A Division of the USPTA
June 2019
Inside: Presidents Message - Page 2 Southwest Conference Information - Pages 4-5 Southwest Award Winners - Page 6 Area News - Pages 11-15 USTA News Pages 16-17
President’s Message Jonathan Davis - USPTA Southwest President
Greetings Southwest Pros; I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the summer. I want to give a big thank you to Dave Moyer, Jack Michalko, the entire Southwest Board, and the Southwest USTA for their help with putting on a great conference at Grand Canyon University this past month. Planning and organizing the conference takes a lot of time and effort. Especially when we had to change venues unexpectedly. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication! Those of you who attended the conference got a chance to hear National Vice President Rich Slivocka report on what has been happening with USPTA at the national level. The big topic of discussion was the accreditation with the USTA and what that means for our current and future members. Although many of the details are still being worked out, the key points to take away were starting in 2021 all new members will have to complete a much more extensive process in order to become a certified pro. This extended educational and on-court training will help better prepare incoming pros for a career in tennis. It will also raise the standards of what it takes to become a certified teaching professional. The accreditation will impact the job market for USPTA pros because the USTA will be requiring facilities, with four or more courts, to have all their full time pros be certified in order to retain their member-org status with the USTA. This requirement will place great importance on being a USPTA member in good standing and will continue to help us raise the bar to become a certified professional. We all know how popular Pickleball is in the Southwest. What you might not know is the USPTA has
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partnered with the International Pickleball Teaching Professional Association (IPTPA) to help our members become certified Pickleball instructors. We are going to have a one day certification on Sunday, October 20th at Arizona Country Club for anyone interested in becoming certified. This event is certain to be popular so make sure you register early! If you were unable to make our Southwest Conference but are interested in attending the World Conference in Las Vegas registration is now open. There will be a great slate of speakers including Gil Reyes, Marianne Werdel, and of course Andre Agassi. There is also a dedicated education day featuring only women presenters. All of this mixed with the entertainment of Las Vegas is sure to make this a conference to remember. The dates are September 23-27 at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino. I look forward to seeing you there! Have a great summer!
Tennis Thanks the Troops
A big thank you goes out to USPTA Elite Professional, Brian Cheney at the Village Racquet Club for hosting a charity event for Tennis Thanks the Troops over the Memorial Day weekend raising $300 for the cause!
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.... from the conference chair, by Dave Moyer What another great weekend at the USPTA Southwest Conference held May 17-19 at Grand Canyon University! This was our first time at GCU and we were very pleased with the setup at the tennis courts, classroom and hotel/restaurant. A big thank you goes out to our host, Greg Prudhomme, and the entire staff at Grand Canyon. Another big thank you goes to Mother Nature for the tremendous weather all weekend! This year, we had our second highest attendance and beat out our numbers from last year. It was so great to see so many of our Southwest pros and coaches there, as well as a number of USTA attendees. Our partnership with the USTA is an important one and we are so grateful to be able to cultivate that relationship at the conference. The weekend actually started with testing on Thursday and a sold out group of participants. Sid Newcomb, the USPTA National Tester, was in attendance again this year to lead the testing and help us get more of our members certified to administer the test. The goal is to have more localized testing which in turn will make it easier for people to get certified. On Friday, we had a full day of education starting with a specialty course led by Scott Mitchell. Scott came in from Michigan and put on a great course full of some new drills and concepts that we can all take back to our programs. After lunch and the awards presentation, we had more great speakers both on and off the court including Greg Prudhomme, Kim Bastable and John Ross. We finished the evening with one of our most attended parties at the hotel and restaurant. The night included food, drinks and lots of fun games with both the USTA and USPTA groups attending. As if that wasn’t enough, we started the day out on the court with Stan Oley and some great drills using the Playmate ball machine. Former tour player, Tracy Singian gave us some great insight on how to better use social media to spread our brand and communicate with students and members. We then finished the morning with a great pickleball seminar by USPTA and ITPTA professional Vicki Foster who is just coming off a finalist performance in women’s doubles at the US Open Pickleball Championshps. Rich Slivocka was the national board representative at our conference and gave us an update on all the national news including the new USTA accreditation program. We then heard more great speakers including Sid Newcomb, Johnny Parkes and Kendall Chitamber, the latter two courtesy of the USTA. Both of the USTA speakers were very informative and we appreciated them coming to the conference. We finished the weekend on Sunday with another specialty course courtesy of the USTA led by Steve Keller (Net Generation Coaches Workshop). All in all, it was once again a lot of fun. If you were unable to attend this year, you missed out on some great speakers and comradery! Make sure to plan on being there next year. We also have the World Conference in Las Vegas coming up September 23-27 which you won’t want to miss.
