Stan Smith Some People Think I Am a Shoe Book Review

The Written Word

A New Photo Book Celebrates the Iconic Stan Smith— Both Man and Shoe

By Monica Kim

In the pantheon of iconic shoes, Adidas Stan Smiths are the unassuming ne plus ultra. The classic trainers have been widely beloved for decades, particularly worshipped by fashion people for their clean, minimal lines (Phoebe Philo and Raf Simons are noted devotees). But what of the man behind the sneaker? The titular Stan Smith, former world number one tennis player, is often forgotten—a fact cheekily referenced by Smith himself in a new book from Rizzoli called Stan Smith: Some People Think I’m a Shoe.

The title is a playful nod to a conversation the now 71-year-old tennis titan once had with his son Trevor. “When he was about 8, he finally figured out that the shoe was something unique,” Smith says, recalling an incident when Trevor asked whether his father was named after the shoe, or the shoe after him. “I am not sure if it was so innocent or if he was being a bit of a wise guy (I think the latter), but he did ask the question. I gave him some grief about that comment.” There is no bigger fan of the Stan Smith than Stan Smith. “When the shoe came out with my photo on the tongue, I kept looking at it during my matches and it was distracting, humbling, and exhilarating,” he says. Smith maintains a personal cache of about 60 versions stored in two different closets: one for regular wear, one for sentimental gems, like a black and maroon suede pair customized in Hong Kong 10 years ago (“as close as I could get to my school USC colors”). “I wish that I had kept the shoes from the early days but I had no idea that they would be around for so long and have the legacy that was created,” he adds.

Out September 4, the 336-page tome is a visual celebration of that legacy, filled with Smith’s personal recollections of his life and storied career and the shoe that bears his name, as seen throughout history in 200 photographs. There is a shot of Yoko Ono and John Lennon perched on a love seat, the latter wearing black Smiths with single cuffed jeans; flip forward and you’ll find a Snowdonlensed portrait of David Bowie, sockless in chinos, a peach button-up, and yellow tie on a dilapidated white park bench.

Sprinkled in among the anecdotes and archival images are modern day testaments to the shoe’s enduring power, starting with a forward from Pharrell. “I have a personal connection with the Stan Smith, as it is fair to say that for ten years, from my teens well into my 20s, I didn’t wear any other shoes—only Stan Smiths,” Raf Simons writes. There are quotes from photographer Petra Collins, Colette’s Sarah Andelman, and a selection of snapshots from Daniel Arnold, who set out to capture them in the wild.

Smith’s favorite Smiths cameos go as follows: on the dancing feet of Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1985’s White Nights, and a slew of candids of John Lennon. “It was neat to see him in photos looking very comfortable in them,” he says. More recently, Smith happily met with Ranveer Singh in Mumbai, a top Bollywood star who wore the trainers in Bekikre. “In the film his character transitioned from a nerd to a cool guy who wins the girls heart when he starts wearing my shoes,” Smith says.

Then, of course, there are more humbling encounters. “Last year, I was in Paris waiting in line for a restaurant and three of the four teenage boys near us were wearing my shoe,” Smith recalls. “My friend asked them if they knew who Stan Smith was and in fact I was him. They said no way and talked among themselves. They went away disbelieving. They must have done some homework and were convinced that I was the real thing because after dinner when I was leaving they asked me to sign their shoes.”

