USPTA Texas - The Texan Fall Newsletter

Publication of the

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 1912 Abrams Rd. Dallas, TX 75214 214-232-5237

adrien@lakewoodcc.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

TM

A Message from President, Matt Watson

Howdy fellow tennis professionals!

I hope everyone is enjoying the much-awaited cooler weather and your courts are full of players. Tennis continues to flourish (up about 4.5% since 2020) in participation this past year, and suppliers are starting to have more much-needed product for our busy programs and shops. For those that have Pickleball programs at their facilities, that sport continues to grow and there are no signs of it slowing down. We as tennis professionals must be sure to find ways to meet the growing demands of our membership through both tennis and pickleball programming. It is certainly an excellent opportunity to fill our courts AND gain new tennis players through crossover events.

One big question for 2023 is what will life be like without Roger Federer on the tour?! He was certainly an incredible ambassador for our sport and a true champion. It will be strange when the next two retire and we face the tour without the Big 3! Who will step up and be the next GREATS??

We had another terrific weekend at Newks for our annual Jr. Gran Prix event. This event would not be possible without an immense amount of effort from so many of our pros around the state who run Jr. Gran Prix teams and circuits in their respective areas. We owe a great deal of gratitude to all those that support this terrific program. We also owe a BIG thank you to USPTA Texas board members Craig Bell and AJ Chabria for once again coordinating and running a terrific event that weekend. They certainly put in a ton of hours leading up to this event and then of course a long weekend of running the tournament. Thank you to all our volunteers, as well, that helped during the weekend. We had a terrific turnout of USPTA Texas professionals at our USPTA World Conference in New Orleans in September. USPTA Texas had 47 tennis professionals attend and we enjoyed a fun division party at Nola Cookery. It was great to catch up with so many pros/ friends from around Texas. Next year’s World Conference will be held in Orlando, FL and we hope to have even more join us!

We have already been busy organizing our 2023 USPTA Texas Conference that will be held in Las Colinas, TX February 10-12. While we certainly enjoy live presentations and being together again, we will continue to offer virtual seminars throughout the year as an opportunity for our membership to gain educational credits and insight into our industry.

A.J. Chabria, USPTA Texas Education Chair, is hard at work at organizing another great lineup of speakers over the next 6-8 months.

Regards, Matt S. Watson, USPTA Elite Professional

USPTA Texas Summer Retreat 2022

The USPTA Texas Summer Retreat was held August 12 - 13, 2022 at Lakecliff Racquet Club in Spicewood, Texas. The event kicked off on Friday morning with our president, Matt Watson, speaking on Practical Doubles Drills for Club Players, which was followed by a poolside cookout. We rounded out the day with a tennis drill share, golf, and an evening event at 5 Soul Wine.

On Saturday, we started the day with a session by Beverly Bowes who gave a fantastic talk to the group on Details & Updates for the Win. She spoke about ideas on growing and updating club programs along with some stories of her time on the tour. Next up was a presentation from our board member, Kelly Marshall, who offered her insights on some new pickleball drills. The day was capped off with a social event at High 5 that included bowling, laser tag, and arcade games.

This was a fun weekend and a great time was had by all.

Retreat

USPTA Texas Junior Gran Prix

Co-tournament directors Craig Bell and Adrien Chabria did a wonderful job organizing and running the USPTA Texas Junior Gran Prix State Championships last month at the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels. The weekend was a great success!

We had more than 160 junior tennis players representing ten (10) areas around the state -- Austin, Woodlands, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Dallas, Ft Worth, West Texas, Waco, Valley, and East Texas.

Austin took home first place in the Kangaroo Flight and Fort Worth came in second place. In The Gorilla Flight, first place went to the East Texas team with second place going to Waco. The Second Annual A.C.E. Awards (Attitude, Character, and Effort) was presented to the Midland team from the Gorilla Flight and the Woodlands team in the Kangaroo Flight. The First Annual “MVP” Award for the Most Valuable Professional was presented to Andrea Flores from the Valley and Walt Williams from Dallas.

The event ran smoothly with the assistance of our friendly and knowledgeable tournament volunteers of Debbie Lowry, Michelle Ash, Wendy Wilson, and Tosha Smith. The Presenting Sponsor was Velvet Taco, and the Awards Sponsor was Patrick Fontana with Wealth Partners Alliance. Thank you to the players, parents, and coaches for attending the event.