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2019 Southwest Award Winners!
Manager of The Year Small Facility Kyle Draper
High School Coach of The Year Andrea Meyer
Alex Gordon Pro of The Year Dave Moyer
Indusrty Excellence Award John Perry
Lessons for Life Award Mark Pachtner
Not Pictured: Southwest Proud Award Winner - David Pitts Manager of The Year Large Facility - Wade Dunagan page 6
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LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD BOARD MEMBERS! Karen Weir - Southwest Nominating Committee Chair
The SWPTA Nominating Committee is now taking requests from any USPTA Southwest Member wishing to be considered for the 2020-21 slate for the Southwest Board of Officers. This also includes any current board member who would like to be considered for the future. The nominating committee will interview all interested candidates who are in good standing with the USPTA. If you are interested contact nominating committee chairman, Karen Weir, no later than Sunday, June 30, 2019 to apply. Karen can be reached at arizona10s@hotmail.com or by calling her at 480-205-3233. The committee will be interviewing prospective SWPTA Members throughout the summer. Once the process is complete the nominating committee will submit a proposed slate of officers to the executive director by October, 2019.
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USPTA Southwest Tester Update Gregory Prudhomme - Head Tester
This section of the newsletter is to inform the Southwest USPTA Pros of noteworthy news and announcements regarding USPTA testing and certification. By now everyone should know about the USTA Accreditation that the USPTA has received, which will change the certification process for becoming a USPTA professional. The complete details of the changes are still in the works, but they will significantly increase the credibility and value of being a certified USPTA professional around the world. Apprenticeship teaching hours under a mentor will be one of the major changes to the certification process. The exact start date has not been announced but it is expected that the changes have now been pushed back to 2021. Member professionals that are already certified before the changes take place will be grandfathered in and will not have to re-test. For those of you that would like to upgrade, 2019 and 2020 would be a good time to do so. Additionally, let prospective USPTA applicants know that now is a great time to become certified.
Testing News * The USPTA is off to a great start in 2019 for certifying a large number of new applicants. Testing dates and the number of applicants being certified are much higher to this date than they have been in recent years. In the month of May alone there were 27 certification tests nationwide. Last year at this time 152 applicants tested while this year nearly 200 applicants have already been tested. * Southwest certification exams are off to a good start with 9 applicants/upgrades that participated at the USPTA Southwest Conference testing at Grand Canyon University in May and 9 applicant/upgrades signed up for the June testing in Albuquerque. * Congratulations to USPTA Southwest President, Jonathan Davis, Southeastern Arizona District Coordinator, Bryan Dirks, and Northern New Mexico District Coordinator, Dick Johnson, for completing their USPTA Divisional Tester training. They are able to administer and host testing dates in their areas to allow prospective USPTA applicants more options and locations to test at in the Southwest.
