2024 USPTA Hawaii Division Conference
Schedule
Punahou School (Honolulu, Hawaii) Friday 5/31 & Saturday 6/1
Level 2 Workshop Tue 5/28 - Thu 5/30 @ Punahou
Day 1 - Friday (5/31)
7:30 - 8:00 am Continental Breakfast & Check-in
8:00 - 8:20 am Welcome and Board Introductions
8:30 - 9:20 am One Game to Rule Them All (Adam Brewer)
9:30 - 10:20 am Defining What “Focus” Is (Danny Llarenas)
10:30 - 11:20 am “Superior” Performance (Rusty Komori)
11:30 am - 12:45 pm Lunch Provided
Awards Ceremony & USPTA National Video Update (Ramona Husaru / Brian Dillman)
1:00 - 1:50 pm Pickleball Doubles Strategies (Cathy Nicoloff/Martina Kostalova/Roberta Russo)
2:00 - 2:50 pm
3:00 - 3:50 pm
4:00 - 4:50 pm
College Tennis Opportunities (Lauren Conching)
Developing a College-bound Jr. Player (Hendrik Bode)
Two-Minute Tip Challenge (Open to all attendees)
Participants have 2 minutes to share their best “2-Minute Tip”. ***Winner(s) get a case of Dunlop balls***
5:00 pm PAU
6:00 pm Pau Hana @ Tower Bar Aloha Tower (free food and drink)
Day 2 - Saturday 6/1
7:30 - 8:00 am
Continental Breakfast & Check-in
8:00 - 8:10 am Welcome & Introductions
8:10 - 9:00 am Progression Drills - A 40+ Year Compilation (Randy Kop)
9:10 - 10:00 am Professionalism as a Tennis Professional (Jared C. & Roberta R.)
10:10 - 11:00 am The International Player Mindset (Martina Kostalova)
11:10 am - 12:00 pm Pickleball Singles Strategies (Roberta Russo)
12:00 pm PAU
1:00 - 5:00 pm
Pickleball Certification @ Four Seasons Ko’olina
2024 USPTA Hawaii Division Conference
Featured Speakers
Punahou School (Honolulu, Hawaii) Friday 5/31 & Saturday 6/1
Adam Brewer Coach, Trainer, Speaker, and Author
As a Coach, Trainer, Speaker, and Author, Adam has been working with athletes both nationally and internationally for the past 30 years. He’s a USPTA Elite Tennis Professional, USTA Sport Science Certified (Levels 1 & 2), Certified Breathwork Coach, Certified Meditation Teacher, Certified Sport Yoga Instructor, TRX Certified Trainer and has a Master’s Degree in Sport Management. Adam joined the USPTA in 1992.
Throughout the years, he’s worked with tennis players ranging from Pee Wees to Professionals. He’s worked at adidas Tennis Camps, been on the adidas National Advisory Staff, served as a Head Professional, coached high school tennis and collegiately at the Division 1 level, and worked with ATP tour players. He’s been featured on the Tennis Channel, and has had the privilege of speaking at USPTA World Conferences (Palm Springs and Marco Island), and the USTA World Conference.
Adam is currently Director of Adam Brewer Wellness (www.AdamBrewer.com) where he personalizes health, conscious evolution, meditation, tennis and conditioning programs for people all over the world. On Oahu, he is Lead Wellness Specialist at the Four Seasons Ko Olina and serves as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Le Jardin Academy.
Adam lives in Kailua with his partner in life, love and conscious evolution, Liz Arch, their 6 year old son Skye, 2 dogs Faith and Nalu, and their turtle Rockin Fireband.
Danny Llarenas
President; Lokahi Tennis Corp and Sport Performance ConsultantDaniel is the President for Lokahi Tennis Corp a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit with the mission to help provide equal opportunities to kids of all income levels, ethnic backgrounds, ages & player levels in the sport of tennis. Daniel is a Educational Psychology Doctoral Candidate at the University of the Pacific- research on a highly successful coach's post-game talks during an NCAA national championship season. Llarenas has a Masters from the University of the Pacific Stockton in Educational Psychology and a Bachelors from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Sociology.
Collegiately Llarenas played at the University of Hawai'i for three years, graduating in 2011. He was a part of two Hawai'i teams that won the Western Athletic Conference championship (2009 and 2010). He has been nominated and played 13 Davis Cup ties for Pacific Oceania and held a 13-3 record. He has played Lebanon, Philippines, Iran, Bahrain, UAE, Vietnam, Cambodia, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, Jordan, Bangladesh and Kyrgyzstan. He also owned and operated a tennis facility focusing on developing Guam's youth in tennis.
Llarenas currently works with the University of Nevada Men's Tennis Team and Cornell University Men's Tennis Team as a sports performance consultant. Notably while working with Cornell University, the team was ranked as high as #21 ITA Spring 2023 and matched the program best result in 2023 NCAA team championships going to the 2nd round after defeating #23 University of Auburn. Notably while working with University of Nevada Men's Tennis Team, they achieved their First Conference Championship and NCAA appearance in 40 years of the program history, 2022 Mountain West Conference Season Champions and 2022 Mountain West Conference Tournament Champions.
