Florida Division - United States Professional Tennis Association

President’s MessageI’m very proud and honored to serveas your USPTA FLORIDA DIVISIONPresident for the next two years.Not that long ago, I was asked howlong I’ve been involved in serving theFlorida Division. It’s hard to believe,but it’s been 15 years and counting.I started off as the District Presidentin the mid 90’s for the Miami/FloridaKeys district. I can still remembermy first meeting. I was so eager todisseminate and share all this good tennis information(damn near spoke for 15 minutes straight) that I completelyforgot to take a few minutes prior to the meeting and alloweveryone to introduce themselves. (Thanks to Jim Mortonfor chiming in as a friendly reminder).Tennis is an amazing sport and a vehicle for maintaininga healthy lifestyle, travelling and meeting new people.Some of my closest friends are tennis players. How luckyare we? We earn a living doing something that we trulylove! It’s not every day that you can jump on a plane at amoment’s notice, fly out to Portland, Oregon with two closefriends, watch the United States win the Davis Cup , takein a Van Halen concert (by the way I felt like I was in atime warp!) and travel across the same bridge three timesbefore finally getting off on the correct exit! (FYI…Chuckwas the driver and Louis the navigator-??)We are very fortunate to have such a talented groupof professionals serving on the Florida Division Board,donating their time, energy and efforts. Listed below arethe Board members and the Committees they will chairfor 2011-12 who will serve along with me and 20 DistrictPresidents from around the state. For the first time in along time, all District President positions are filled!Jeff Cohen-Future Convention sites, SpecialEvents,Testing and Certification, Publications, Personneland Grand PrixBrad Leu-Convention 2012 and District PresidentsTrish Faulkner-Public Relations, Diversity, Education andConvention 2012Patrick Sheahan-Sponsorship for Grand Prix and TradeShow, Tennis Across America, Lessons for Life, Awardsand ScrapbookMike Baldwin-Grand Prix-Adult and Junior, Budget andFinance, Team Tennis, Adult LeaguesJason Gilbert-Speakers, Education and District PresidentsRichard Centerbar-Nominating Committee, Testing andCertificationPat Anderson-Da Glue Committee, Budget and FinanceGlen Howe-Membership, Testing and CertificationSome of our goals for USPTA Florida Division are asfollows:*Continue to create value for existing and future USPTAcertified professionals (this should help us in memberretention)*Continue to enhance and strengthen our relationship withthe USTA Florida/ National Section and industry partners.Support and grow the 10 and under initiative. (USPTAFlorida continues to lead by example for the country)*Continue to work on developing an official USPTA FloridaDivision Member Home*Continue to enhance our Florida Division Conference byimplementing fresh ideas , topics, speakers and visitingworld class destinations for all to enjoy.The Florida Board is currently looking at Club Med, OceanReef and Naples Beach for future sites for our AnnualConference. Please let us know if you have a site in mind.I hope that you will join us in making our association avaluable tool for enhancing our livelihood and quality of life.Your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciatedand always welcomed!See you on the courts!Jeff f CohenUSPTA FLORIDA DIVISION PRESIDENTThank you to all contributors in this issue:Mike Baldwin, Page Buck, John Bougon, Dave Brown, Richard Centerbar, Jeff Cohen, Roger Cypriano, Joe D’Aleo, TrishFaulkner, Spike Gonzales, Bob Heller, Glen Howe, Randy Jenks, Chris Kader, Robin Keener, Brad Leu, Keith Lipp, JJMcDonough, Jim Morton, Ira Peskowitz, Ben Rakusin, Keith Soifer, Jack Steyn and Rich Walker. Member contributionsare encouraged. The deadline for the next issue is November 1, 2011. For advertising rates, or to submit articles, ideas orsuggestions, contact the division office at usptafl@aol.com or 800 997-2766.Pat Anderson, editor