Junior Gran Prix

CRAIG’S CORNER

A big Texas sized “Howdy” to all of you out there who are reading this latest edition of Craig’s Corner. I hope everyone’s fall is off to a great start with lessons and activities aplenty! Following are my latest thoughts, mental musings, and other such mindbending nuggets to digest for you, the faithful --- hope you enjoy!

On the Lonestar scene I wanted to say a huge “Texas Thanks” to all those USPTA Tennis Professionals (plus players/parents/volunteers) who made the USPTA Texas Jr Gran Prix State Championships Presented by Velvet Taco a success last month at Newks Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels. Right at 160 junior tennis players participated representing ten cities/ areas from all over the state -- East Texas, The Woodlands, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Dallas, Ft Worth, West Texas, Waco, The Valley and Austin. After the dust settled and all was said and done in The Kangaroo Flight the team Winner was Austin and the Finalists were from Ft Worth. In The Gorilla Flight, the team Winner was from East Texas with the Finalists from Waco. Our Second Annual A.C.E. Awards (Attitude, Character, and Effort) were presented to the teams from Midland in the Gorilla Flight and the team from The Woodlands in the Kangaroo Flight. We presented our First Annual “MVP” Award which represented the Most Valuable Professional. This year’s winners were as follows: in the Gorilla Flight Andrea Flores from the Valley and in

the Kangaroo Flight the award went to Walt Williams from Dallas. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention those tournament volunteers who helped run the tournament desks with grace, skill, and efficiency. They were Wendy Wilson, Michelle Ash, Debbie Lowry and our fearless leader, Tosha Smith – many, many “Thanks” for your efforts!! And lastly, a big “Thanks” go out to those who financially supported this event. We couldn’t have put on an event of this magnitude without our Presenting Sponsor, Velvet Taco and our Awards Sponsor was Patrick Fontana with Wealth Partners Alliance. Plus “Thanks” to Wilson Racquet Sports for your support of USPTA and to my fellow co-tournament director, AJ Chabria for his guidance, leadership, and conviviality for the past two years!! This was truly a Great Event, Great Time with Great People Playing and Honoring the GREAT GAME!!

On the National Front, with a local Texas tie-in flavor, is an interesting event being planned in San Antonio in mid-November. The inaugural All American Tennis Cup will feature 10 Top American Male Players competing on 2 teams (East -vs- West) each of which will be captained by the greatest doubles team of all time, Bob, and Mike Bryan. Those pros who are committed as of today are: East Team, captained by Mike Bryan consists of Frances Tiafoe, John Isner, Jack Sock, Denis Kudla and JJ Wolf. The West Team, captained by Bob Bryan consists of Taylor Fritz, Marcos Giron, Jenson Brooksby, Mackenzie McDonald, and Steve Johnson. This unique new tennis event is being headed up by non-other than USPTA Tennis Professional Extraordinaire, Tim Stallard and his wife, USPTA Texas Board Member Michelle Stallard from Midland. I’m really looking forward to heading down to San Antonio in early November to see who wins the inaugural event – so get your popcorn ready and yourself down to San Antonio from November 11th thru the 13th for some world class “All American” tennis!!

Internationally Speaking, I’m thinking the end of an era is upon as The King (aka Roger Federer) and Serena Williams are “evolving” out of the game as Serena is calling it – basically, it’s retirement. Their personal Wikipedia

pages already say that Roger Federer is a “former” player and Serena Williams is an “inactive” player – basically, that’s retirement boys and girls! Between them they have collected 43 Grand Slam singles titles in the past two decades of excellence. There for a few years, their tournament dominance was basically them against all the other 127 players in the tournament playing for second place --– whomever was on the other half of the draw at least had a chance to get to the finals. I know both Champions shed a tear after their final matches – Serena in NYC and Roger in London. I hope that they stay involved in some way with the Great Game. It’s always better when past Champions stay involved whether they are broadcasters, coaches, tournament promoters\directors, etc. etc. The Great Game needs their expertise in helping shape the future of what takes place on the court and off the court. So, job well done Roger and Serena – “Thanks for the Memory” as The Great Bob Hope sang back in the late 30’s.

Well kids, it’s time to circle the wagons, put out the fire and call in the dogs -until next time, whenever that is, was or could be, Keep Your Eye on the Ball and Don’t Forget the Sunscreen...

USPTA Texas Pros Attend World Confrence

USPTA Texas Pros attend USPTA World Conference!!