As an individual performance consultant Llarenas is currently working with a 2022 USA Junior Davis Cup Player U-18 (identity withheld for privacy), Andre Ilagan (highest ITA NCAA #11 2021present), Colin Sinclair (highest ATP ranking singles April 2023 #409 and #200 doubles 2022present) and Ruben Gonzales (highest ATP ranking doubles March 2023 #116 (2019-present)"
Rusty Komori
Motivational Speaker, Author, TV Host, Leadership Consultant
Rusty Komori was the Head Coach of the Punahou School Boys Varsity Tennis Team for 22 years, winning 22 consecutive State Championships — a perfect 22 out of 22. The media said it’s the longest State Championship streak in the United States in all sports. Since retiring from Punahou in 2015, Coach Rusty authored three best-selling books, ‘Beyond The Lines’: Creating A Leadership Culture To Achieve Extraordinary Results, ‘Beyond The Game’: Coaching For Peak Performance In Business, Sports, and Life, & ‘Superior’: Creating A Superior Culture Of Excellence, which is also inspiring countless people to improve their mental fitness and is validated with testimony that his books are saving people’s lives. Coach Rusty is a highly soughtafter Inspirational Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach helping Fortune 500 companies nationally and globally. His popular Beyond The Lines TV show, which can be watched on YouTube, is consistently a #1 most-viewed show in Hawaii. Coach Rusty was also inducted into Creighton University’s Hall of Fame in 2014.
Cathy Nicoloff
USPTA Elite Tennis Professional
Cathy has worked at several outstanding clubs around the Hawaiian Islands and Mainland and Virgin Islands. Currently Teaching out of Kapalua Tennis Garden & Royal Lahaina Tennis Ranch.
She is very much a huge supporter of continued education in her field. She has and will continue to update herself with all the latest techniques of teaching. She attends all Local Conventions and National USPTA Conventions. She is currently the USPTA Hawaii Pacific Division President. If that does not keep her busy enough, she is the Vice President for the Maui District Tennis Association.
She is passionate that 4 things should happen in any lesson or live-ball /instructional clinic. You should have fun, learn something, hit a lot of balls, and be a sweaty mess. She thinks if all four of those elements happen you are good.
Her style of teaching is very high energy, fun, updated content, integrated with footwork (movement in and out of shots) Stances, and upper body technique for all strokes. Cathy thinks that it’s important to integrate the upper and lower body. That Knowledge is power. The game is loaded with errors. As players and students of the game we must be able to identify why something did not work and be able to correct it.
She has been running Adult Tennis Camps for over 12 years with various Tour Professionals. The name of her Company is Adcourt Advantage. She has partnered up with Tom Gullikson and Cynthia Neiman.
Roberta
Russo Director of Tennis at Four Seasons Ko’olinaAloha, my name is Roberta Russo, I am originally from Italy and I have been living in Hawaii since 2014. I currently direct the tennis program at the Four Seasons hotel in Ko'olina, I am one of the coaches for the after school program at Punahou School, the Head coach for team “Punahou girls varsity 2”, and I also teach pickleball and paddle tennis at the Pacific Club in downtown Honolulu.
I discovered tennis as a 5 year old, watching players at a local tennis court near my home. I started junior tennis tournaments at age 9, I played my first international tournament at age 12, and entered tennis academy/boarding school “Sanchez- Casal” in Barcelona, Spain, at age 15. I played a lot of Futures and ITF tournaments in Europe.
In my early 20’s I turned my career into coaching, gradually gathering all the qualifications necessary to train others professionally in different countries. I obtained F.I.T (Italian Tennis federation), ITF, and USPTA professional certifications, and recently I also became a USPTA pickleball instructor. At some point I was also Director of Wheelchair Tennis for the south of Italy, and I was involved with a group called UISP that organizes Wheelchair sports events, and raises funding for people who need personal mobility devices, but are unable to afford them.
Martina Kostalova
Tennis Professional at Waialae Country Club
My name is Martina “Marti” Kostalova and I am originally from Slovakia. I started tennis at the age of 6 and moved to Hawaii in 2011 to play NCAA Division 1 tennis for the University of Hawaii at Manoa. During my time at UH, we became WAC (West Athletic Conference) champions for the first time in program history. I was a team captain both in my junior and senior years. I started to coach upon graduation, in 2016.
Prior to my college career, I earned Slovak National Championship title and competed on the ITF tour. Today, I primarily coach, however, I enjoy competing in the local tournaments and exhibitions, including Kailua Night Doubles and Battle of the Pacific. I am also on the Babolat Ambassador Team.
I currently coach tennis and pickleball students of all ages and levels at the Waialae Country Club. I am dedicated to my clients’ improvement, and I am passionate about developing youth. I currently coach and overlook the club’s JTT program.
