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PRESIDENT
Matt Watson
8407 Crooked Trail Tyler, Texas 75703 matt@hollytreecc.com
REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT
Craig Bell
5201 Westgrove Drive Dallas, Texas 75248 972-931-4950 cbell1360@aol.com
1st VICE PRESIDENT Mel McRee 3400 Mesa Road Lubbock, Texas 79403 806-786-2660 Mel@lubbockcc.org
2nd VICE PRESIDENT Kelly Marshall 2510 Onion Creek Parkway Austin, Texas 78747 kmarshall@onioncreekclub.com
3rd VICE PRESIDENT
Adrien Chabria
5712 Palo Pinto Ave. Dallas, TX 75206 214-232-5237 ajchabria@me.com
SECRETARY
Michelle Stallard 3500 Woodhaven Drive Midland, Texas 79707 512-924-7097
michellestallardhome@gmail.com
TREASURER
Ernie Abraham
13765 Southern Oaks Dr. Burleson, Texas 76028 817-980-9374
abrahamernie@yahoo.com
PAST PRESIDENT
Jenny Gray 901 Sonterra Blvd San Antonio. Texas 78258 512-930-3783
jgray@clubatsonterra.com
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Tosha Smith
8003 Greenslope Dr. Austin, TX 78759 512-848-0598 tosha.smith@uspta.org
from President, Matt WatsonLet me start by wishing all of you and your families an incredibly Happy and Safe holiday season. As 2022 nears the end we prepare for an exciting 2023 and our upcoming Annual Conference.
The USPTA Texas Adult Team Championships are right around the corner January 20-22 in Houston. Jenny Gray has done another outstanding job organizing this event and we look forward to a fun weekend of competition. Thank you to all our volunteers who will be helping run this very important event for our organization.
AJ Chabria, our USPTA Education Chair, has been remarkably busy lining up our speakers for our 2023 USPTA Texas Conference at the Omni Las Colinas February 10-12. We will be at this location for 2023 and 2024 and hope to see many of you there! We are also working with the Dallas Open to coordinate a continuing education opportunity on that Thursday morning, February 9 at their location (SMU) before match play begins at 11am. Please stay tuned for more information about this exciting opportunity.
If you have not heard, Kelly Marshall is our USPTA Texas Pickleball Certification head tester. We will be announcing dates and locations for 2023 certification tests. If you are currently certified and would be interested in being a regional tester, please let us know as we are looking for more testers to help cover our large state.
It is hard to believe that I am already entering my 4th and final year as your president. It has certainly been my honor and a privilege to serve all of you over the past 3+ years. I am excited to begin another year with our incredible USPTA Texas delegation and I look forward to seeing many of you at the February conference. As always, please share any thoughts/ideas you have with me, or the board and we are always looking for more volunteers for our events if any of you are interested. Be sure to GET INVOLVED and give back to what has given each of us so much.
Matt S. Watson, USPTA Elite Professional Regards,
Mike is a USPTA Certified Elite Professional. Mike is a certified tennis teaching professional with the USPTA and PTR. Tennis Industry Magazine recognized Mike as one of the Top 25 Unsung Heroes of Tennis for his contributions to the sport. He has been a national trainer for USTA - conducting coaches’ workshops across the U.S. He is currently the Community Services Program Manager for USTA Texas.
Brian is a USPTA Certified Elite Professional. Brian is the Director of Tennis at Westwood Country Club in Austin, Texas. He has worked at Westwood Country Club for 36 years. Brian first came to Westwood Country Club in the summer of 1983, then to Sweetwater Country Club in Sugarland for his first Head Pro position. In 1986, Brian returned to begin his current tenure at Westwood Country Club. As director, Brian oversees all aspects of tennis to include Program Directors, the staff professionals, and all areas of Westwood’s tennis programming.
Brian Lusson is from Three Rivers, Michigan. He was the 1981 NAIA National Singles and Doubles Champion for Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) and led the Bobcats to a national team title. In addition, that same year, he was the NCAA Division II Doubles Champion and Singles Semi-Finalist. Brian graduated from Southwest Texas State University with a BA in Journalism.
