AREA NEWS

by Andrea Meyer

Flagstaff residents and guests have had a wonderful summer on court with the Flagstaff Tennis Association. They hosted another successful Flagstaff City Open in June that saw players flock to the city courts to enjoy the beautiful mountain weather. They also hosted several popular summer mixers for adults and juniors, alike. The USTA season has been busy with teams in the 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 having had success going to Sectionals in both men’s and women’s leagues. Flagstaff also has several mixed teams participating in the USTA Mixed League. NAU is hoping to begin their community programming in the fall. Forest Highlands will be hosting their Annual Team Member/Guest Tournament in the fall, bringing about 56 women from all over Arizona to compete in this weekend event.

Director of Racquet Sports and Elite Pro Nicole Chambers is in her 10th season at Forest Highlands and is looking forward to the extension of the Racquet facilities at FH which will include pickleball courts, an expanded Pro Shop and lounge and additional tennis courts in 2022.

Larry Lineberry has organized the Oxendale Autogroup Tournament, a USTA- sanctioned event for September 24-26 in Cottonwood that will raise money for junior tennis development in northern Arizona. The event will feature age - level adult and junior categories as well as NTRP events and is directed by USPTA professionals Jake Worseldine and Andrea Meyer. Covid 19 caused cancellation of the 2020 event after a very successful 2019 result. The goal is to make the Oxendale the largest of its kind in northern Arizona and an annual affair.

On September 18th, Larry will be in Roanoke, VA where he is being inducted into the inaugural 2020 Roanoke Regional Tennis Hall of Fame. He will play in a pro-am round robin fundraiser that day, then be the guest speaker at the induction ceremonies that evening. Larry spent the first 17 years of his career in Roanoke where he was the USPTA V irginia Pro of the Year 4 times (1982-1985) and the USPTA MidAtlantic Pro of the Year in 1986 and division president from 1986-1987. From 1979 to 1991, Larry and his club promoted and directed 10 professional tennis tournaments, and he earned his Master Professional rating in 1990. Larry is very proud and honored to be a member of the USTA Southwest Tennis Hall of Fame (2017) and the 2020 Roanoke Regional Tennis Hall of Fame. He was also an inaugural inductee in the 2015 Prescott Park of Fame.

Elite Pro Jake Worseldine will exchange his Mingus Union HS red and grey colors in Cottonwood for Scorpion purple this year as he becomes the new Sedona Red Rock HS boys’ and girls’ coach. The new coaching assignment, much closer to his home and Jake’s other lesson venues in Sedona, will give him more time with his family.

In Prescott, Pro Zach Hackerott is sending his group of 3.5 ladies ( 18+) to compete in August’s sectionals in Albuquerque. He is also teaching at Prescott Lakes and is looking for a great dog to adopt!

Prescott HS coach and Pro Sterling Fetty has been busy with an ambitious slate of junior JTT and Level 6 events. With Sterling ’s persistent legwork, he and Jake Worseldine recruited about 45 players from Lake Havasu, Las Vegas, Kingman, Sedona, Flagstaff, and

Cottonwood for a July 16-17 Prescott Area Tennis Association tourney. Sterling ’s son Camden took 2nd in 16 singles while his twin brother, Leyton, won the boys’ 18’s. Their next junior tournament is scheduled for Aug. 21 at Yavapai College.

NAZ tennis players send best wishes to long-time beloved Sedona Elite Pro Claudette Laliberte who has moved to Puerto Penasco, Mexico for a well- deserved rest and change of pace.

by Dick Johnson

I have had a busy spring and summer. My La Cueva Bears Boys tennis won the 5A State Championships for the 10th time under my tenure. This breaks the all-time team coaching record previously helped by Daryl Gage, ABQ Academy’s legendary coach.

Finally on July 19th, we had our first tennis camp after a year and half absence, followed up by a one-week camp August 2-6. We will offer Saturday camps starting September 11.

I have been extremely busy as the President of the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. Our benefit golf tournament was held on August 14th to full capacity. Our Induction Ceremony was August 15th with over 600 attendees at the Albuquerque Convention Center. This year USPTA World Conference in Las Vegas in September, should be well attended. It will be great to see people in person and the networking is very valuable. So far, I believe Amy, myself, Joe Felice, and Dave Shambach are attending. I am really looking forward to this gathering.