2019 USPTA Southwest Certification Dates May 16-17; Phoenix, AZ @ Grand Canyon University (10 applicants/upgrades) June 7-8; Albuquerque, NM @ Tanoan Country Club (9 applicants/upgrades) June 21-22; Tucson, AZ @ Tucson Country Club August 24; Cottonwood, AZ @ Mingus Union High School September 19-10; Tucson, AZ @ Tucson Country Club October 18-19; Albuquerque, NM @ Tanoan Country Club November 30-December 1; Glendale, AZ @ Paseo Racquet Center page 8
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Southeastern Arizona by Bryan Dirk
Summer Camp time is upon us! June and July are 2 big months for Tucson Country Club Tennis. Our Tennis Camp runs for 8 weeks, 9Noon, Monday thru Friday. We expect to be very busy this summer with our kids program. We also run an all-day themed Kids Kamp, where Tennis is a component… this acts as a great feed in program for fall tennis! Rita Bermudez from Tucson Racquet Club reports- It’s Friday Night BBQ season at TRC! Every Friday night we have a live band and BBQ at the pool starting at 5:30pm. To make it even better, we have Coach Nelson Payne’s famous “Happy Hour Tennis Clinic” every Friday night at 6:30pm; nonmembers welcome! Hit some balls, have some beers and BBQ while listening to local bands. Not a bad Friday night! Britt Feldhausen reports- TCTP (Tucson Community Tennis Program) is actively partnering with the JCC to expand their outreach programs for underserved children through tennis. Details are still being finalized but with coordinating of efforts something positive will emerge.
SOUTHWEST OFFICERS President Jonathan Davis 520-360-0182 jonpricedavis@hotmail.com Regional VP Dave Moyer 480-342-7240 dmoyer@ccdranch.com Vice President Laurie Martin 480-213-2083 lmartin@ppiarizona.com Secretary Amy Badger 505-379-6728 badger3@me.com Treasurer Suk Ong 602-881-0467 suk_ong@tempe.gov Past President Britt Feldhausen 520-886-1885 brittfeldhausen@mac.comesident Pro Emeritus Mark Frampton 602-952-7234 mframpton22@gmail.com Executive Director Jack Michalko 602-740-0126 usptasw@cox.com
SOUTHWEST COORDINATORS Northern New Mexico Dick Johnson 505-507-6795 richarddjtennis@aol.com Phoenix Greg Prudhomme 602-301-1394 gmprudhomme@yahoo.com Southeastern Arizona Bryan Dirk 310-663-1185 bdirk@tucsoncountryclub.com Northern Arizona Claudette Laliberte 928-300-8702 claiberte1@aol.com Southern New Mexico & El Paso TBD Head Tester Greg Prudhomme 602-301-1394 gmprudhomme@yahoo.com
www.facebook.com/USPTASouthwest The Southwest Magazine is the official Publication of the USPTA Southwest Division of the United States Professional Tennis Association.
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Phoenix, Arizona by Greg Prudhomme
Happy Summer Southwest USPTA Pros! I hope you all enjoyed the spring temperatures that we’ve had all the way through May in Phoenix! The weather was particularly amazing for the Southwest USPTA/USPTA Conference. Dave Moyer, Jack Michalko, and Rita Michalko did an amazing job, as usual, putting on the conference. Thanks to the USTA Southwest for their part in the event along with all of the great speakers for making the conference amazing. Additionally, congratulations to all of the award winners that received USPTA Southwest Division awards at the luncheon. I hope you all enjoyed Grand Canyon University as the venue. I was happy to see so many of you there! Read further to see what has taken place around the valley, what area USPTA pros are up to, and what events are coming up in the Phoenix area! USPTA Pro Captain Class Dave Moyer, USPTA Elite Pro, is one of the busiest and successful pros in the valley. He has been the Director of Tennis at The Country Club at DC Ranch since 2011 and is currently the Regional Vice President of the USPTA Southwest Board of Directors. He has grown a one-person operation into a thriving tennis program with three fulltime USPTA pros and he was the 2015 recipient of the USPTA Southwest Industry Excellence Award. He was the conference chairman for two of the most successful USPTA Southwest Conferences and is very deserving of his most recent USPTA Southwest Pro of the Year Award, which he can add to his Nebraska and Kansas Pro of the Year Awards. He is certainly in the Captains Class! Great job, Dave! Upcoming Events * USPTA Elite Pro, Chris Langdon, and the Arizona Tennis & Golf Academy will be hosting their summer adult and junior tennis programs. The ATGA will host clinics, tournaments, and travel to Las Vegas and San Diego for away tournaments. For more information go to their website at http://eastvalleytennis.com/ or call Chris at (480) 5056233 * USPTA Pros, Ed, Greg, and Brian Prudhomme will be conducting their Paseo Racquet Center Summer Camp for youth players in Glendale. All ages and levels welcome. Call Paseo at 623-979-1234 for more information. * The USPTA World Conference will be held in Las Vegas from September 22nd to the 26th at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino. Don’t miss this opportunity for 10 continuing education credits as well as a wealth of knowledge from the great speakers. More importantly, don’t miss the USPTA Southwest party that will be in Las Vegas during the conference (details to be announced).