Photo: Courtesy of Rizzoli New York

State News

Alabama USPTA Alabama would like to recognize Kevin Theos (Homewood, AL.) for being elected to the USPTA National Board. Congratulations Kevin. We are also happy to announce three new committees that have been formed and their committee chairs. Diversity and Inclusion: Al Garrett (Madison, AL), Elevate / U30: JC Freeman (Birmingham, AL), Social Media: Rachel Nix (Tuscaloosa, AL) Email usptaalabama@gmail.com if you would like to participate in one of these committees or if you have any questions. Lastly we are coming to Huntsville. Be looking for an announcement soon concerning a March/April event in Huntsville, AL. Arkansas has rescheduled the Annual Pros Meeting to June 3rd. This will include a Hispanic Family Night during the Little Rock Open and a USPTA Certification workshop with help of Allan Jensen June 4-5th at Burns Park. Agenda as follow: Friday, June 3rd (times may change a little) at Burns Park. -11:00-12:00 - Bill Dopp (TSR for USTA Georgia) - “Tools to work with players of all ability levels” -12:00-12:45 - Lunch -1:00-1:30 - Jim Merriman - “Adaptations of a Tiny Tots Class” -1:30-2:00 - Chris Stuart (TSR for USTA Arkansas)- “Tutorial of Cardio Tennis for 2022 & Triples Play” -2:00-3:00 - Paul Pautsch - “High School Tennis Association Round Table, how can we (Tennis Professionals) help grow high school tennis” -3:00-3:30 USPTA Business Meeting for all USPTA members Fee includes workshop, lunch & gift! USPTA Certification – Level 1 Instructor Certification Date: June 4th and 5th at Burns Park. USPTA Arkansas Committee Members Brandon Kiker– Diversity and Inclusion, Camden Riley – Elevate/U30, Chris Stuart – Social Media Chair. 2022 USPTA Board Members Pat Malone patmalone67@gmail.com (870) 834-9576, Barry Brady brady6517@gmail.com (501) 804-2756, Gail Nankervis rg.nankervis@sbcglobal.net - (501) 551-6060 Georgia We ended the year hosting the 2021 Winter Workshop at Atlanta Athletic Club. Thank you Jeff Chandley, for doing a masterful job hosting us. Dr. Mark Kovacs, Dr. Neeru Jayanthi, and High-Performance Team coaches, Jeff Clark, Meg Bandy, and Gary McIntyre, from McCallie School in TN, No. 2 ranked team in the country were our speakers for the day for the 75 attendees.

The McCallie team began with building team character and goals, through high performance drills, philosophies, expectations, and player development, on and off the court. Dr. Mark Kovacs showed us how to improve students’ explosive power and speed. Knowing we deal with students who are not great athletes, he showed us how to improve player’s flexibility and balance at many different levels. Dr. Neeru Jayanthi, his specialty being injury reduction and prevention, also taught us how to improve student’s development using other sports and games, keeping everyone engaged.

This was followed by a wonderful awards luncheon, in a new venue with a 240-degree glass view of the golf course. Following lunch, a professional drill exchange then immediate Past President Bill Anderson gave a marketing presentation on how to build a successful pickleball program. We ended playing pickleball and utilizing the skills Bill has gained the past few years at his Capitol City club Kentucky In collaboration with USTA Kentucky and the Kentucky High School Tennis Coaches Association (KYHSTCA), USPTA Kentucky will be hosting a spring workshop in Louisville for all teaching pros and high school coaches. Mississippi Our Pro Workshop has been rescheduled for April 9th, 2022 at the Country Club of Jackson. Make plans to join us. The Pro Workshop, USTA Award Luncheon and Hall of Fame will be on the same day. Billy Gip Clark, one of our long-standing teaching professionals is being inducted into the Hall of Fame along with Rod Hartzog (Posthumously). Louisiana We are excited to hit the ground running in 2022. We have a dedicated and passionate board ready to get to work. We are in the process of designating representatives for the following pillars: Diversity & Inclusion, Elevate, Social Media, and Pickleball. A big priority for our board is outreach to existing, new, and potential pros. We don’t just want numbers, we want new, quality pros who are committed to the industry and helping us grow tennis throughout the state. Our state board will be planning a series of Lunch & Learn events throughout the state to take a pulse on what our pros need and how we can best serve them, as well as identifying barriers to entry for USPTA. This will help guide our annual workshop. We look forward to serving you in 2022 and heavily encourage you to reach out to us as a board with questions or to get involved with our efforts. Lyndsey Mixon (President) lyndsey.michelle@gmail.com John Wahborg (!st VP) jwahlborg1@gmail.com Hassan Abbas (2nd VP) hassanabbas101@gmail.com Anna Monhartova (Sec/Trea) a.monhartova@asandaces.org North Carolina I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Our 2022 NC Board consists of Karen Rembert (Raleigh Racquet Club), Sean Smith (Forsyth Country Club), Allison Himes (Chapel Hill Country Club), David Marquina (Carolina Country Club) and myself, Scott Handback (Methodist University). David will serve as our representative for the Diversity and Inclusion Program, which will work to ensure we are reaching out to ALL tennis communities across the state. Allison will serve as our representative for the Elevate Program, which is for Professionals under the age of 30 or who have been certified for five years or less.

