USPTA Texas: The Texan - Spring 2023 Newsletter

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

A Message from President, Matt Watson

Spring season is off and running and summer is quickly coming upon us! I’m not sure I’m ready for the Texas heat just yet. It is my hope that everyone is enjoying an extremely busy season on the courts and seeing growth in their programs. As industry leaders, it is our responsibility to continue building future generations of players and providing fun and exciting opportunities at our respective clubs/courts.

We had a fantastic USPTA Texas Conference in February at the Omni Hotel in Las Colinas. A big thank you to USPTA Texas member JJ Paulsen at Las Colinas Country Club for opening the doors and allowing us to host our on court presentations at their location. We will be back at the same location in 2024. We hosted nearly 80 tennis professionals with speakers from all over the United States. AJ Chabria, our Education Chair, did another fantastic job of organizing a terrific line-up of presenters for our group that shared insight into many facets of our industry in both tennis and pickleball.

As a reminder, keep an eye on the USPTA Texas calendar for upcoming USPTA Pickleball certifications by our Head Tester, Kelly Marshall. If you are interested in scheduling your own test at your club, you may reach out to Executive Director, Tosha Smith, to discuss. You must have at least 4 pros at your test to do so.

We are still working on details for our USPTA Summer Retreat. We are looking at August 4-6 in the San Antonio area. Please continue to look for emails and watch our social media for more information regarding location and details.

Hope you can join us for the USPTA Texas “Fore the Love of Tennis” fundraiser golf tournament in the DFW area. This has become a very popular event for many of our members and we hope to continue to grow its participation. The golf tournament is an excellent opportunity for fellowship and discussion, as well as raise money for our organization to support USPTA Texas programs and USPTA Texas members. Sponsorship and registration packages will be available, and we would love to have your support. This year’s event will again include Hole in One contests, putting contests, dinner, and drinks.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the 2023 World Conference that will be held in Orlando, Florida September 24-28. This will be an incredible opportunity for amazing insight and education, as well as a great time to visit and network with fellow tennis professionals from around the world. Our division party will be that Tuesday night – more details to come! Continued health and happiness to all of you and I hope to see you at our upcoming events!

Regards, Matt

S. Watson, USPTA Elite Professional

COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS

Awards | Mel McRee

Buying Show Chair | Ernie Abraham

Division Conference | Kelly Marshall

Education | Adrien Chabria

Ethics/Legal | Tommy Connell

Diversity & Inclusion | Jack Foster

Finance | Ernie Abraham

Jr. Development | Craig Bell & Adrien Chabria

Lessons for Life | Dennis Reblin

Long-Range Planning | Jenny Gray

Membership | Tom Ingram

National Convention | Jim Sciarro

Nominating | Jo Keene

Regional Directors | Craig Bell

Sport Science | Bob Haugen

Pickleball Testing & Certification | Kelly Marshall

USPTA Adult Leagues | Jenny Gray

Elevate | Eli Sepulveda

USTA Liaison | Fred Viancos

that

DATES RATE

MAY 12

USPTA Pickleball Certification (Austin, Texas)

JUNE 23

USPTA Texas Golf Tournament (Grand Prairie, Texas)

AUGUST 4 - 6

USPTA Texas Summer Retreat (San Antonio, Texas)

SEPTEMBER 24 -28

USPTA World Conference (Orlando, Florida)

FROM AROUND THE STATE Regional Directors AUSTIN

Kelly Marshall

Austin Report: Some exciting things happening in Austin Racket Sports! Westwood CC just completed the ATX Open. The ATX Open is Austin’s only professional tour-level tennis tournament and the city’s largest women’s professional sporting event. This was a WTA 250 event with 32 players in the singles draw and 16 doubles teams! It was fantastic!

The USPTA Junior Gran Prix just kicked off with the first event at Onion Creek Club. Various clubs will be hosting tournaments throughout the summer with a total of 9 tournaments before the State Playoffs! Great job with area professionals working together with these great grassroot tournaments.

Junior Team Tennis is in full swing. It is nice to get back out there and see a ton of kids playing!