Other News * USPTA Elite pro, Jonathan Davis (and our USPTA Southwest President!), hosted a Super Saturday Non-Elimination Jr. tournament on May 11th at Desert Mountain. The tournament was previously held at La Camarilla before it was sold and bulldozed. Desert mountain wanted to keep the event running for the families in north Scottsdale and plans on holding these monthly events throughout the summer and fall. Twenty-two players attended this first tournament at Desert Mountain.
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* USPTA Pro, Andy Stoner, who teaches at Desert Mountain took 2nd place and a silver ball at the USTA Men’s 55 National Indoor Championships in Boise, Idaho on May 4th. Andy is now #3 in the Nation in the 55s. In September, Andy plans on defending his National Grass Courts Championship that he won last year. * USPTA pros, Mark Frampton (and his son, Zach), Zac Janes, Doug and Leslie Browne, Carol Sandvig, and Jack Michalko, donated their time to the “Pawesome Tennis Event” at Paradise Valley Country Club, on Friday, May 3rd. The event was to benefit HARTT (Humane Animal Rescue and Trapping Team). There were 36 participants competing in fast-paced team games. After the tennis was finished, HARTT volunteers gave a presentation of what HARTT does for the community. The generous contributions that were collected during the event will go to HARTT to rescue and to provide veterinary care and shelter for animals in need in our community. For more information on what HARTT does, visit www.azhartt.org.
* USPTA Elite Pro, Greg Prudhomme, earned the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year awards for the men’s and women’s teams as he led them to win their respective WAC Regular Season Titles and the men to their first NCAA Division I national appearance. Greg’s oldest daughter, Tatum, was his graduate assistant coach while his second daughter, Autum, played on the team helping earn the conference title and an All-WAC First Team Doubles award.
Remember, please feel free to contact me any time with questions, suggestions, and information for the quarterly newsletters at gmprudhomme@yahoo.com or 602-301-1394.
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Northern Arizona by Claudette Laliberte
Nicole Chambers,USPTA Elite Professional, Flagstaff Nicole Chambers, USPTA Elite Professional will begin her ninth season at Forest Highlands Golf Club as the Director of Racquet Sports. Nicole recently received professional status with the International Pickleball Teaching Professional Association. Forest Highlands continues to explore the possibility of expanding their tennis and pickleball operations which would include a combined facility. Nicole is proud to welcome USPTA Professional, Coleman (Richard) Welch to her professional staff. Coleman comes to Flagstaff from Riverside, California where he had been teaching for three years. Forest Highlands, though a private community, provided court assistance to Basis High School during their recent tennis season. Basis #1 player, Aliena Ricci, one of Nicole’s students, received the Arizona Daily Sun female athlete of the year award, along with the Basis MVP award. As the Flagstaff tennis community continues to grow, partnerships such as these become more and more important. The Flagstaff Tennis Association will once again host their Annual Flagstaff Open and Junior Tournament from June 21 – 23. This event will be held at Northern Arizona State University tennis courts, yet again showing what great partnerships in the community can achieve while working together. Andrea Meyer, USPTA Professional, Clarkdale/ Cottonwood/VerdeValley “I walked into Clarkdale-Jerome Elementary on the next-to-last day of school. Remember the excitement of a whole summer spread out before you? The movies
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were rolling, and empty cupcake wrappers littered the desks. The parties were in full swing, and the cupcakes, not bad! ” said USPTA pro Andrea Meyer of Clarkdale. She was there to make sure her advertising for summer tennis for kids would stick in their minds longer than their recall of long division. Meyer wanted to pass out her flyers and get reacquainted with her sixth, seventh, and eighth grade tennis students that she had last taught in March in PE class. “Summer is for TENNIS!” was the headline on the optic yellow flyer promoting two Team Challenges coming up in June and red-orange- green ball lessons in June and July. The low-pressure