2021 AWARDS BANQUET MAY 20TH, 2022
Award Descriptions USPTA PRO OF THE YEAR Recognizes a member who, in the course of a career, has demonstrated exemplary achievement in seven areas including contributions to the USPTA, USTA, as a teaching professional, player and coach; in education, research, and publications; and with other organization, achievements, and contributions.
PRESIDENT'S AWARD FOR SPECIAL RECOGNITION This is an award presented at the President’s discretion which recognizes a USPTA member for special achievement and other criteria deemed worthy by the divisional President.
ED SERUES PRESIDENT’S AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING LONG-TERM SERVICE This is an award presented at the President’s discretion which recognizes a USPTA member for outstanding longterm service to the division and other criteria deemed worthy by the divisional President.
USPTA DIETZ BOWL Recognizes a New England member for outstanding participation, contributions, and achievement in USTA/NE events and volunteer support.
USPTA INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARD This award is given to teaching professionals who take both an entrepreneurial and altruistic attitude toward their job. They use their own resources and those offered by the industry to build programs and bring tennis to more people, growing their own tennis business.
TESTER OF THE YEAR The USPTA Tester of the Year award recognizes the USPTA/NE tester who does the most to advance certification opportunities and the certification process.
FACILITY MANAGER OF THE YEAR This award is open to USPTA members and non-members. Nominees must be the General Manager (in function, if not in title) of a club or tennis facility either large or small. This award is for a person and not a facility.
DAN BONFIGLI MEMORIAL AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY SERVICE This award recognizes a USPTA member that is highly active within the division and has made significant contributions in growing participation through tennis related programs in the local and larger industry in the spirit of community service in the previous calendar year.
AL ROGERS MEMORIAL AWARD FOR DEVOTION TO EDUCATION The recipient of this award will be a current USPTA/NE New England member who demonstrates devotion to improving membership participation and education locally and throughout the division over an extended period of time.
ELEVATE PRO OF THE YEAR For professionals who have been USPTA members for 5 years or less and are demonstrating dedication, innovation, and/or contributions to the organization/profession.
DIVERSITY AWARD Recognizes those USPTA members who have demonstrated an outstanding ability to unite diverse populations within their community through tennis.
2021 AWARD WINNERS Tennis Professional of the Year Brian Lomax
Brian owns and operates PerformanceXtra, which focuses on the mental performance of athletes. Brian works with several college teams in the Boston area, and has presented at USPTA New England Division conferences. While improving mental toughness is the main reason for working with Brian, many students find that his "homework assignments" result in helping them build habits that improve many aspects of their lives. Brian generously donates his time to help colleagues with their students and teams.
2021 AWARD WINNERS Pickleball Professional of the Year Angelo Rossetti
Angelo is Director of Racquet Sports at the Tennis & Fitness Center of Rocky Hill and served as the Director of Tennis at Weston Racquet Club, an Ivan Lendl Tennis Center, for over 10 years. He is a USPTA P1/Elite, PTR, MTM, USTA High Performance & Mental Skills and IPTPA (pickleball) certified teaching professional, being first certified in 1992. Angelo is also NLP and Mindfulness certified, and studied to be a Dale Carnegie instructor, as he wanted to learn and teach the best ways to learn! Angelo was elected in 2017 as one of the youngest Presidents of USTA Connecticut (2018-2020). Angelo played Varsity tennis at Hamden High School en route to be a top Division I player at the University of Connecticut, where he earned a B.S. degree in Sports Science with a concentration in Sports Marketing. Angelo is a 2X Guinness World Records™ titleholder of two different tennis titles; the Longest Tennis Rally and the Longest Tennis Volley Rally. His most recent certifications are Developing Mental Toughness and USTA High Performance. Angelo is a published author, TENNACITY: The Tenacious Mindset, On & Off the Court, based on his mental skills blog for tennis players and athletes and his online mental skills course with the same name which can be found at www.tennacity.org.
2021 AWARD WINNERS Platform Tennis Professional of the Year Dan McKormick
Dan is the Racquets Professional at the Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA, where he has worked since 2010. He has been playing, coaching, and running APTA sanctioned tournaments for 40 years. Dan runs pre-season platform tennis camps and clinics at the Eastern Yacht Club, as well as other clubs in the greater Boston area. Dan is a great promoter of the game, working with all levels from beginner to nationally ranked players. He goes out of his way to help people in th platform tennis community!
2021 AWARD WINNERS High School Tennis Coach of the Year William Shardlow
William (Bill) Shardlow started his high school coaching career in 1976 at Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln, Maine. He also coached at Windham High School from 1986-1988. Bill was a volunteer assistant coach in 2004 at Yarmouth High School and helped them to a state championship. For the past 10 years, Bill has directed the no-cut tennis program at Harrison Middle School in Yarmouth building the number of participants to over 40. In 2018, Bill took over as the boy's high school varsity tennis coach at Yarmouth High School, leading them to two back-to-back state titles and a 40-6 record. Also, Bill founded the non-profit Yarmouth Tennis Association in 2018 to help promote tennis for all ages in the community.