We are working on several events for 2022 including a meeting and access to tickets for the Billie Jean King Cup event in Asheville in April and the Winston-Salem Open in August. There will be a one-day workshop in Charlotte in November. We are in the process of developing more events around the state during the year. South Carolina Greetings from the Palmetto State. As we move into 2022 there are some updates to the board’s leadership. Craig Wells from Six Mile will serve as the president. Dean Mays, of Anderson, Tom Ruth, of Hilton Head, and Tom Simpson of Hartsville will serve as vice presidents. In addition to their vice president duties, Dean will focus on the pickleball priority, Tom Ruth will focus on social media, and Tom Simpson will focus on the Elevate program. We are in the planning stages for our spring workshop that will be at Hilton Head. We welcome our neighboring Georgia professionals to join us. An initiative to seek admission to an early round of the Charleston Open is in the works. Details on the workshop and Charleston Open are coming soon.

Tennis related USTA highlights: One of our own, Jorge Andrew, was selected for induction into the USTA Southern Hall of Fame. A USPTA/ PTR Master Professional and long-serving USTA volunteer Jorge has set the standard for tennis excellence in SC and continues to serve. He will work with his friend Allan Jenson to develop our diversity and inclusion program in SC. A link to the featured article is: https://sctennis.com/jorgeandrew-to-be-inducted-into-southern-tennis-hall-of-fame/ As part of the USTA SC annual meeting in Clovis, Tom Simpson was recognized as coach of the year and Lane Hinson was recognized as professional of the year. Tennessee Happy New Year to our USPTA Tennessee and Southern members! My name is Dan Beedle, I will be serving as the new USPTA TN President. We are looking forward to another year of growing our programs and growing as instructors and coaches! I would like to welcome the new state board, 1st VP - Geoff Browne, 2nd VP - Devin Crotzer, Secretary - Courtney Collins Treasurer - Daniel Shidler

We look forward to assisting our members in Tennessee and around the South and to host more educational events locally throughout the year. If you are interested in hosting a Lunch and Learn or another educational event in your area, please let us know how we can help. We are working to put together a state workshop later this year. We would also like to invite our members to contribute more to the Southern Standard and State Newsletter. If you would like to write an article that you are passionate about, please let me know. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any ideas or concerns. You can email me at dan.beedle10s@gmail.com

USPTA Invited Guest Leadership Tips – From the Boardroom to the Court

By Lee Cockerell, former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World® Resort.

While these tips are business oriented, many will work for your teams and programs. 1. Your employees will not be committed to you unless they are 100% sure you are committed to them. Be careful what you say and do, because they are watching you and judging you every second of every day. What they see you say and do causes them to either trust you or not trust you. Trust is everything. If you don’t have trust, your results will fall well below their potential. 2. A Leader’s job is to do what has to be done, when it has to be done, in the way it should be done, whether he or she likes it or not. This applies at work with your employees and at home with your children. You have to develop your children - you can’t fire them. If you focused more on developing your employees, you would not have to fire them. 3. What should you do today that will not pay off for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, or even 50 years? a. Exercise daily. b. Don’t smoke. c. Have a clear retirement plan. d. Find out from your boss what you need to do now to be a candidate for that big job 10 years from now. e. Make sure your children have a love of reading by the time they are 6 (which means you have to limit TV, computers and