Team Challenges where the accent is on friendly team -play rather than winning drew lots of smiles when she explained the format to her students. “I’m excited about the red-orange-green- ball progressions and games that I learned at the SWPTA conference in May. Many were new to me. I know my kids will like being offered something different and competitive that they can do with their buddies,” Meyer said. Meyer’s Mingus Union HS players in Cottonwood will be joining with other Verde Valley and Northern AZ players for JTT play this summer, as well and fundraising for a new Playmate ball machine. Larry Lineberry, USPTA Master Professional, Sedona Larry participated in his first certification as a tester at the SWPTA convention at Grand Canyon University. He helped test 9 applicants who came from as far away as Michigan. It was a new learning and rewarding experience for him which is saying something for a 40 year USPTA member and 29 year Master Professional. He is conducting a test again in Cottonwood, AZ August 24th for anyone who wishes to upgrade or become certified. Lots of travel for Larry and Elizabeth this year: 3 weeks in Hawaii; one week in Coronado, CA; 10 days in Napa Valley; 10 days in Montana/Colorado; 10 days in Maine teaching; two weeks in Cancun; 1 week in Florida. Larry is a grandfather for the second time. Captain Alexander Lineberry and wife Zoe are proud parents of Eleanor Elizabeth (after guess who!) born April 10th.
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Mother and child are doing fine. Larry’s boy’s tennis team at Mingus Union High School finished with a 9 and 5 record this year. They were two points and two tiebreakers from finishing 11 and 3 but as we all know, that’s tennis. Claudette Laliberte, USPTA Elite Professional, Sedona For the first time in over 10 years Sedona has a Women’s 55 and over USTA League team. Claudette has been working mostly with adult players in Sedona trying to keep them on the courts and excited about tennis. She will also be directing her “Summer Sizzler” events at the Poco Diablo Resort in June, July and August. Tennis is constant in Northern Arizona. All USPTA professionals are busy doing what they do best. We are all growing the game. USPTA Professional, Andrea Meyer will be taking over as USPTA District Coordinator for Northern Arizona. Claudette has been doing the job for many years, and decided it is time for some new perspectives for this district. “Andrea is enthusiastic, energetic, and has such a passion for Tennis. I am excited for her to get more involved in the SWPTA. She will do a great job.....and she is a terrific writer”! Sterling Fetty, USPTA Elite Professional, Prescott Ava Andrews won the Section Singles Player of the Year for High School Division 2 Tennis. The Girls PHS ended up ranked #3, in Division 2 and lost in the semifinals of the Team State Tournament. JTT began on May 18th. Prescott will also be running JTT events on June 1st, 15th, 29th, and July 13th. A sanctioned 1 day tournament for any junior players will be held on June 8th in Prescott. Players can register on Tennis link.
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Northern New Mexico by Dick Johnson
Our Northern New Mexico tennis pros are planning a very active summer with leagues, tennis camps, and club activities. I thought I would take the time to reflect on our recent Southwest USPTA/USTA Conference. It was very organized and David Moyer and Jack Michalko need the “pat on the back”. Excellent gentlemen and Greg Prudhomme not only headed up the testing for 10 new pros’ but provided his wonderful Grand Canyon University as the host. Outstanding guys! Congratulations to our NNM pros’ that also coach high school teams! Amy Badger’s Academy girls won the 4-A title, Warren Fulenzi’s daughter capture the singles title for Robertson high school and I was very pleased with my La Cueva boys’ team that captured the 5-A title for the fifth time in six years. I was excited to be named the North Coach at the up and coming North/South All-Star competition that was held on May 31st and June 1st. We will be testing eight new applicants at Tanoan Country Club on June7-8 which will really add to our growing SWPTA membership. Head tester, Greg Prudhomme and Larry Lineberry, our Northern Arizona tester will be assisting me. Thank you to David Pitts, Director of Tennis for the use of his courts and hospitality room. That’s it for now everybody! Have a spectacular summer, stay safe, and have fun.