I was honored to be asked to be the Coach of Orange County “Breakers” at the National JR Team Tennis Championship held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida in July. Our team finished 5th in the nation and had wins over Florida, Missouri Valley, Pacific Northwest, and Southern Divisions. One of my players, Alex Leumanog was asked to be on the team and did a great job! Hope to see everybody at the USPTA World Conference

Amy Badger:

Highpoint was excited to host New Mexico’s first adult tournament since the pandemic. We had strong participation in 23 divisions! Since arriving in April as the club’s Director of Tennis, the club has seen tremendous growth in revenue and programming with the addition of junior programming clinics, a robust summer junior camp format and the addition of two new pros. We look forward to our fall programming which will include several charity events and programming, including the Corley Cup, Rally in the Alley, and eCADEMY elementary/middle school practices. My Albuquerque Academy Chargers won the 1 A-4A Girls State Championships and I received Coach of the Year honors for tennis from the New Mexico High School Coaches Association.

Joe Felice will be hosting the Sierra V ista Grand Prix Doubles Tournament which had to be cancelled last year. HE IS expecting a large turnout for one of the most popular tournaments of the year in Albuquerque. Joe has been teaching at The Sierra V ista Tennis Center for 15 years. He currently is the captain of 9 USTA League Teams and playing on 7 of them. Joe will be attending the USPTA World Conference in Las Vegas later this month and is looking forward to catching up with friends he hasn’t seen in a while.

Doug MacCurdy makes some interesting observations: One-handed backhands are pretty much nonexistent in women’s tennis at the moment, but certainly not in fairly recent history. I have not counted this year, but in April 2020, there were no women in the WTA top 50 with one-handers. There were a total of two in the top 100 and 12 in the top 300. The men’s game paints a somewhat different picture with one-handed players Tsitsipas, Thiem, Federer and Shapovalov all sitting in the top 10. So, great backhands can be played with either one or two hands. There are built-in advantages and disadvantages to both types. Without going into a detailed list of each style of backhand, one fundamental truth is the effective one-handed backhands require a high degree of coordination, a large swing to produce your own power and more complex shots usually take longer to develop. Some players may be naturals for one-handed backhands, but I suspect that most children never really get a chance to discover it because of decisions taken by coaches when players are very young. Often

coaches just feel the young kids are not strong enough to hit with one hand or that the two-hander is just easier to learn. One of the most significant advances in teaching has been the red, orange, green concept for court size and balls. Rackets and paddle are made to match the ball being used. Learning tennis is much faster and easier than ever before. The problem that I see, is that coaches, players, and parents often see moving from red to orange, orange to green, or green to yellow as a race. IF you transition quickly, you are somehow better than those that stay longer at the previous stage. Hitting a one-handed topspin on red courts with red ball and very light racquet is within reach of many children. It is often even easier than hitting with two hands. Watching a year old hitting with yellow balls on a 78’ court has little resemblance to the adult game. When everything is scaled down, the footwork, tactical patterns and ball striking are much more like real tennis. Let the kids master the skill and tactics at each stage of red, orange, green, and I think we will eventually see more players coming out that are more comfortable using and enjoying the free-swinging pleasure of ripping one-handed backhands. Remember, red, orange, green is a progression, not a race.

John Damgaard in Santa Fe reports that SFTSC won the 4.0 Women’s League Captained by Dorothy Roosevelt. They are now headed toward the sectionals!

We have the indoor portion of the Southwest Slam at the 2021 Southwest Slam Indoor Championships which includes an indoor hard court at Shellaberger Tennis Center, an outdoor hard court, clay court, and even a grass court.

Dave Shambach has helped set up the summer tennis schedule and taught for the City of Rio Rancho Parks and Recreation. The program attracted 85 students from ages 4 through adult age. He has also co-coached a JTT team from Rio Rancho during the summer. He participated in the City of Rio Rancho doubles tennis league. Dave has also taught several youths and adults privately or semi-privately. Currently, Dave is putting the finishing touches on the Fall Parks and Rec program. He is serving as the Rio Rancho organizer (and a possible coach) for the RR Middle School teams as the USTA Middle School Tennis League resumes in the Fall. He is registered to attend his first USPTA World Conference in September.

