2023 Southwest Hall of Fame Inductees

Bri Feldhausen was born in Wyoming and grew up in Illinois. His first job was in 1968, as a hi er for Earl Buchholz, he earned $10 a day. In 1975 he became one of the first tested USPTA members. Bri has worked in the private tennis club, country club, Public Park, and resort tennis industry.

In 1991 he helped found the Tucson Community Tennis Program. TCTP has since then taught tennis to over 25,000 public school students in popula ons that would not have ever been exposed to tennis. Bri has served as the SWPTA district coordinator, treasurer, and regional vice-president, president, past president is now pro emeritus. He was awarded the SWPTA Pro of The Year on two different occasions by the division, SWPTA Diversity Award in 2015 and in 2003 the USPTA Na onal Star Award.

Bri currently owns and operates Bri ’s Tennis Academy, working with all ages and skills: 3-87, toddler to na onally ranked. Besides having the same staff for many years his greeter is Othello, a golden retriever.

His favorite moments are playing na onal and local doubles with his wife and children.

Larry Lineberry is a 47-year member of the USPTA, a Master Professional since 1990 and a 32-year resident of Sedona.

In his career, has promoted and directed 24 professional tennis tournaments and dozens of amateur events which has raised over $200,000 for various charies.

His students have earned tennis scholarships to many colleges including: Stanford, Virginia Tech, William and Mary, the US Air Force Academy, the US Naval Academy, Marymount of Santa Barbara, Davidson and coached two Arizona state high school tennis champions.

Larry promoted and directed two music concerts (1997, 2011) by lifelong friend, Grammy Award winner, Bruce Hornsby, which raised money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northern Arizona and the Northern Arizona Tennis Associaon.

He is an inaugural 2015 inductee of the Presco (AZ) Park of Fame, an inaugural 2021 inductee of the Roanoke Regional Tennis Hall of Fame and a 2017 inductee of the Southwest Tennis Associa on Hall of Fame.

He is the SWPTA representa ve for this year’s USPTA George Basco Life me Achievement Award.

Phoenix, Arizona

by Leslie Banks

Dear Fellow Southwest Tennis Pros!

Summer feels like it’s here! Spring has been lovely with the cool weather but it’s slowly ge ng warmer and warmer.

Meet some of the Pros from the Valley! Ryan Shomo recently became the Director of Racquet Sports at Arizona Country Club. Tariq Khan is the Head of Junior Programming at Phoenix Country Club and gives us a different perspec ve on PCC hosting the Arizona Tennis Classic. Karen Fleissner lends her exper se to the town of Gilbert and spends her free me as Arcadia HS’s Boys’ Tennis Coach.

Ryan Shomo

Anyone in the racquet sports industry can tell you we are in the people business. Depending on your facility, you may work with a membership, local community, or private clientele but the focus is always the people. One important group of people we work with, however, exists outside of the students and clients. I am of course talking about our community of racquet sports professionals, and none has proven to be more influen al or beneficial to my career than that of the USPTA.

I have been fortunate enough to begin recently as the Director of Racquet Sports at Arizona Country Club and could not be more excited for the opportunity to join and help build another great community of tennis and pickleball players alike. One reason for all the excitement is the steps I was able to take to feel prepared for this next chapter. It was through Ryan Roeth that I was able to get cer - fied and plugged into the USPTA, which ul mately led to a great next step here in Arizona. A er mee ng what would become another great mentor, director, and friend in Dave Moyer at the USPTA world conference in New York, I soon a er moved down to Arizona to take the next step in my career. Learning another side of the industry at the Country Club at DC Ranch presented countless opportuni es to learn and grow yet again. In a new environment filled with ladies’ leagues and big club events in addi on to the junior programs I was trained in, I once again found myself observing and learning from the experience of Dave and many others around me. With a goal of becoming a director myself, there was no shortage of learning opportuni es or aspects of the industry to understand. Working hard to earn opportuni es to expand my responsibili es and experiences, as well as having team leaders willing to expend these opportuni es to manage teams of my own again put me in the posi on to be ready for the next challenge.

Star ng my next chapter now as a team leader, I get the pleasure of bringing the philosophies and programs I have learned along the way to Arizona Country Club. Excited to create the same opportuni es for others that I was able to benefit from, I will be a part in helping build the programs and culture that I have learned from and would want to be a part of. Having a great organiza on to be a part of like the USPTA allows not just a great avenue to help my team develop but also the resources and people to con nue to learn from as I go. I am excited to see what this next chapter will bring here in the USPTA Southwest and Arizona Country Club!