2021 AWARD WINNERS Elevate Award Josh Burger
Josh specializes in teaching Sport Psychology skills that are applicable to all types of athletes and performers. Josh was an all-conference tennis player at Clark University where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.Josh attended California State University, Long Beach where he received his master's degree in Sport Psychology while researching mental toughness in college sports. He is a USPTA-Certified tennis coach and is the Assistant Men's and Women's Tennis Coach at Sacred Heart University, a Division I University in Fairfield, CT. Throughout Josh’s career as a competitive tennis player and coach he has realized the importance of the mental side of sports. Through sport psychology and mental skills training he has helped a wide range of individuals and teams perform at higher levels and find more fulfillment in their sport. Josh is excited to share his knowledge and experience with you to help you master the mental side of the game!
2021 AWARD WINNERS 60+ Tennis Professional of the Year Lynn Miller
Lynn retired from coaching the Wheaton College's tennis teams in 2015 and moved to New Hampshire. One of her goals was to make a difference in the quality of tennis for all ages and ability levels so she taught tennis every chance she had. Lynn taught some minicamps at the Kearsarge Tennis Camp, and taught tennis for the New London Outing Club, the Newport Tennis Club, and the Lake Sunapee Country Club. In 2021, Lynn coached the Kearsarge High School boys' tennis team to a division state championship - the first in many years.
2021 AWARD WINNERS Industry Excellence Dietz Bowl Award Lisa Gilbride
Lisa Gilbride has been directing the tennis program at the CLC YMCA for 21 years. During her era, the program has gone from a one-woman show on two multi-purpose courts, to a six-person staff on three dedicated tennis courts. The Y is very proud of the tennis program and its outreach to communities throughout the Y’s service area. The adopt-a-school programs at Nobleboro and Great Salt Bay have allowed us to introduce a "sport of a lifetime" to hundreds of children. The program was recognized by the MTA as Indoor Tennis Facility of the Year in 2012 and continues to be a USTA flagship program in terms of innovations in teaching children tennis. In 2015 Lisa was recognized nationally as the USPTA Community Service Award Recipient.
2021 AWARD WINNERS Lessons for Life Award Rose Cantlin
Rose Cantlin has had Type I Diabetes since she was 7 years old and wanted to give back to fight against this disease. She started a small adult red-ball tennis event at her club, Wentworth By The Sea Country Club in Rye, NH, raising $2,500 for the American Diabetes Association the first year. In 2021, Rose ran the 2nd annual event with even more success, raising $3,250 for the Junior Diabetes Research Fund. Having the adults use small racquets and small nets with foam balls was hilarious, and the players really enjoyed themselves! Rose has been at Wentworth By The Sea for 7 years as a certified Teaching Professional in tennis and paddle. She loves working with our junior and women's team programs. Rose can't wait for 2022 as she looks to raise even more money for another great cause!
2021 AWARD WINNERS Diversity Award JM Sorrell
Throughout her adult life, JM Sorrell has served as a health care advocate and an activist, trainer, and writer for social justice causes. She currently assists veterans with PTSD to integrate into community employment. Her 20 years of LGBTQ cultural competence and other workshop facilitation includes area agencies on aging, hospitals, colleges and universities, and as a speaker at statewide and regional conferences. She has been an anti-racism trainer for the Sojourner Truth School for Social Change Leadership. In the tennis world, JM has been an Elite Level USPTA professional since 1998, and she served as a USTA umpire for Division I collegiate matches and adult district tournaments. She has coached high school girls and boys, and she has taught and directed recreational programs in Amherst, MA as well as teaching private and semiprivate lessons over the last 35 years. Last year, JM was given the opportunity to merge two areas of her life when she facilitated USPTA’s first LGBTQ+ webinar trainings for tennis professionals in June—during Pride month. The purpose of the webinars was to raise awareness for equitable and compassionate action for tennis students, team players, instructors, and professionals.
2021 AWARD WINNERS President's Award Chris Stevens
Chris Stevens models all of the qualities that make for a great team member – and ultimately lead to the success of the entire group. First, Chris always speaks up and speaks his mind – whether it’s popular or not, whether it agrees with the current President or not (and believe me, it often doesn’t). Chris make his point with sound reasons – and he doesn't filibuster. He often makes others think about something in a way they typically would not. Second, Chris is respectful of everyone’s ideas whether he likes them or not. Chris doesn't interrupt and doesn't argue over conversations. And third, win or lose, once a decision is made it’s back to business as usual. Chris’s experience with our association makes him one of my go-to sounding boards when I have a crazy idea or just need a different point of view to talk something through. As a past President of our Division, Chris is doing his 2nd tour of duty on our Board. He’s an Elite Professional and USTA High Performance Coach, and is in his 18th year as Director of Racquet Sports at Wentworth by the Sea in Rye, New Hampshire – a place that has hosted several of our conferences over the years.