be
successful.
Under the calendar section
Platform Tennis testing dates
and locations for the next four
months, and more will be added
shortly. Our testers review the
applications and recommend
testing sites to the testing
committee and
National Staff.
A USPTA Platform
tester will be
assigned to all
our locations and will
provide a little training
and review the study guide
for the test. You will receive the
Becoming certified in platform tennis makes
study guide and the tester and you a more well-rounded professional.
National Staff will prepare your
paperwork ahead of the exam. Tennis benefit USPTA members? If
Below is a list of the USPTA Platform you’re associated with a multisport
Tennis Testers. (All testers are USPTA facility, especially in the Midwest or
Northeast, you’re probably going to
members in good standing.) come across Platform tennis. People
• Johan Durant – Massachusetts are looking for ways to stay active
• Brad Easterbrook – Connecticut in winter with fun, social activities
• Gustavo Goncalves – Maryland that are also great exercise. You’d be
• Gary Horvath – Colorado surprised at how many clubs and parks
• Jason Love – Illinois are building Platform tennis courts,
• Patricio Misitrano – Connecticut and more courts means more job
• Vlatko Najdek – Pennsylvania opportunities. Becoming certified in
• Mike Rahaley – Illinois Platform Tennis will make you a more
We also have been working hard on well-rounded USPTA Professional and
branding the USPTA Platform logo. give you the inside track on some of
To grow participation, the USPTA the most prestigious club jobs in the
and APTA will begin promoting each country.
other’s objectives, so you will see the If you’d like to learn more about
Platform Tennis and what the USPTA
APTA Grand Prix events and at sites and our committee are doing, or have
where exams are held. any ideas or recommendations for
How will learning about and the committee, please contact me at
becoming certified in Platform tenace4@gmail.com.*

56 - USPTA ADDvantage Magazine — Nov.-Dec. 2019

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 USPTA
New Faces on the National Staff
T he USPTA National Staff has
undergone some changes in recent
months. Four new faces have joined the
World Headquarters since July, and
several others have been promoted into
new roles.
Dale Bauer joined the
USPTA in August and
serves as Motion Graphics
and Video Production
Specialist. Dale graduated
from Valencia College in
2018 with a degree in video and motion
graphics. Previously, Dale was an Army
Specialist in the U.S. National Guard from
2005 to 2008. Dale is originally from Ft.
Lauderdale, Fla., and likes hiking, biking
and rock climbing.
Lucas Casás joined the
USPTA in July and serves
as Public Relations
Coordinator. Lucas
graduated from Florida
State University in 2016
with a degree in marketing. He previously
worked in communications at Orlando City
Soccer Club. In his spare time, Lucas enjoys
reading and playing sports.
Alegna Hollis joined the
USPTA in September
and serves as Continuing
Education Coordinator.
She previously worked
at Westgate Resorts as
administrative project analyst. Alegna
is currently studying elementary school
education at the University of Phoenix. In
her spare time, Alegna enjoys cycling and
hiking.
58 - USPTA ADDvantage Magazine — Nov.-Dec. 2019
Nov-Dec 2019.indd 58
Auburn Smith joined the
USPTA in September and
serves as Membership
Services Coordinator.
She previously worked as
an intern in the facilities
department at the USTA National
Campus. Auburn graduated in 2019 with
a degree in public administration from
the University of Central Florida, where
she was also a two-time wheelchair tennis
national champion.
Jacquelyn Dahre has been
promoted to Membership
Services Coordinator.
Jacquelyn will help with
all general membership
inquiries and will focus on
certification and testing. She also processes
new applications, grades written exams and
updates test scores.
Sarah Fisher has been
promoted to Senior
Coordinator of Membership
& Conference Services.
In new her role, Sarah
still helps members with
questions and other services, though she
will be transitioning away from insurance
at the beginning of the year. Sarah will
also assume an enhanced role in World
Conference planning, from site visits to
menu decisions.
Trevor Trudelle has been
promoted to the role of
Database Manager, where he
will work with outside vendors
for upgrades to the USPTA
database. He will also identify
process improvements and optimize the
database to maximize efficiency. Trevor will
continue working with membership services,
including billing and membership login issues
and World Conference registration.
Chief Executive Officer
John Embree
john.embree@uspta.org................................. x117
Chief Operating Officer
Fred Viancos
fred.viancos@uspta.org.................................. x128
National Head Tester
Sid Newcomb
sid.newcomb@uspta.org................................ x149
Director of Membership & Certification
Amy Buchanan
amy.buchanan@uspta.org............................. x145
Membership Services Coordinator
Jacquelyn Dahre
jacquelyn.dahre@uspta.org........................... x105
Front Desk Administrator & Events Coordinator
Kelli Ferry
kelli.ferry@uspta.org...................................... x100
Sr. Coordinator, Membership
& Conference Services
Sarah Fisher
sarah.fisher@uspta.org.................................. x184
Membership Services Coordinator
Auburn Smith
auburn.smith@uspta.org............................... x160
Database Manager
Trevor Trudelle
trevor.trudelle@uspta.org ............................. x111
Continuing Education Coordinator
Alegna Hollis
alegna.hollis@uspta.org................................. x166
Education & Multimedia Manager
Ramona Husaru
ramona.husaru@uspta.org............................ x147
Director of Finance
Michael Tomassini
michael.tomassini@uspta.org........................ x102
Accounting Clerk
Ashley Walker
ashley.walker@uspta.org................................ x141
Controller
Ellen Weatherford
ellen.weatherford@uspta.org........................ x103
Human Resources Manager
Dana Dasch
dana.dasch@uspta.org.................................. x118
Video Production Manger
John Gerard
john.gerard@uspta.org.................................. x122
Motion Graphics & Video Production Specialist
Dale Bauer
dale.bauer@uspta.org.................................... x121
Video Production Specialist
Rico Edwards
rico.edwards@uspta.org................................ x143
Director of Communications
John Cornell
john.cornell@uspta.org.................................. x142
Public Relations Coordinator
Lucas Casás
lucas.casas@uspta.org................................... x114
Graphic Design Specialist
Gustavo Reyes
gustavo.reyes@uspta.org............................... x144
9/27/2019 2:59:18 AM
 CAREER DEVELOPMENT USPTA