The next USPTA Pickleball Certification is May 12th at Onion Creek Club. The certification is a four hour on court workshop followed by an online test. Registration information can be found at USPTA.com or for more information contact kmarshall@ onioncreekclub.com

Andy Carter

The Rio Grande Valley will be sending a Ladies team to The USPTA Champion of Champions Cup April 5 & 6 at River Oaks in conjunction with The ATP River Oaks Clay Court Championships.

The Harlingen Country Club will be hosting Family Tennis Day in May to promote The USTA National Tennis Month campaign.

DALLAS

FROM AROUND THE STATE Regional Directors

Adrien Chabria

So much great tennis news to report from Dallas.

Just about each day in Dallas, there’s a league practice or an actual dual match of some sort! Dallas Indoor League, Metro Tennis League, Tennis Competitors of Dallas with the weekend Mixed dubs, the Wednesday 50 and 60+ women’s divisions, and of course Thursday rainy Thursdays for the women’s dubs.

Favorite moments for busy racquet sports professionals and fans?

We enjoyed great seat just about every day of the WTA Finals in Fort Worth. Also in November, the Pro Pickleball Association held the packed Texas Open at the Oasis in Rockwall. DFW sent a successful squad down to the USPTA adult State tournament hosted by Jenny Gray in Houston, Texas in January.

What a blast seeing the growing cadre of Dallas residents prepare for the Australian Open on the courts here locally. So many sightings of standouts like Mitchell Krueger, Austin Krajicek, John Isner, Hans Hach, Joshua Sheehy, Nate Lammons, and Jackson Withrow, among others.

Just after the Oz Open, we were treated to the second running of the ATP 250 Dallas Open at the Altec Styslinger Tennis Complex at SMU. Tournament Director Peter Lebedevs implemented many initiatives including a ninety-minute collaborative clinic with the Dallas Tennis Association’s NJTL Excellence program. What a joy to see the second seeds, Nate Lammons and Jackson Withrow sweat it out with the kids during event!

Yi Bing Wu edged John Isner (tournament host) in a three-set thriller on Super Bowl Sunday, the 12th of February. Then, Jamie Murray and Michael Venus won a rollicking three set epic over local hopefuls, Nate Lammons and Jackson Withrow.

About a week later, the ATP Challenger Tour hit Waco, as Baylor hosted the Texas Tennis Classic. Kudos to USPTA professionals, Scott Mitchell and Bill Riddle for running a remarkable event. Ivan and Matej Sabanov edged Evan King and Mitch Krueger in the dubs final. Aleksandar Kovacevic beat Alexandre Muller in the singles final. This was during the ATX open, in which Marta Kostyuk defeated Varvara Gracheva in the singles final. Aldila Sutjiadi and Erin Routliffe defeated Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar Martinez in the dubs final.

Last week ESPN2 covered a must-see TV Thursday Night College match right here in Dallas. Lights, cameras, and ball kids arranged by Christina Allen and Grant Chen! The Baylor Bears men’s team narrowly took the doubles point, then in the midst of several incredibly close three set singles match, managed to clinch 4-0. What a night for tennis in Dallas! What a season. The groundbreaker, gamechanger, Billie Jean King made an appearance at SMU in Dallas, TX the weekend of April 1.

Looking forward to the USPTA Course in conjunction with the ATP 250 Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston next week, then the conclusion of the college season.

Thankful for such a vibrant tennis scene here in our region. Cheers to a great spring and summer, y’all!

CORPUS CHRISTI

FROM AROUND THE STATE Regional Directors

Gerry Maingot

Spring is in full swing, and tennis is buzzing at all the clubs and tennis centers. Gerry Maingot retired from the USTA League system and passed the baton to Lenson Smith. Lenson will serve as the League Coordinator for all the USTA Adult Leagues provided by the Corpus Christi Tennis Association. Lenson also serves as the Adult and Junior Tennis Coordinator for the Tennis Association and as a Tennis Professional at the Corpus Christi Country Club. Our Junior Team Tennis League is run by Zach Williams and is in full swing – currently there are 30 Ten and Under kids and 40 kids in the upper divisions. Gerald Tjon-a-joe coordinated a UTR Junior Team Tennis League for High Performance Juniors in the Corpus Christi Area. Ronald Elizondo at Al Kruse Tennis Center ran the first Junior Gran Prix Tournament, the second will be held at the Country Club on the 29th of April. The Tennis Success NJTL Program has moved from HEB Tennis Center to the old Carroll High School tennis courts. They have resurfaced the 7 courts and converted the eighth court to four pickleball courts. They have a large learning center, tennis pro shop and indoor teaching facilities and are now open to the public for tennis and pickleball. Tennis Success will also be hosting their “Party at the Net – Under the South Texas Starts” fundraiser on the 19th of April.