Karen Fleissner

Eight years ago when I passed my USPTA cer fica on exam, I was beyond excited to be star ng my new career. I envisioned so many job opportuni es, different levels and ages of students, networking with fellow tennis pros, and working in the sunshine all day. But nothing gave me more excitement than when I pictured myself as a high school coach.

My first experience with tennis was when I was a freshman in high school. My older brother had convinced me that I should pick up tennis and be on the team that year. I grew up following in both of my brothers’ footsteps, so naturally I went along with it. He and I would go out and he would try and teach me some techniques, rules of the game and how to play a match. These were fun and memorable mes for me since he would be going off to college the following year. My brother would also talk about the camaraderie of his tennis team, the experiences he had, games and matches he had won and had only good things to say about Coach Gary.

Three years into my tennis career, my then boss talked me into applying for the Head Coach posi on at Arcadia High School. It was a posi on that I had always dreamt of but didn’t believe I was ever actually good enough to do. Six seasons in and I am so happy he pushed me into this role. I absolutely love my job as a high school tennis coach, and I look forward to the high school tennis season all year long. I think back to my high school days 25 years ago and I try to recreate the same fun learning environment and community I was given. As a cer fied tennis professional, my passion is teaching the game to new students. I have a nocut program and never turn away students who have never played because I know how much courage and effort it took to come out to the court that day. Just like my high school coach, I may not be the best player, but I try to be a good mentor, provide guidance during tough matches, teach new strategies and skills as well as being a good listener to them. When it comes me to celebrate our season, I take special care to recognize each player as an individual, giving out cer ficates, le ers and some tennis gi s. I also love how the cycle repeats and I get to hear from my players how nervous I make them, when all I’m doing is walking around the courts and watching them play.

Leslie Banks: Serve the Future AZ’s Updates

The Arizona Tennis Classic was so exci ng this year with big names such as Monfils, Schwartzmann, and Berre ni. It gave valley tennis enthusiasts a chance to roam the Phoenix Country Club and enjoy close encounters with amazing athletes. It also gave students of the nonprofit, Serve the Future AZ, free ckets to the Professional tournament. Over 50 students, coaches and a few parents were able to take advantage of the opportunity and see the awesome display of world-class athle cism in basically front-row seats. The nonprofit I founded and administered was also awarded $10,000 from the Arizona Tennis Classic and its founder Jonny Levine. The Sponsorship allows Serve the Future to con nue to find partners in the Valley and give students from our underserved communi es a chance to play our sport. The presence of underserved students at the ATC hopefully inspires community enthusiasm in our sport and grows par cipa on through opportuni es like this. The ATC gave STFAZ exposure through Channel4 news and a couple weeks later a longer interview on FOX10 Phoenix which aired on Easter Sunday.

Serve the Future AZ has grown substan ally since its incep on in 2021 just 2 years ago. We are now partnering with the Phoenix Union High School District which has a 95% minority popula on with 77% of students on free or reduced lunches. This partnership will ensure that we see more compe ve tennis where there has been li le to no interest. Addi onally, some PXU high school coaches are signing up to take the USTA High School Workshop Course that is being offered at the SW PTA Conference this year. This also gives me hope that we can grow li le by li le our USPTA community and increase its diversity.

Northern New Mexico

by Dick Johnson

Hi everybody!

Wow! This spring has been a whirlwind of ac vity for my high school team. I just completed my 33rd year of coaching at La Cueva High School and it was quite a year.

Since 2007, my teams have won 12 state championships, 9 of which in the last 11 years. This year my doubles team won for the 7th consecu ve year, a new state record for 5-A teams. In the team compe on, we finished 14 and 1 and at state did not lose a match.

division. This was a first in my 23 seasons coaching at the Academy. A very special team that brought our 4th consecu ve team tle. What I treasure most is the improvement in the players’ resolve on the court. They worked hard all season and came to play. Each lived up to all their expecta ons of figh ng a good ba le. EDC (Early Development Camps) are back! I have run two of a three series for the 10u orange and green ball players. The kids are learning what’s possible as we covered the Expert Rallyer and Net Dominator curriculum. We’ll be tying the two together with our final All Court Player camp in June. DJ and I were also coaches of the postseason NM All Star Compe on. I look forward to a great summer of teaching, running USTA events and of course… seeing everyone at our conference and the world conference!