Game Boys). f. Get your annual physical. g. Tell your loved ones you love them every day. h. Keep current by reading the paper every day, watching the news, reading Time or

Newsweek, and reading industry publications. i. Attend training and seminars to educate yourself so you do not become a dinosaur. j. There are many more. Make your own list and get with it so you don’t have a long list of regrets later on in your life, saying things like I wish I had quit smoking, I wish

I had spent more time with my son, I wish I had gotten my annual physical, I wish I had exercised more, and on and on and on. 4. Be the same person 24 hours a day. Don’t change when you come to work. Sometimes leaders act unnatural at work. Treat everyone with respect. Be humble. You are there to help support and inspire your team, not to tell them what to do. Tell them the outcome you want and they will figure out how to deliver the results. 5. Leadership is hard. It is full of paradoxes. You often have to do two opposing things like cut costs and keep the customer happy; or sometimes you have three different things which don’t sound like they are possible. Great leaders do the impossible. 6. Being excellent is hard. So when you have something hard to do, remember you are being excellent. Do you want to be remembered for being good or great? 7. When you are in a senior leadership position you must be an inspirational leader and not just an administrator if you want to get the results which are possible with a team of inspired followers. So many top leaders today are just administrators who focus on doing things instead of inspiring people. 8. Just because someone does not speak your language does not mean they don’t understand a cordial hello with a cheery good morning. Don’t ignore people because they don’t speak your language. A smile is a universal language. 9. The most important time to bond with a new baby is the first few months. The best time to bond with a new employee is the first few months. Funny how a little common sense can make a big difference. 10. Leadership is not about a salary grade or a title. It’s about responsibility and making things happen for the organization and for the people in the organization. It’s also about personal responsibility. As a leader you impact the lives of the people you work with more than you will ever know. YOU have a direct impact on the quality of their lives, careers and future. 11. You can’t fire your children, You have to develop them; so let’s do the same for our employees. 12. The quickest way to destroy an organization’s culture is to not do a great job setting up the organizational structure. When people no longer understand or believe in the way an organization is structured they lose faith in the vision and in the top leadership. The best way to avoid this pitfall is to involve those further down in the design of responsibility, authority and accountability. 13. Routine is a good thing. Having the right routines in your life can improve your whole life. Routines around your health such as working out daily at the same time, using a day planner to plan your day every day before you start your day, thinking about the responsibilities you have signed up for in your life every day are just a few routine things which are important. What routines do you have now in your life? Which new ones should you establish? 14. Someone asked me recently how you deal with leaders who are not performing or have poor leadership behaviors. I told them the same way you deal with your children. You sit down and tell them the truth. You tell them the consequences of continued poor performance or poor behaviors. Give them concrete examples of what they are doing which is unacceptable and soon you will see a change in their performance. 15. I saw a sign in a restaurant recently which said, “The gap between enough and more never closes.” This is really true in business so you have to constantly be going through change to get more. More service, more customer satisfaction, more commitment from your employees, more profit, more cost management and so on. Without an attitude of constant change is necessary in this world we live in you will soon fall behind. 16. You may not always be able to help someone in need but you should always try. 1. Don’t get bored with the basics. Walt Disney and JW Marriott Sr. both said almost the same thing. Keep it clean and keep it friendly and things will turn out just fine. They both understood the basics. Treat people respectfully, train them and they will take care of your business for you. Mr. Marriott even said it a different way. If you want the food to taste good use salt and pepper on it. Salt and pepper is about as basic as it gets and it works. 17. It is a lot easier to get done what you want done if you know what you want. Your employees want to do what you want so figure out what that is and tell them... also tell them why. You will be quite happy with the results of being candid and clear. 18. Sit down right now and make a list of the people in your life that you appreciate and then go about telling them before the week is out. If any of them faint this is a sign you are not doing it often enough. You can not do it too often. This builds self confidence and self esteem. Your actions in this area will make a big difference in how people in your life succeed. We all need appreciation, recognition and encouragement. 19. Bill Marriott told me once... “Lee, if you have flies in your operation it is because you like flies.” This quote I will never forget because it reminds me that I get what I want in life. If I have rude employees that is what I must want. If I have rude children that is what I must want.