Laura Gilbert

A BIG THANK YOU to JJ Paulsen at Las Colinas Country Club for hosting an outstanding Pickleball Certification and to Kelly Marshall for providing the training! Participants included (Lft to rt) Linda Hayes, Nick Van Den Handel and Austin Wynn (TNT) Sebastian Langdon not pictured, Laura Gilbert, Kelly Marshall, Ernie Abraham, Jeff Hendrick (Southern Oaks) ,Eric Clay (Wagon Wheel) Lance Helm (ATC)

FORT WORTH

Congratulations to Kelly Langdon, Austin Wynne & the entire TNT Tennis & Pickleball staff as they were informed by UTR that their tournaments are in the top 1% in the nation in total participants!

CENTRAL TEXAS

FROM AROUND THE STATE Regional Directors

Julian Curatella

We are happy to report that Central Texas facilities are as active as ever!

Our USPTA Junior Grand Prix circuit is under way. We added an extra tournament for 2023 and look to build on the momentum of last year. We took 3rd at the state championships last season, and we are looking to surpass that achievement. China Spring, Ridgewood Country Club and Midway HS had record participation!

We wrapped up our Junior Team tennis spring season on Sunday, March 26th with a pizza party and prizes.! We want to recognize Claire McFerran who continues to lead this amazing program and all the volunteers who are vital to the program’s success.

USTA adult league play has also begun! We have seen an increase in numbers for all levels! We attribute this to good marketing, promotion, and leadership from our directors of facilities in the area! We have seen fierce competition in the early going. We look forward to building mixed doubles teams as we head into the Texas summer heat.

Waco Tennis Association updates: Started off the Spring Tennis season sponsoring 6 NJTL players into our Level 6 tournament followed by a Kids Day at Ridgewood Country Club with 50 kids. That kicked off 6 weeks of Sunday Team Challenges and Team Tournaments with approximately 50 kids participating. Ended the season with Pizza Prizes Day! Our Littles play for 45 minutes before each Baylor Women’s Tennis home match. Our area high school senior tennis players are getting in their applications for the Waco Tennis Association college scholarship program. We are awarding $12,000 in 2023.

Our January Frostbite Open hosted 176 players. That is 90 more players than we have ever had and fortunately there was no rain, sleet or snow. Adult leagues are growing! Four sites are hosting match play with 18 teams participating in 18 & Over divisions.

All Central Texas facilities are gearing up for their respective summer camp. Facilities are offering a wide range of first-class programs, academies style training, tennis and sport camps for June, July and August!

BRAZOS VALLEY

FROM AROUND THE STATE Regional Directors

Brandon Carlson

We are excited to announce that the City of College Station approved the proposed bond projects which would renovate and construct new tennis and pickleball courts for the city. The bonds, which total over $3 million, were approved by an overall 65% of the citizens who voted in the November election in College Station.

Local tennis programming is blossoming this Spring, with the addition of two new women’s league opportunities from the Brazos Valley Tennis Association, as well as the existing programming offered by the City of College Station.

Finally, the Brazos Valley Tennis Association is partnering with the Special Olympics to host around 20 tennis athletes at the Area 6 Spring Games in College Station on April 15, 2023. We are excited to see this partnership continue, and we look forward to hosting new programs in the summer months!

SAN ANTONIO

San Antonio Tournaments

Dan Cantu

Welcome SATA’s new Executive Director: Sal Castillo Sal is a former D-1 college player for S. Illinois University and member of the 1993 San Antonio Racquets team tennis. He has spent the last 30 years coaching and teaching tennis, most recently as Head Tennis Coach of the Lady of the Lake University. He still enjoys playing tennis and competing in tennis events. Sal was ranked as high as #1 in the world in men’s singles 45 and over and 50 and over. Sal looks forward to bringing his experience on and off the court to the San Antonio tennis community.