Lauren Conching
ITA Director of Coach Education
Lauren Conching is currently the Director of Coach Education for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), the governing body of college tennis. She has been in this role since June 2023 after spending the previous 17 years as a college tennis coach at Hawaii Pacific University. Conching is a two-time National Coach of the Year, winning the award in 2013 & 2018. Other accolades as a head coach include a 202-70 (.743) record, with 6 NCAA Final Four appearances and 3 PacWest Conference Championship titles. As a college coach, Conching served on numerous committees including the ITA Board of Directors, ITA Ethics Committee, ITA DII Operating Committee and the NCAA Coaches Connection. Conching is originally from Honolulu, Hawaii and graduated from Kaiser High School. She played college tennis at Collin County (JUCO) and Stony Brook University (NCAA D1).
Hendrik Bode
HPU Men’s Tennis CoachHendrik Bode is in his tenth season as the head men’s tennis coach at his alma mater. He’s led the Sharks to an overall record of 149-43 (.776) and to HPU’s first ever men’s tennis national championship with the 2016 NCAA Division II National Championship. Bode, originally from Lehrte, Germany, had a stellar career as a member of the HPU tennis team. He was a member of three NCAA National Tournament teams and helped pace the then Sea Warriors to a third place national finish in 2009. Bode finished his last season ranked second in the West Region and was selected as the ITA Senior Male Player of the Year. His highest national rank was No. 5 in the country. He finished his three-year career at HPU with a 39-13 overall singles record, almost exclusively at the No. 1 position. He also posted a 45-15 career doubles record. A scholar as well, Bode was named to the 2009 ITA All-Academic Team.
Randy Kop
Director of Tennis at Waialae Country ClubRandy Kop, a former Hawaii State Junior and Open Champion and standout for the University of Hawaii-Manoa Men’s Tennis Team, is currently in his twenty-fifth year as the director of tennis at the Waialae Country Club. Randy holds a bachelor education degree in secondary education at the University of Hawaii Manoa. Prior to joining Waialae Country Club, Randy served as the Director of Junior Program for the United States Tennis Association/Hawaii Pacific Section. He implemented the USTA Area Training Center statewide, as well as assisted with the coaching of the most promising juniors in Hawaii. He incorporated the USTA Schools Program that introduced thousands of students to the game of tennis in Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa. Randy then went on to serve as the director of tennis for the Turtle Bay Hilton Golf and Tennis Resort and the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Hawaii. He was responsible for the promotions of the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy at the Hilton Turtle Bay Resort. Responsibilities involved generating room revenues through events and instructional programs. Events included:
● The Aloha State Games 1991-1996
● The United States Tennis Association(USTA) Satellite Tour 1992-1993 offering $12,500 prize money
● Association of Tennis Professional (ATP) Hawaii Open 1994 offering $313,1750 prize money
● Various USTA sanctioned tournaments and college play yearly.
Upon leaving Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, Randy continued to work at the Turtle Bay Hilton as the Director of Tennis. He continued to develop, implement and market various programs at the Hilton Turtle Bay Resort. The resort was named the USTA/HPTA Member Organization of the year in 1998. In 2011 the United States professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Hawaii division named the Waialae Country Club as the Facility of the year and in 2016 Waialae Country Club obtained the same award by the United States Tennis Association/Hawaii Pacific Section.
Randy is certified by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) as an Elite Professional. In 2002 Randy was named the Hawaii Division Pro of the year. In 2011 Randy and his Family received the USTA/HPTA Family of the year award. Randy is married to the former Norma Garcia de la Cruz and has three children Davis, Roman and Kaimele, who all played competitive tennis in Hawaii.
Randy currently is a member of the Yonex Ambassador Staff and recently was honored by Distinguished Club from Board Room Magazine in partnership with Forbes Travel Guide 2023 Distinguished Achievement in Leadership.
Jared Carstenn
Director of Tennis at Kailua Racquet Club
Jared cut his teeth on tennis courts carved out of the swamps of North Central Florida. He first got involved in the tennis industry as a teenager at the Fort King Tennis Center in Ocala, Florida. After competing in the Florida High School State Tennis Championship Tournament as a senior at Vanguard High School, he moved to Hawaii for college. He attended Hawaii Pacific University and the University of Hawaii at Manoa where he studied English and Political Science.
Jared has been teaching tennis at the Kailua Racquet Club for over a decade. He has made a mark in the Hawaii tennis community by taking every opportunity to get involved in tournaments, leagues, and functions at the Kailua Racquet Club and around the islands. Jared is always looking to learn more about the game to be a better teacher for the students at KRC.
You'll usually find Jared at the club running adult clinics, private lessons, junior classes, team matches, and just being an all-around member of the KRC family!
He is known around the state as the "On Court Correspondent" for the club's Men's, Women's, and Mixed Night Doubles tournaments. His fun interviews, with tough and often hilarious questions, with the players after their matches, are enjoyed by the players and spectators alike.