The USPTA World Conference at the Hilton Riverside in New Orleans, Louisiana was attended by forty-seven (47) USPTA Texas pros on September 18 - 22, 2022. There was a great lineup of speakers and education seminars. In addition to the educational seminars, USPTA Texas leaders attended the Executive Committee meeting. We had the USPTA Texas Division party at the Nola Cookery where everyone had a great time! A big “Thank You” to Jim Sciarro for finding the fantastic restaurant with an amazing atmosphere for Louisiana Cajun food.

USPTA Texas National Award Winners

Sally Frame

Named 2022 Laurie Martin High School Coach of the Year

LAKE NONA, Fla. – The United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) is proud to name Sally Frame from Richardson, TX (Texas Division) the 2022 Laurie Martin High School Coach of the Year.

The USPTA High School Coach of the Year Award recognizes USPTA certified professionals for their achievements as high school tennis coaches.

In her first year as Head Coach in 2021, Sally transformed the tennis program at John Paul II High School. She immediately beefed up the tournament and match play schedule, which led to improved individual and team success. Her boys team went undefeated in district play, took 1st place at district, and won 4th place at State. Sally’s girls team finished 4th at State. In addition, JPII HS players took home 3rd place in both boys’ singles and doubles at State. However, Coach Frame’s greatest success was dramatically improving the overall tennis experience for players and parents. A few examples include starting a weekly coach info blast, building team spirit, meeting with each player individually to set goals, and emphasizing sportsmanship, education, and community service. Frame added fun events like the Family Fall Kick-Off, trips to watch college matches and a holiday party. She even formed a first ever tennis booster club! Sally used her magic touch, lots of hard work, and connections in the tennis community to create the foundation for a top-notch High School program—one that will continue to grow and flourish for many years to come.

“Thank you, Sally, for your 33 years of service to USPTA and congratulations on winning the newly renamed Laurie Martin High School Coach of the Year Award,” John Embree, USPTA CEO said.

Chris Bowen

Named 2022 USPTA Small Facility Manager of the Year

LAKE NONA, Fla. – The United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) is proud to name Chris Bowen from Austin, TX, the 2022 USPTA Small Facility Manager of the Year.

The award recognizes facility managers who encourage and develop their staff, hire and support USPTA certified Professionals, and contribute to the tennis community.

As General Manager of Onion Creek Country Club in Austin, Chris hired several tennis professionals to help restart the tennis program and supported many open play nights to promote tennis to the public. Chris oversaw the enhancement of the facility with new windscreens, nets, and much needed equipment, allowing the six-court club to increase its programming to a lesson revenue of over $60k/month. The club hosted the USPTA Gran Prix, has stayed busy with many program offerings and hosted a USPTA Pickleball Certification. Chris has been instrumental in getting corporate funding to promote and grow tennis, resurface clay courts, and to champion the game of tennis and pickleball overall.

“Congratulations on winning USPTA Small Facility Manager of the Year. We appreciate your continuous contributions and growth in the tennis community,” John Embree, USPTA CEO expressed

Hagen Cleek

Named 2022 USPTA Large Facility Manager of the Year

LAKE NONA, Fla. – The United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) is proud to name Hagen Cleek from San Antonio, TX, the 2022 USPTA Large Facility Manager of the Year.

The award recognizes facility managers who encourage and develop their staff, hire and support USPTAcertified Professionals, and contribute to the tennis community.

Hagen has served as General Manager at the Club at Sonterra in San Antonio for five years. He leads a 31-court tennis facility with 1,600 members with his assistant General Manager Nathan Gillespy. Together they manage a location that has the second largest private club tennis programs in Texas. Hagen leads with grace and pride and trusts the department heads to run their departments. He’s also supportive and encouraging of staff to be affiliated with the USPTA and to volunteer for division and national boards. In 2021, Hagen and the club hosted events like the USPTA Texas Summer Retreat and allowed staff to waive their strict non-member policy to raise money for charity- last October they were able to raise $14,000 for Susan G. Komen of Texas. Hagen’s spearheaded projects including clay court resurfacing, converting others into pickleball courts, and the resurfacing of 7 hard courts. Under his leadership, the Club at Sonterra has grown and prospered!

“Congratulations on winning USPTA Large Facility Manager of the Year, Hagen,” John Embree, USPTA CEO said. “We appreciate your continuous contributions to the growth of the tennis community.”