Fiesta Tournament Level 6 April 21-23, Memorial Day Open Level 6 May 26-28, SATA Adult Major Zone Open Level 5 July 7-9

High School Tennis State Tournament Schedule 2022-2023

Tuesday, April 25, 2023- Blossom Tennis Center, Annemarie Tennis Center, & Northside Tennis Center

Wednesday April 26th, 2023- Blossom Tennis Center & Northside Tennis Center

Another USPTA Texas Adult Championships in the Book

We held another successful USPTA Texas Adult Championships January 20- 22, 2023 in Houston, Texas. Ten (10) women’s teams and ten (10) men’s teams played in the event. There were 439 players from all around the state of Texas. The Abilene ladies’ team were the victors over West Texas with a score of 69- 59. On the men’s side, Fort Worth defeated Austin 74- 54 to win the men’s 2023 team championship!! Jenny Gray did a fantastic job directing the event along with the help of twelve (12) volunteers. Thank you to everyone involved in running the tournament: Jenny Gray, Mel McRee, Matt Watson, Debbie Lowry, Kelly Marshall, Ben Randall, Dencil Johnson, Paul Soliz, Dave Tibbetts, Sarah Flood, James Daly, and Tosha Smith. If you are ever interested in helping with the tournament, contact Jenny Gray or Tosha Smith.

USPTA TEXAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE Highlights

The 2023 USPTA Texas Annual Conference was a success. The conference was held on February 9- 12, 2023 at the Omni Las Colinas, Irving, Texas. Those in attendance had a great time.

We want to acknowledge and appreciate all the speakers who volunteered their time to present engaging topics at the conference. The speakers included Kati Gyulai, Scott McCulloch, Kelly Marshall, Jarrett Chirico, Sarah Flood, Clint Laukhuf, Brian Lusson, Amanda Fink Moore, and Mike Carter. Kelly Marshall held a pickleball certification on Sunday morning.

The Friday USPTA Texas General Membership Meeting Luncheon was enjoyable with Jenny Gray giving the national update.

USPTA Texas

Annual Conference Highlights

USPTA Texas Annual Conference Highlights

USPTA Texas Division and USTA Texas enjoyed a Friday night dinner and entertainment, featuring the fabulous Boogie Town band with the lead singer of Kevin Collins (USTA Texas President). Everyone had an amazing time.

USPTA Texas Annual Conference Highlights

The USPTA Texas & USTA Texas Awards Luncheon was held on Saturday. Congratulations! 2022 USPTA Texas Award Winners

Star Award

DAVE TIBBITTS

Proud Award

DENCIL JOHNSON

Industry Excellence Award HIRAM GONZALEZ

Lessons for Life Award JENNY GRAY

Lifetime Achievement Award

JIM SCIARRO

2022

Congratulations! 2022 USPTA Texas Award Winners

Elevate Award

MADISON DYER

Professional of the Year Award

OTIS SADLER

High School Coach of the Year Award

SALLY FRAME

Diversity Award

SARAH FLOOD

Small Facility Manager of the Year Award

CHRIS BOWEN

Large Facility Manager of the Year Award

HAGEN CLEEK

USPTA Texas Annual Conference Highlights

On Saturday evening, members gathered for a fun evening at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria.

Pro Tips/Drills

corrections.

Players: 6 -8

Players are set up as in the diagram above with one player at the net and two players behind one another on the baseline – this makes a team. The players at the net are the feeding players. The point is started by the feeder and played out down the line. Baseline players must hit one shot and “switch” places, the second player in line must hit the ball when it comes back over. A “switch” occurs after every shot. Players will have to hit and move, communicate, and work on their shot preparation. The net player will remain for 3 minutes and the team with the highest consecutive rally wins that round!

Variations:

• The point can be played out cross court.

• This drill can be done with the two-player side starting on the service line and using controlled volleys – great for junior players to learn speed control.

Key points:

• Inevitably players will turn in a circle when switching, this is a great opportunity to teach shuffling footwork which allows the player to recover AND still see the ball (plus you won’t get dizzy!).

• Do not allow players to stand side by side and not recover! (Trust me they will try!).

• The volleyer learns to control the placement and speed of the ball.

Try this one out the next time you are on the court!