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USTA News
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Major Amateur Tennis Tournament to be held in Verde Valley Benefiting Junior Tennis in Northern Arizona COTTONWOOD, AZ - A major amateur tennis tournament, benefiting junior tennis development across northern Arizona, will be held at Mingus Union and Sedona Red Rock High Schools October 11-13, 2019. The Oxendale Auto Group Championships (OAG) presented by Northern Arizona Rehabilitation and Fitness (NARF) will be conducted for the benefit of the Northern Arizona Tennis Association (NAZ). Event proceeds will be used to expand pathways for youth as young as 8 years old to learn and play tennis through adulthood in the Flagstaff, Prescott and the Verde Valley areas. The Event will feature three United States Tennis Association (USTA) sanctioned tournaments, adults, juniors and National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) conducted simultaneously. Players from age 8 to 80 will have an event in which they can compete. It is the first time in Verde Valley history that three USTA sanctioned tournaments conducted simultaneously has ever been held. Competitors will likely come from across the southwest to compete. “We are very proud to be the Title Sponsor to this unique Event” said Matt Oxendale, dealer principle of the Oxendale Auto Group, a premier automobile dealership with various locations across northern Arizona. “As an avid junior player, I see how tennis has helped me become a better adult. This Event will allow many young people to enjoy a similar opportunity as me. As a business, it is rare to be able to support a special event that allows such a large age range of people to participate. We are delighted to be a part of this first time ever project”. “Northern Arizona Rehabilitation and Fitness has supported area tennis tournaments in the past because tennis is a lifetime sport and has been proven to have long term health benefits for those who play. We are happy to help young people get started in such a worthwhile activity as tennis” said Tarrin Walz, owner of NARF. Additional corporate sponsors are: The Hudson Restaurant in Sedona; Purely Sedona in Phoenix; The Shaw Law Firm in Cottonwood; and Elizabeth McFarland, Attorney at Law in Sedona and Verde Sol Air in Cottonwood. “NAZ has been supporting tennis growth at all levels for over two decades but we feel focusing on introducing young people to tennis through schools and summer programs is a great investment in our sport and their health” said NAZ president, Jan Blackman of Flagstaff. The Event will be conducted and directed by long time NAZ board members Larry Lineberry of Sedona and Scott Weber of Flagstaff. Lineberry is a Master Professional in the United States Professional Tennis Association and a 2017 inductee in the Southwest Tennis Hall of Fame. Weber is the founder and past president of the Flagstaff Tennis Association and is a certified tennis referee and recipient of the 2010 and 2017 USTA Southwest Grassroots Official of the Year. He is the head official of this Event. To register for any of the tournaments, go to the website: tennislink.usta.com/tournaments <http:// tennislink.usta.com/tournaments> and enter the tournament ID# 750023619. For any questions, contact Larry Lineberry at 928-300-5394 or email: lineberrytennis@gmail.com <mailto:lineberrytennis@gmail.com> CONTACT: Larry Lineberry, USPTA Master Professional - 928-300-5394 or lineberrytennis@gmail.com <mailto:lineberrytennis@gmail.com>
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A Publication of the USPTA Southwest Division Jack Michalko / editor 77 East Missouri Avenue, Suite 62, Phoenix, AZ 85012 602-740-0126 / e-mail: jack.michalko@uspta.org The Southwest Magazine is published quarterly by the Southwest Division of the United States Professional Tennis Association. The opinions expressed in the Southwest Magazine are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Southwest Magazine or the USPTA Southwest Division. CopyrightŠ Southwest Division/United States Professional Tennis Association, Inc. 2019. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this newsletter is not permitted without written permission from the USPTA Southwest Division. Advertising information: All ads must be camera ready and in color if possible. Prices are per issue. Full Page.............$150 Half Page............$100 1/4 Page..............$70
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June 2019