Scott is a USPTA Certified Professional. Scott is the Chief Operating Officer at Cliff Drysdale Tennis. Scott is a native of Sydney, Australia and holds a bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from Sutherland College. Scott was a nationally ranked junior where he was coached by former World Number One John Newcombe, and his son Clint Newcombe. Scott has worked extensively with many legends of the game both on and off the court from coaching top ranked players to the development of tennis programs and club management across the country.
Since his arrival to the company in 2007, Scott has opened and grown over 20 locations for CDM. With nearly 20 years of teaching tennis and his background in building and managing clubs of all sizes, McCulloch brings a wealth of experience, training and leadership to our clubs and partners. In his role as COO, McCulloch will oversee daily operations for all clubs managed out of the New Braunfels office, including programming, creating short and long-term operational strategies, pro-development, and most importantly, supporting HQ, directors, and associates in the CDT and PBI club portfolio. Additionally, he will be charged with setting comprehensive goals for performance and growth; and establishing policies that promote growth, culture, and vision.
Additionally, Scott is regarded as one the tennis industry pioneers in today’s tennis climate specializing in all aspects of tennis management operations and serves on the USTA national committee for adult social play and works closely with the USTA at a sectional and national level as an advisor on a variety of projects from program delivery, strategic partnerships & pathways, tennis software technology and the tennis certification.
Kelly is a USPTA Certified Elite Professional. Kelly is the Director of Tennis and Fitness at Onion Creek Country Club. Kelly knows what it takes to succeed on the court. With over three decades of playing and coaching experience on multiple levels, Kelly brings a high level of skill and expertise. Her extensive knowledge provides an atmosphere that is positive and enables athletes to work through their struggles and on to success.
Kelly’s tennis background began at age 11 and progressed to a NCAA Division 1 University. She held a national ranking of #3 in doubles and # 10 in singles and was named a Sun Belt All- Conference Player. She also led her team as Captain for all four years. Following college, she competed in several professional tournaments before becoming a USPTA Elite Professional. Kelly currently serves as a Vice President of the United States Professional Tennis Association’s Texas Board.
Kelly is the USPTA Texas Division Coach Developer and is a USPTA Certified Pickleball Professional. She began playing pickleball many years ago and has become passionate about the sport!
Jarrett is a USPTA Certified Professional. Jarrett is the Director of Racquets at Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas, TX. He has an extensive background as both a director and former player, as well as a creator of several esteemed programs in the country. As a junior, he was ranked top 20 in the world and number 1 in the US in every age group. He played NCAA at the University of Virginia, and world team tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms.
Jarrett has directed many top tier tennis and paddle programs in the Northeast and the largest pickleball program in the country retaining over 1,000 people weekly. He is currently one of the best pickleball players in the world and the founder of clay court pickleball. Jarrett has an extensive background in all aspects of racquet sports management including budgeting and projections; programming; marketing; maintenance; strategic planning; facility design; and pro shop management.
Jarrett was awarded Professional Tennis Registry’s (PTR) Professional/Member of the year by Racquet Sports Industry (RSI) magazine and Professional Pickleball Registry’s (PPR) 2020 and 2022 Pro of the year as well as being one of the 2020 and 2022 Champions of Pickleball. In addition, he holds certifications from the USPTA, PTR, PPR, PPTR and the PPTA as well as being a national pickleball (PPR) clinician and Vice Chairman.
Jarrett is also a published author in numerous professional publications and a keynote speaker nationally. He has spoken at the 2019, 2020 and 2021 International PTR Tennis Symposium, 2020 Racquets and Paddle Show, multiple USPTA and CMAA events and the 2020, 2021 and 2022 national CMAA conferences to name a few.