Best Kept Self

by Dr. Greg Prudhomme

What story is your body language telling the world? Is the story happy, is it inspirational, or is it lethargic and deflating? Communication is approximately 90% non-verbal with body language making up most of this percentage. Even more significant than our body language telling a story to the world is that it is also sending the same messages to ourselves. Our mental states, actions, and ultimately our futures can be significantly influenced by our own body language. Make sure the influence is positive. Exhibit the body language that you’d love to see from those around you and enjoy the results!

by John Perry

Greetings from Tucson!

A successful Summer 2021 is winding down in Southern Arizona as busy summer camps around Tucson wrap up.

Ronnie Smith at Reffkin

Tennis Center has had all 25 courts busy with adult and junior play, with junior camps filled. Ronnie and

Reffkin was one of the host sites for the Southwest Junior Closed. Ronnie and I enjoyed watching some of our juniors take home some hardware from this sectional championship.

Ronnie and Reffkin also held the USTA Southwest 40 and Over League Championships crowning 8 team titlists that will advance to the national championships.

Some fun summer events were back at Reffkin and Smith-Perry Tennis Academy after a one-year hiatus. Wimbledon Wednesday featured white clothing, wood rackets, strawberries and cream,

and a chance to hold the Wimbledon trophy!

Olympic Tennis Day 2021 was another fun event with tennis themed Olympic games, medals, and the opportunity to stand on the Olympic podium.

Bryan Dirk at Tucson Country Club reports, “We are just finishing up 9 weeks of Tennis Camp. We had a great turnout this year. Our courts have been busy and our tennis community continues to grow.”

Amanda Fink from La Paloma states that “La Paloma has seen a pretty busy summer! Most of the tennis camps were sold out and cardio tennis classes remained at capacity. We are looking forward to using the momentum from summer to carry into fall where we expect to have a lively after school program as well as adding a ladies 2.5/3.0 team!”

Britt Feldhausen announced that TCTP (Tucson Community Tennis Program) wrapped up a popular summer camp with a solid turn out. Following the camp, this three-decade old junior program sent twenty players on scholarship to various camps around Tucson.

Finally, I was chosen as a USTA Tennis Champion and

Official Tennis Advocate. I will be promoting tennis in Southern Arizona in 2021 and beyond in a variety of ways through this new USTA program.

Of course, we all are official tennis advocates through the nature of our profession, but this sometimes means more than just showing up at the club. We should be promoting the social, mental, emotional and health benefits of our sport whenever we get the chance. One way to do so is by participating and playing tennis more ourselves! Sometimes it’s difficult to

find time to play for fun but doing so enhances our own well-being and shows we love the game as more than just teachers, which comes across to clients, club members and non-tennis players to show them why we coach in this wonderful lifetime sport. Stay cool and hope to see many of you in Las Vegas for the World Conference!

President Dave Moyer 480-342-7240 dmoyer@ccdranch.com Regional VP Laurie Martin 480-213-2083 lmartin@ppiarizona.com V ice President Amy Badger 505-379-6728 badgers3@me.com Secretary Suk Ong 602-881-0467 suk_ong@tempe.gov Treasurer Greg Prudhomme 602-301-1394 gmprudhomme@yahoo.com Past President Jonathan Davis 520-360-0182 jdavisuspta@gmail.com Pro Emeritus Britt Feldhausen 520-886-1885 brittfeldhausen@mac.comesident Executive Director Jack Michalko 602-740-0126 usptasw@cox.com

SOUTHWEST COORDINATORS

Northern New Mexico Dick Johnson 505-507-6795 richarddjtennis@aol.com Phoenix Ryan Johnson 480-267-0725 rjohnson@dmbclubs.com Southeastern Arizona John Perry 520-403-8290 jptennis25@yahoo.com Northern Arizona Andrea Meyer 928-300-4352 andreajmeyer@yahoo.com Southern New Mexico & l Paso TBD Head Tester Greg Prudhomme 602-301-1394 gmprudhomme@yahoo.com

The Southwest Magazine is the official Publication of the USPTA Southwest Division of the United States Professional Tennis Association.

by Ryan Johnson

Greetings Southwest Pros! I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer. I’m thrilled that the USPTA World Conference will be back in person this year in Vegas. As I’m sure you know, the World Conference is a fantastic opportunity to get your continuing education credits and network with fellow pros. I hope to see you there.

For now, I have a few updates from around the Valley. As always, if you would like to have your information published, please email me at m.ryanjohnson@gmail.com or call 704-281-1713.