Get Certified
4 Credits for PTCA I Segment Exams, Upgrades & PTCA
Nov. 1-2.................................................. Azusa, CA Dec. 2.................................................Carlsbad, CA
7
Nov. 2-3............................ Mountlake Terrace, WA Dec. 7............................................. Boca Raton, FL
Nov. 8......................................... Prairie Village, KS Dec. 7-8........................................ Johns Creek, GA
8
Nov. 8............................................Wilmington, DE Dec. 8................................. Hilton Head Island, SC
Nov. 8-9.....................................................Lehi, UT Dec. 8.............................................Brentwood, TN
9 Nov. 8-9....................................... Westminster, CO Dec. 9......................................... San Francisco, CA
Nov. 9.................................................Mequon, WI Dec. 13-14.............................................. Dallas, TX
5 Nov. 9........................................................ Rye, NH Dec. 13-14.............................................. Azusa, CA
Nov. 9-10...................................... Johns Creek, GA Dec. 13 ...................................... Minneapolis, MN
5 Nov. 11.............................................San Diego, CA Dec. 19...............................................Trumbull, CT
Nov. 11-12.................................. San Francisco, CA Dec. 30............................................... Flushing, NY
0 Nov. 11-12........................................... Orlando, FL Dec. 30-31.......................................... Burbank, CA
Nov. 15................................................. Vienna, VA
Nov. 15-16.......................................... Houston, TX Exam reservations must be made by calling the USPTA
4
Nov. 16............................................ Big Rapids, MI World Headquarters at 407-634-3050 ext. 2 at least
Nov. 16-17........................................ Charlotte, NC 21 days prior to the dates listed. Each date includes an
0
Nov. 30-Dec. 1.....................Huntington Beach, CA exam, upgrade. PTCA I is included in the two-day exam.
Nov. 30-Dec. 1................................... Glendale, AZ Exam cancellations must be received no later than
1
Dec. 1.............................................Midlothian, VA 14 days before the exam, or a cancellation fee will be
Dec. 1................................................. Flushing, NY charged accordingly.
6

Visit www.uspta.com for a complete

7 listing of certification and educational What you need to know about changes to
opportunities the Fair Labor Standards Act.
2 • Wheelchair

1
• Padel
• Platform
T he Department of Labor has recently finalized the changes to the Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA) annual wage requirements. The new
rule states that salaried exempt employees who make less than $35,568
• Pickleball would be now eligible for overtime pay under a final rule issued by the U.S.
3
Department of Labor (DOL). The new rate will take effect Jan. 1, 2020.
To be exempt from overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards
8 Act, employees must be paid a salary of at least the threshold amount
Visit TennisResources.com to find and meet certain duties tests. If they are paid less or do not meet the
2 exclusive educational and instructional tests, they must be paid overtime for hours worked in excess of 40 in a
videos, audio material, articles and workweek.
1 drill diagrams related to all levels and The new rule will raise the salary threshold to $684 a week ($35,568
aspects of the game of tennis. annualized) from $455 a week ($23,660 annualized).
3
NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS ADDVANTAGE MAGAZINE
2 President...................................................................... Gary Trost Editor.................................................................................John Cornell ADDvantage is published monthly by the United States
Managing Editor.................................................................Lucas Casás Professional Tennis Association.
First Vice President................................................. Feisal Hassan Layout/Design............................................................... Gustavo Reyes
Editorial Assistance..............................Jacquelyn Dahre, Sarah Fisher The opinions expressed in ADDvantage are those of
Vice Presidents..........................................Cari Buck, Mark Faber,
4 Alegna Hollis, Ramona Husaru, Sid Newcomb, Auburn Smith, Ellen the authors and not necessarily those of ADDvantage
Trish Faulkner, Bill Mountford, Richard Slivocka Weatherford, Fred Viancos, or the United States Professional Tennis Association.
Circulation.................................................................... Trevor Trudelle
Immediate Past President.............................................Chuck Gill Copyright© United States Professional Tennis
USPTA World Headquarters
4 CEO...........................................................................John Embree 11961 Performance Dr. Association, Inc. 2019. All rights reserved. Reproduction
Orlando, FL 32827 of any portion of the magazine is not permitted
Legal Counsel........................................................George Parnell 800-887-8248 - www.uspta.com without written permission from the USPTA.

Nov.-Dec. 2019 — USPTA ADDvantage Magazine - 59

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 The day you stop learning is the
day you should stop coaching.
-Andre Agassi at the 2019 USPTA World Conference

60 - USPTA ADDvantage Magazine — Nov.-Dec. 2019

Nov-Dec 2019.indd 60 9/27/2019 2:59:20 AM

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