Sarah is a USPTA Certified Elite Professional. Sarah is a tennis teaching professional and a representative for Team Texas at the national tennis intersectionals. Sarah is also an IPTPA certified Pickleball teaching professional, and a pickleball national champion. She is the task force leader of the LGBTQ+ committee for the USPTA National Diversity, Equity & Inclusion board, and the chair of the Houston Tennis Association’s Junior Team Tennis (JTT) committee for the city of Houston.
Sarah is also the author of Love All. A memoir that tells the story of the training, accomplishments, and struggles she has overcome to become the coach and player she is today. Sarah is donating the proceeds of this book to charity, to fund free skin cancer screenings nationwide.
In 2021, Sarah joined the USPTA Career and Leader Mentoring Program to be able to help fellow coaches, and she was also a recipient of the USPTA National Innovation Competition award for her ideas on growing the game. In 2022, Sarah presented a one hour on court seminar, Fun Games and Drills in New Orleans at the USPTA World Tennis Conference.
Sarah has over 25 years of experience playing and teaching tennis and is currently the Director of Junior Tennis at The Houston Racquet Club in Houston Texas. Sarah has developed multiple 12 & Under programs, using the USTA American Development Model, where she has encouraged young players to take their first steps in becoming competitive. Most recently Sarah has used her expertise to become a leader in the development of pickleball at her club as well as introducing a league for the city of Houston.
Kati is USPTA Intermountain College Coach of the Year, USPTA Elite Professional, USTA High Performance Coach, and PPR Pickleball Certified Coach. She is a former NCAA Division 1 Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach with an overall record of 175-144. Coach Kati served as the Head Women’s Tennis coach at SMU for 8 seasons, at the University of Wyoming for 4 seasons and as Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach at the University of Louisiana for 3 seasons.
Her coaching highlights include: American Athletic Conference Finalist, career high #29 national ranking, two time ITA Texas Regional Double Runner-up and Mountain Region Champion, Multiple NCAA Singles selection and ITA National Indoor Doubles Selection. Kati is on the Wilson Advisory Staff, and she holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana. Kati is fluent in English, Hungarian, and Romanian and is proficient in Spanish and German.
Amanda is a USPTA Certified Elite Professional. Amanda is the head pro at La Paloma Country Club in Tucson, Arizona. She has been bringing new groups of people to tennis through her programs and has been connecting upcoming professionals through USPTA Elevate. She currently serves as a USPTA area coordinator as well as a USTA board member for the Southwest. On the USPTA side she has won the pro of the year and star award for the San Diego division as well as a U30 national award in 2019. With USTA related projects, she won the San Diego district pro of the year award in 2016 and a Southern California USTA service award in 2019. Fink was also inducted into the Southern California Jewish Hall of Fame in 2015.
Amanda works with players and groups of all ages/levels with an emphasis on personal connections with students and specialized in being able to move/keep the fun in larger groups of players. She has helped build tennis programs at several country clubs and grown communities of both players and coaches.
Amanda played tennis on scholarship for USC from 2005-2009 where she was a three time All-American and won over 100 matches for her team; she earned a PAC 10 team title, a singles title, and two PAC 10 doubles titles. After graduating with a degree in psychology, Amanda played on the professional tour for three years. She reached a world ranking high of 269 and 232 in singles and doubles respectively, winning a singles title and three doubles titles.
Clint is a Performance Mindset Coach teaching skills that transcend sports and including parents in the process. He believes that if an athlete can deal with anxiety or lack of confidence in competition then they can also apply those skills to every area of their life.
Clint served in the Marine Corps with 1st Recon from 1998 to 2007. Clint also has years of experience coaching tennis, strength and conditioning, and developing athleticism through unconventional training. Some of his coaching highlights are head tennis coach at Grapevine High School for 5 years; graduate assistant tennis coach at UT Dallas for 2 years; running all levels of junior tennis programing; and developing the post quarantine strength and conditioning program for football, wrestling, soccer, and tennis.