Phoenix Pro, Leslie Banks, is the Founder and Executive Director for LoverAll10s and has created an amazing initiative to help underserved youth in our tennis community. The nonprofit runs out of the Phoenix Tennis Center and has been offering camps throughout the summer. Its core mission is to positively impact the underserved youth’s selfconfidence, perseverance, responsibility, and healthy lifestyle though the game of tennis. To accomplish this, these youths need a year-long tennis academy complemented by transformative and engaging programs. The organization has specifically targeted elementary, middle, and high school districts within the PUHSD, which serves a 95% minority population and receives federally mandated desegregation funding. The pandemic created a well-documented academic and social gulf among school districts, with some schools never having to leave their classrooms because of monetary resources. LoveAll10s aims to serve as a large part of the solution to this new ballooning problem. You can help this amazing organization by sponsoring a youth today by using this link: https:// givebox.com/ 521191.

Desert Mountain will be hosting the 2021 USTA Adult Slam Series – Southwest Clay Court Championships. We are thrilled to be hosting again after Covid forced us to miss the event last year. We are anticipating around 185 participants over t he 5 -day tournament. I’d also like to extend a warm welcome to Craig Koessler. Craig, a USPTA Elite Professional, joins the Desert Mountain team from Seattle, WA, where he was at the PRO Club. Craig brings over 50 years of experience as a player, high school and college coach, club professional, administrator, tournament director, fan, retailer, and volunteer. He served six years as President of the USPTA/PNW Section and was named Professional of the Year in 1996. In short, Craig has been a lifer in the industry, and we are thrilled to have him join the Desert Mountain Team and Southwest tennis community.

Arrowhead Country Club has contracted with Apex Court Builders to renovate 3 of their ten-court facilities. Renovations will include post tension concrete courts, new fencing, and landscaping with a resurfacing to their premiere stadium court with a US OPEN blue and green paint job. Along with a resurface and

repaint of the stadium court stairs and entry way. Also, in the works is for two of the existing ten courts to be renovated into a versa court surface, which will be versatile to house 8 pickleball courts and other sports like roller hockey, basketball and crossfit.

On May 1st, Paradise Valley Country Club hosted the Pawsome Tennis and Pickleball Event to benefit HARTT (Humane Animal rescue and Trapping Team). Chris Boehm, who has been an employee of PVCC for 32 years and a volunteer for HARTT for the past two years, chaired the event. There were 16 Pickleball players who played a double elimination tournament and 35 tennis players who participated in a fun King of the Court format that allowed 6 players per court.

Four HARTT volunteers, Judi Ciliento, Beth Buchanan, Gina Dacquisto, Chris Boehm, and six tennis professionals, V ince Machynski, Alejandro Serrano, Zac Janes, Cory Rockow, Audrey Brown and Todd Snow donated their time on Saturday morning to help run the event. Each pro played the game of “35” on their court for 12-minute rounds and as the teams changed courts depending on if they won or lost, they also changed partners. There were A, B, and C players all mixed in together. The team of 3 players that made it to the top court and won the last round would win the prize. Players knew they were not playing for themselves, but for their dogs! Max & Neo graciously donated 5 gift boxes full of collars, leashes, treats, etc. for the winners. Each one retailed over $300.00.

When the competition finished up, the participants enjoyed a delicious Oreganos lunch donated by Heather and Mark Russell.

Founder and President of HARTT Cheryl Naumann gave a summary of what HARTT does for the community and then shared a couple recent rescue stories. Although there was no entry fee for the event, the participants could donate if they wished. The generous donations that came in were just over $6000.00!

Arizona Country Club is proud to announce two new additions to their racquets staff. Will Adkisson is joining the tennis teaching staff as an Assistant Tennis Professional. Will is originally from Dallas, where he was a highly ranked junior player in Texas and nationally. He played college tennis at LSU and University of Arizona, where he graduated with a Finance degree. Will is delighted to be moving back to Arizona after teaching in Illinois and New York since graduation.

Susan Mulcahy will be joining the ACC family as a Tennis Shop Attendant and as a part-time tennis instructor. Susan is a longtime Phoenix teaching professional, shop manager, and program organizer. Will and Susan join existing racquets teaching staff George Schuldberg, Tom Kollock, Jessica Combs, Marissa Johnson, Greg Abbott, and Tennis Shop Manager Raquel Hamstra.

On behalf of the USPTA Southwest, I’d like to welcome our new pros. Stay safe everyone, and I look forward to seeing you all in Vegas!