John Damgaard

The self-described luckiest guy in the world walked off into the sunset Saturday. Fi ngly, he did so with a tear in his eye and a trophy in his hands. Ralph Bolton re red as Santa Fe Prep’s tennis coach Saturday, saying “adios” to 30 amazing years and his life me of memories.

I am looking forward to our summer tennis camps. We have seen over 3500 kids go through our camps in the past 23 years.

Looking forward also to seeing all of you at our Southwest USPTA Conference. This is always such a great me for networking and exchanging ideas. I will miss our Na onal Execu ve Director, John Embry, who has been the guiding light for our organiza on. All the best, John! Have a great summer everyone!

Amy

Badger

It’s been a thankful, busy spring. It was a trifecta + 1 this year for the Albuquerque Academy girls’ varsity team. We won team state and individual state and doubles (and second in doubles too) in the class 1A-4A

Bolton says it’s the rela onships he’s built over the years he’ll remember most. It’s the players he once coached who have grown into their 40’s, a handful of whom he calls some of his closest friends. Of those, a few have had their own kids play for him. “And it’s the friendships I’ve had with opposing coaches, opposing players, the respect we’ve grown to have for one another that’s so special to me.”

Anyone who knows Bolton knows he can’t go a minute or two without bringing up Case, a half-boxer, half-lab dog who grew to 85 lbs and was, for all intents and purposes, a ached to Bolton’s hip for 14 years. Case died last November. He is forever enshrined with a memorial at the Santa Fe Tennis and Swim Club where Bolton is the director of tennis.

Dave Shambach

Dave Shambach, in his 41st year as a USPTA member, is looking forward to his return to the Regional Conference, a er missing last year due to a severe bout of COVID.

He is fresh off volunteering for Rio Rancho High School’s varsity and JV teams. JV boys won their divi- sion of the Northern New Mexico USTA tourney, and the girls finished 3rd in their division. The varsity boys returned to the State Tournament for the second year in a row and sent 5 individual players to the State tourney. The girls won their first-round team match before eventually losing to the champs, La Cueva. They placed three girls in individual States, including Samantha Baltz, who finished runner-up in singles. He will compete in his first USTA doubles tournament in mid-May. It is becoming harder to USTA leagues due to teaching and Coaching.

Dave con nues to serve as unofficial tennis coordinator and head instructor for the City of Rio Rancho’s Parks and Recrea on Tennis Program. He will be one of three instructors for the summer session, running from June through mid-July. He will also help with the Rio Rancho High summer tennis camp in June.

He will also be co-coaching two JTT teams for the first me—a 14-under and a 17-under team. In his spare me, he will teach private lessons to local and area youth and adults.

Doug MacCurdy:

Gree ngs from Atlanta. Here is what I’m up to:

I am currently at the beginning of playing a series of senior tournaments in the 75 + category. Since I’ve been involved in tennis for about 60 years, one might ask why I would possibly want to play tennis compe vely now. A wise person once told me that many coaches are above all just frustrated players. Senior tennis gives you a second chance at fame, but rarely fortune. This week I am at the Atlanta Senior Invita onal, a Category 2 na onal tournament. It a racts one of the best fields of all the men’s senior tournaments in the US. The host club is the Cherokee Town Club which really is beau ful. Your entry fee includes numerous ameni es such as fresh fruit available at all mes, sports drinks and water in on-court coolers, a high-quality collared shirt, an excellent buffet lunch each day, a dinner party, and $20,000 in prize money. There is a long list of sponsors and a small army of volunteers. It is a happening.

The best part for me was watching and talking with USPTA Southwest legends Jimmy Parker (Santa Fe) and Brian Cheney (Chandler). At the end of 2022, Jim held the all- me male record for US na onal championships won at 153. That means 153 Category 1 events in which a Gold Ball is awarded. That is enough balls, in this case golden ones, to fill a large teaching basket. Among living male players Brian is in second place behind Jim with a mere 94 Category 1 na onal tles. These gentlemen are phenomenal.

Another legend with a Southwest background is Fred Drilling. He is currently ranked #1 in the world in the men’s 80s. Last year he won the world championship in singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles, as well as the team event. He played at the University of Arizona. Coincidentally, one freshman to join Fred’s outstanding team at the U of A was none other than Brian Cheney. Fred is a superstar. His only problem is that Jimmy Parker is entering his age group this year and that always spells trouble.

These living legends are great ambassadors for the game and just keep adding to their collec ons of tles.