Mindset Certifications- Enlifted Certified Coach- level 3, Peak Performance- Mental Performance Mastery Certified Coach, and Human Performance Institute- Mental Toughness Certification. Tennis Certifications- USTAHigh Performance Coach, USPTA Elite Professional, PTR Professional, USRSA-Master Racquet Technician, and ITPA- Tennis Performance Trainer. Strength and Conditioning Certifications- Power Athlete- Block One Coach, The Strong Coach, Strong First- Strong First Girya level 1 (kettlebell instructor), ONNIT Academy- Foundations, Durability, Kettlebell, Steel Mace, Battle Ropes, Steel Club, and Barbell, Steel Mace Flow- Level 1, Reflexive Performance Reset- Level 1 and Level 2.
OMNI LAS COLINAS HOTEL | IRVING, TEXAS
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. USPTA Texas Division Conference Registration
2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. USPTA Specialty Course – Developing Recreational Adult Players – Kati Gyulai
6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. USPTA Texas Division Board of Directors Meeting
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. USPTA Texas Division Conference Registration
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Building Successful Programs for Your Club – Scott McCulloch
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Navigating Racquets: How to Rise to the Top of Your Industry - Jarrett Chirico
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. USPTA Texas General Membership Meeting Luncheon Hosted by Jenny Gray, USPTA Texas Past President, USPTA National Update - TBD Sponsored By: Fort Worth Professional Tennis Association
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Making Tennis Easy and Fun for Adult Beginners- Brian Lusson
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Agility, Balance, Coordination- Discovering the Athlete in Every Player – Mike Carter
6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. USPTA Texas & USTA Texas Happy Hour Reception
7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. USPTA Texas & USTA Texas Dinner & Entertainment
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. USPTA Texas Division Conference Registration
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Building a Tennis Community Around a Tennis Professional – Amanda Fink Moore
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Catalytic Language: Words to Thoughts to Beliefs to Actions and Behaviors – Clint Laukhuf
12:00 p.m. - 1:25 p.m. USPTA Texas Division & USTA Texas Section Awards Luncheon
1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Fun Drills & Games for Junior & Adult Players – Sarah Flood
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Pickleball Programming, Drills, & Games – Kelly Marshall
6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. USPTA Social Event
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. USPTA Texas Division Conference Registration
8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. USPTA Pickleball Certification – Kelly Marshall
Name: USPTA No. _________ Phone:
Address: E-mail:
USPTA Member Pre-registration: Includes all social functions, seminars and USPTA specialty course.
Register before January 28th $155 Register before February 4th ..…………………………….. $170 Register after February 4th ………………………….………. $190
NEW USPTA member (Since March 2022)….FREE Includes all social functions, seminars and the USPTA specialty course.
Non-USPTA Teaching Pros: Includes social functions, seminars and the USPTA specialty course (does not include Friday Luncheon)
Register before January 28...........$215 Register after January 28............. $245
Spouse & guest registration (does not include Friday Business Lunch)........... $85
Name of spouse/guest
Very Important – Please indicate what events you will be attending!!!!!
I WILL ATTEND (circle yes or no):
Thursday USPTA specialty course yes no Friday Business Lunch yes no
Friday Night Dinner yes no Saturday Luncheon yes no
Saturday Night Social yes no Sunday USPTA Pickleball Certification yes no
USPTA specialty course is FREE with conference registration or $65 if not registered for the conference. Sunday USPTA Pickleball Certification- You must first be a USPTA Certified Tennis Instructor or USPTA Certified Professional to qualify for USPTA Pickleball Certification. The cost for the USPTA Pickleball Certification class is an additional $229.
Ho Ho Ho to all my fellow USPTA Texas tennis teaching professionals in and around the Great Game! Well, the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer and old man winter is officially upon us (almost that is), which this columnist isn’t a real fan of, by the way. I’m way more of a summer person – warm weather, beach, not getting dark until after 9pm -- that’s me for sure!
As I’m putting pen to paper, well fingers to keyboard, I wanted to say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Festivus (for all you Seinfeld fans), Happy Kwanzaa or Happy “However You Celebrate” the season, to all of you reading this column. Most all of us enjoy making our living in or around the Great Game and what a real privilege and honor it is to do so, making our avocation our vocations – nothing better, is there!
