What exactly is a Social Network? Ben Rakusin, USPTA In the midst of some real challenges, the 2011 World Conference at Saddlebrook was a robust buffet of tennis information and a vivid glimpse into the future. First of all, let me just say that, although there has been some political unrest and polarizing events in our organization, we are on the right track in moving past this period and striving toward common goals. It was clear that any controversies were placed in the out box and the conference moved front and center. So back to that social network question; as someone who writes articles and therefore observes the world, my verdict is still out on Twitter, Facebook and other such avenues of communication. But coming from that conference, one thing became crystal clear to me. Making contact with people, in this case, tennis pros, in their comfort zone is the key to the success of any and all new programs and products. Let’s point out a few examples of this from the World Conference. David Benzel is the founder of Growing Champions for Life. This is one of the best sources of strategies for producing successful, well-adjusted juniors that I’ve ever seen. Needless to say, there is a growingchampionsforlife.com site, making this resource available to great numbers of conscientious pros. Craig Jones is the face of 10 and Under <strong>Tennis</strong>. All you have to do is go to the USTA site and look for anything referring to Quick Start or 10 and Under <strong>Tennis</strong>. You can experience a sense of Craig’s enthusiasm with just a few clicks. Even my old Buckeye friend, Dave Kozlowski has expanded the reach of his long-time TV show by streaming most of his broadcasts. As a former national pro of the year, Dave understands that reaching an audience has become much more sophisticated than simply coming on after Jeopardy. Noted Midwest pro, Jorge Capestany, has started his tennisdrill.tv site which is another outstanding source for creative drills. If you are a teaching pro and are unaware of the amount of drills out there on youtube and the like, you might as well be playing with that old Davis Imperial racket. This brings me to a further who’s who of tennis teaching minds, heavily on display at Saddlebrook. Rick Macci, Ken DeHart, Feisal Hassan, Luis Mediero, Lorenzo Beltrame, Martin Blackman and others; what do they have in common? Just go to old reliable USPTA.com and see how often you see such pros sharing their best advice. Unlike our TV show, “On Court with USPTA,”which is great, you can check out the site 24/7. Do you feel connected yet? Lastly, we in the Boca Raton district had the pleasure to meet Nancy Biggs at our most recent district meeting. Nancy, who also appeared at Saddlebrook, co-founded CourtsideUSA. Without going into too much detail, this site will allow someone, anyone, in Florida to find out what is going on in tennis anytime, anywhere; regardless of whether they are a teaching pro, a junior, a 3.0 league player or a brand new beginner. This is huge. I can only hope that this site, along with all the other resources out there will be a shot in the arm to Florida tennis participation. This takes us full circle to that political controversy mentioned at the top of this article. The disturbing statistics in all this are that a tiny percentage of our members voted in or were even aware of the recent election of our new national officers. In the same pattern, a tiny percentage of our membership still attends conventions. I can only hope that all of these wonderful attempts to make us connected as pros, pay off with greater interest and participation on all levels. So this networking is much more than social; it’s critical. USPTA 2011 Years of Service Awards Florida Division Members 60 Years Ted Withall 45 Years Ed Foster John Roundtree 40 Years Sydney Brass Dan Cox Bob Ecuyer Jay Gilliford Don Usher 35 Years Paul Adler David Buerkle Patti Burns Joe Csandli Mike Dickens Carlos Goffi Dennis Grainger Fernando Guarachi 35 Years (cont’d) Michael Hoctor Nancy Kirsten-Barnes George Kosloff Tom Krukiel Thomas Morlock Carl Poske Fred Stolle Leo Vorwerk 30 Years Frank Carleton Curly Davis Christine Eddy Bill Foreman Bill Gerdts Robert Gomez John Heiss C W Lewis Pete Minarich Dan Smithyman Andrew Stanfield Paul Susz Bob Watson 6
Memorable Moments from Saddlebrook More photos on Florida Division Facebook 7
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