Southern Spotlight

Lyndsey Mixon, Raising Cane’s Tennis Center, Youngsville, LA

Give a brief description of your tennis/other career: I serve as the Director of Junior & Adult Programming where I organize programming for juniors and adults, social events, tournaments and Cardio Tennis for our public parks facility. When did you start playing tennis? 13yrs old as a Freshman in high school What other sports did you play? Ski Racing, Figure Skating, Soccer, Softball What moved you to teach tennis? A passion for the community tennis provides, and being able to create a safe, fun and supportive environment for all ages and abilities to learn the game. What is something people will be surprised to learn about you? I have a secret talent of being able to perfectly parallel park under high pressure situations What are your hobbies? Spending time with my dogs and husband, trying new restaurants, escape rooms What is your favorite movie? I’ve never had a favorite! Are you reading anything right now? Nothing at the moment so please send suggestions my way! What is your favorite sports team? N/A Who is your favorite player of all time? Rafael Nada. Hands down. I’ve been a loyal fan since ‘04 What person would you most like to have lunch with? Jacinda Ardern What would you be doing if you were not in tennis? I hit the jackpot finding my dream job so I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. If you had a “do over”, what one thing would you have done differently in your teaching career? I would have backed myself more as a young pro. Learn from those around you but don’t allow others to take ownership of what you’ve created.

Craig Allen Wells, Spindle Tree Racquet Club, Seneca, SC

Give a brief description of your tennis/other career: I served in the military for over 25 years. While stationed in Heilbronn, Germany I had the opportunity to play on a local Bundesliga team as the lone American. The tennis was great but the post-match celebrations were even better. While assigned to Fort Leavenworth, KS I made time to get certified by a Missouri Valley teaching professional Jaime Vargas to begin my tennis teaching journey. I balanced military duties with my love of tennis teaching until retirement in 2007 where I could shift focus more on tennis. At a USPTA conference in Atlanta I was introduced to Mr. Rex Maynard who quickly got me involved with USTA and served them until recently. At the encouragement of my mentor I inquired to become more involved with the leadership of USPTA and now have the privilege to serve as the SC president. When did you start playing tennis? At approximately the age of 9 as a curious youth wondering what the game is all about. Facilitated by a patient mother feeding balls that were joyously launched all over the place. What other sports did you play? Youth football, basketball, cycling, and baseball. High school football, and wrestling. What moved you to teach tennis? I wanted to learn more about the game of tennis and thought the best way to do so is commit to the goal to become certified to teacher. What is something people will be surprised to learn about you? Served in the Army as both an enlisted military policeman and commissioned engineer officer. My greatest honor was to lead soldiers in high intensity combat during the Gulf War. What are your hobbies? Other than tennis I enjoy riding my bicycle on organized tours in the South. What is your favorite movie? The Great Santini, with Robert Duval. Filmed in my hometown of Beaufort, SC. Are you reading anything right now? Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. Part of my classwork in the Athletic Leadership Master’s Program I am enrolled in at Clemson University. What is your favorite sports team? Clemson Tigers. Who is your favorite player of all time? Arthur Ash. An excellent ambassador for our sport. What person would you most like to have lunch with? Roger Federer. What would you be doing if you were not in tennis? Managing our farm and horses. If you had a “do over”, what one thing would you have done differently in your teaching career? Latched onto a mentor early to seek counsel to avoid the mistakes from not knowing any better. Thankful for the mentors I have had. Bill Riddle and Mark Centrella.

Ladies Vantage

“If you build it, they will come.”