Anywho, with that being said (which ain’t a whole lot I might add), here are my latest thoughts, mental musings and other such mindbending nuggets to digest for you, the faithful of the Great Game and Craig’s Corner.
On the Lone Star front, as I’m writing this Craig’s Corner, I wanted to give a very sincere “shout out” to our very own USPTA Texas Board and Committee members for all the hard work they are doing promoting the Great Game of Tennis in the state. Leadership always starts at the top of the mountain with our very own newly appointed Executive Director, Tosha Smith. What a great job she has done the past few months taking
over for the happily retired (or so I hear), Charlotte Wylie, who left us in early 2022. “Muchas Gracias” to Mr. President, Matt Watson who steers the ship in the right direction and keeps us on course – not an easy task, mind you. He oversees the following group of talented “volunteer” individuals: Craig Bell, Regional VP (Jr Development & Regional Directors); Mel McRee, 1st VP (Awards Chairman); Kelly Marshall; 2nd VP (Division Conference & Pickleball Testing\Certification); AJ Chabria, 3rd VP (Education Chairman & Jr Development); Michelle Stallard, Secretary; Ernie Abraham, Treasurer (Finance); Jenny Gray, Past President and current USPTA National Board Member (Long Range Planning & USPTA Adult Leagues); Tommy Connell, Ethics\Legal; Jack Foster, Diversity & Inclusion; Dennis Reblin, Lessons for Life; Tom Ingram, Membership; Jim Sciarro, USPTA National Convention; Bob Haugen, Sports Science; Eli Sepulveda, Elevate and Van Barry, USTA Liaison. Thanks All – Job Well Done in 2022!!
Nationally speaking, are we headed for a real donnybrook between the Great Game participants and the Pickleball faithful aka “Picklers”? I’ve been catching wind, that “picklers” are being really vocal advocates for taking over existing public tennis courts and turning them into pickleball opportunities all of the US of A where they feel public court utilization is considerably low. The “picklers” have thus caused great heart-burn and indigestion for many in the tennis community. The battle lines being drawn are so intense that this conundrum has even caught national media attention from Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. The Emmy Award Winning Real Sports recently did a 15-minute segment on the dust up that is currently taking place in communities all over the country between tennis and pickleball enthusiasts. What they reported was passion on both sides of the table with tennis players not willing to give up their courts for those they feel are “squatting” on their public property. The country hasn’t seen pain and agony like this since the late 1800’s Johnson County War in the state of Wyoming. Get your popcorn ready, boys and girls, as this is going to be interesting to see what comes out of this. Hopefully, some type of positive resolution takes place with both sides being able to compete side by side.
On the world stage, have you noticed how many “Cups” the Great Game is hoisting lately – seems like a lot. Besides the Laver Cup (being held in London in late September); the All-American Cup (played in San Antonio a few weeks back); The Billie Jean Cup (aka the BJK Cup) being played in Glasgow, Scotland; The Davis Cup, being contested in Malaga, Spain; the newly reformatted Hopman Cup, now being known as The United Cup held in Australia in early January; plus I’ve been reading about a “cup” that is only for Russians and Belarusians being played right now in Moscow because tennis players from these nations have been left out of the fore mentioned world “cup” competitions due to the Russian war against the Ukrainian’s. This seems, to this humble author, that there is a whole lot of team competition for a sport that enjoys the more “singular” aspect of competition. Oh, and by the way, I’ve almost forgot about World Team Tennis, a “cup” styled competition featuring men and women from various U.S. cities playing one and other in the mid-summer time frame. I’ll have to admit I like team competition as I played high school and college tennis but the professional tennis schedule seems to have an over abundance of riches associated with the “cup” world. Does the proverbial “cup” runneth over? I guess only time will tell, as the ol saying goes.
Well kids, it’s time to circle the wagons, put out the fire and call in the dogs -- until next time whenever that may or will be, Happy Holidays, Keep Your Eye on the Ball and Don’t Forget the Sunscreen...
FROM 2022