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 was looking back in the archives and as of this article, I’m in my 10th year of Craig’s Corner. That’s 34 previous editions and over 38,000 words! I’ve really enjoyed penning all these editions which are all totally “off the cuff.” Hopefully, I’ve written on topics\subjects that are interesting and informative with all that has to do in and around the Great Game. I don’t know if I’ll be writing another 35 editions, but Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to put a few random thoughts and ideas out there for you the Great Game faithful!

Anywho, with that being said (which ain’t a whole lot I might add), here are my latest thoughts, mental musings and other such mind-bending nuggets to digest…..

Well, boys and girls let’s see what’s up in the world of Lone Star tennis. A Big Texas sized “Congrats” go out to our college tennis coaches in the Lone Star state. I just did some research and I’m seeing that there are 14 men’s teams and 15 women’s team being ranked by NCAA Division 1, NCAA Division 2, NCAA Division 3 and NCAA Jr College. In D1 men’s tennis, the Texas Longhorns are #1 in the USA followed closely by TCU at #3. In D1 women’s tennis the Texas A&M Aggie women are ranked #2 in the US followed by the Texas women at #9. UT Tyler men are #8 in D2 and St. Mary’s women are #17 in D2. The

Trinity men and women’s team are #11 and #14 respectively in D3 tennis. On the NCAA Jr College front, Tyler Junior College men are #2 and the women are #3 in the nation. Overall, here’s the Lone Star breakdown by Division: D1 – 8 men’s teams are ranked; D17 women’s teams are ranked; D2 - 2 men’s teams are ranked; D2 women’s teams have 3 nationally ranked teams; in D3 there are 2 men’s teams ranked; D3 women’s teams have 3 ranked teams; Lastly there are 2 nationally ranked Jr College men’s programs and 2 nationally ranked women’s programs. So overall, my Oklahoma 2nd grade math is correct with 14 Lone Star men’s teams and 15 Lone Star women’s teams ranked in their respective divisions throughout the world of college tennis. So, “Congrats” go out to our Texas college coaches, many of them are USPTA certified professionals, as they receive an A+ for their efforts this season. I’m sure those who aren’t ranked are really close to seeing their teams being recognized as one of the best programs in the USA – keep up the good work coaches and let’s finish strong this season!!

Nationally speaking, did you catch notice that Bob Bryan was recently named Davis Cup Captain? I think this is a very quality and savvy hire by the USTA hierarchy in getting one half of the greatest doubles team ever in the history of the game to lead the Red, White and Blue in Davis Cup competition. Recent Captain, Mardy Fish was a nice hire in this authors humble opinion, but with Captain Bob leading the charge, I think he brings us back to instant credibility on the international tennis front. Quick side note is that Captain Bob is a member of the last US team to hoist the Dwight Davis trophy back in 2007 in Portland. Vamos Captain Bob – let’s get the Davis Cup back on our soil!

On the world stage, have you checked out the new tennis documentary, Break Point on Netflix? I’ve not watched it yet, but from what I understand, Break Point is a “quality” behind the scenes look at men’s and women’s pro tennis through the four slams – about nine months. Filmed in 2022, Break Point follows the daily lives of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Paula Badosa, Matteo Berrettini, Taylor Fritz, Ons Jabeur, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Nick

Kyrgios, Casper Ruud, Aryna Sabalenka, Maria Sakkari, Sloane Stephens, Iga Swiatek, Frances Tiafoe, Ajla Tomljanovic and Stefanos Tsistipas --- looks like all the up and coming “young guns” are being showcased in this series. Several of my friends who have watched a few episodes tell me it’s not too bad. I’m sure that most of you who are reading this article have experienced some of what this documentary is highlighting. Most of our teaching profession have played high school tennis and many have even played college tennis, with a few more moving onto the pro ranks. If I’m thinking correctly, this documentary will showcase how hard the preparation, physical and mental, is trying to get to the top of the ATP and WTA tours. To me, the mental strain is probably more taxing on a person than the physical side of the game. The constant loosing as one is working their way onto the tours has to be tough to deal with, day in and day out. I’m definitely interested in watching Break Point and I’m interested in hearing what you think about the documentary, whether you’ve seen it or not.

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...

cbell1360@aol.com

craigbell@benttreecc.org

214-762-8600 (cell\text)

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