By Julie Moultrie USPTA Elite Professional

This couldn’t have been more true than in the town of Arlington, a suburban area 20 minutes outside of Memphis, TN. Arlington had never had its own tennis courts before, but people have been flooding into this area known for good schools and family-friendly activities. When the newly constructed Arlington Tennis Center opened 6 outdoor lighted courts in 2019, parents signed up 70 kids for programs in the first 24 hours. Over 400 individual youth and adults have since registered for official leagues and seasonal tennis sessions in the last two years. Countless others come out for drop-in programs, recreational play, and as spectators. Some weeks we have over 700 people come through our facility. The middle and high school teams have been flooded with new players. Coaches expect to have over 100 students come out for their no-cut programs. But kids aren’t the only ones having fun. Adults started flocking to clinics, socials, and forming new USTA teams. It’s been unbelievable trying to keep up with the growing demand and now I have 7 certified instructors on staff, plus parent volunteers and older juniors who help. Players of all ages are having so much fun, improving, and are asking for new programs all the time. As soon as we recognize a need, from beginner intramurals to holiday-themed ladies’ days of coached match play, we start a new program. This is grassroots tennis exploding like I’ve never experienced in 4 decades of involvement in this wonderful sport. But it shouldn’t be a surprise. This is a small family town, and it was the perfect place to offer residents such a fun, social, and healthy activity that is for a lifetime.

Pickleball Points

“A Conversation About Pickleball”

By Darryl Lewis USPTA Master Professional

This is a new column which will focus on tips and ideas to implement or grow a program. Please help and add your tips and ideas by sending to Darryl

Until recently, a piece about pickleball published by the tennis trade association is likely to have been touting the damage the game was having on “our” sport. Please note the intentional reference to the “game” and the “sport”. Even still, pickleball can be a polarizing subject. It seems that many are totally against it, a few are very accepting of it, and some are warming up to its existence.

What don’t we like about pickleball? It’s pulling people away from tennis; pickleball players don’t take lessons; they spend very little on equipment; the scoring makes no sense; the noise is horrible, and so on. While on the surface much of this might be true, try digging a little deeper. Is pickleball taking players away from tennis? The numbers I heard were that pickleball had a total of 4 million players, while in the pandemic tennis grew by 4 million players! Pickleball players don’t take lessons and don’t buy much equipment – maybe that is our fault. Have we taken the time to know paddle technology as well as we know our racquet technology? Are we as comfortable, and as excited about teaching a pickleball lesson as we are a tennis lesson? The scoring makes no sense – have you ever thought about tennis scoring – 15, 30, 45… oh wait, Ad-In, Ad-Out, and then there is the tiebreaker and as an added twist the Coman format tiebreaker. The noise is horrible – well, you might be right there.

I was a late adopter of pickleball for all the reasons above. Most of the players I see trying pickleball at my facility are not tennis players, and many have never been to the facility before. So, if I try to create my program with broader brush strokes, I now have another avenue to gain or maintain members, and I have another amenity to offer my existing players. Pickleball players LOVE to play, and they LOVE the social atmosphere. Drive some income with mixers, shoot-outs, racquet triathlons, and all the other outstanding events that we as “tennis” professionals are known for. The tennis players that take lessons from you now likely do so because they trust you and they appreciate your knowledge. You can sell them into taking a tennis lesson. Become more knowledgeable about pickleball and you will gain the same trust and lessons may pick up.

One of my roles on the USPTA Southern Board is to drive pickleball and spearhead the effort being implemented by the national office and I will be looking for lots of help. As the USPTA Southern Head Tester I am charged with setting up sites for certification and training additional testers. We are looking for individuals who have had success programing for pickleball to share their ideas. We are looking for additional Ambassadors to help grow this new-to-us sport that is currently all over the news.

Please reach out if you would like to help. The racquets professional you indirectly assist may lose an aging or injured player from their tennis program, but may be able to keep that player active on their courts with pickleball. d.lewis@aussie10s.com