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USPTA Announces New National Board of Directors for 2007

The United States Professional Tennis Association installed its new national board of directors that will serve the association until September 2009. Officers include a new president and vice president. The new board took office during the 80th USPTA World Conference on Tennis, Sept. 17-22, at Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel, Fla.

The new USPTA board of directors includes:

President Harry Gilbert, director of tennis at Ginn Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Fla.

First Vice President Tom Daglis, director of the Professional Tennis Management Program at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., and president of Peachtree Tennis Promotions Inc.

Vice President Mark Fairchilds, director of tennis at Modesto Fitness and Racket Club in Modesto, Calif.

New board member and Vice President Jack Groppel, Ph.D., vice chairman and co-founder of the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Fla.

Vice President Randy Mattingley, head tennis professional at Preston Manor Tennis Club in Lubbock, Texas

Vice President Tom McGraw, director of tennis at the Louisville Country Club in Louisville, Ky.

Secretary-treasurer Paula Scheb, director of tennis and fitness at the Bonita Bay Club in Bonita Springs, Fla.

Immediate Past President Ron Woods, former director of tennis at Corpus Christi (Texas) Country Club for 31 years.

The USPTA board manages the association’s affairs between meetings of the larger USPTA Executive Committee, which includes the board, three past national presidents, and elected leaders from each of the USPTA’s 17 domestic divisions. Board members are nominated by a committee composed of Executive Committee members.

The chief executive officer of the USPTA since 1982 is Tim Heckler. The USPTA World Headquarters is in Houston.

Biographies of board members follow.

Founded in 1927, USPTA celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2007. It strives to raise the standards of the tennis profession while promoting greater awareness of the sport. USPTA offers more than 30 professional benefits to its 14,500 members worldwide, including certification and professional development. With more than 300 days of educational opportunities throughout the year, USPTA offers the most comprehensive continuing education program in the tennis industry. For more information, call (800) 877-8248 or visit uspta.com.

President Harry Gilbert

Harry Gilbert is director of tennis at Ginn Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Fla. He has been a USPTA member since 1981. Gilbert served on USPTA’s Florida Division Board of Directors for eight years, including a three-year term as president. He was named Florida Division Professional of the Year in 1992 and 1994. Gilbert’s success on the court earned him recognition by Tennis magazine as “One of America’s Top Teachers” in 1993. As a player, Gilbert has held sectional and national USTA rankings, as well as divisional and national USPTA rankings. He also has been a USTA clinician and Area Training Center coach. He is a regular seminar speaker at divisional and international USPTA conventions. Gilbert is a member of the teaching professional staffs for HEAD Penn Racquet Sports and Reebok.

First Vice President Tom Daglis

Tom Daglis is president of Peachtree Tennis Promotions Inc., a tennis promotions and consulting company through which he has successfully orchestrated tennis workshops on a national level. He is also the director of the Professional Tennis Management Program at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. A USPTA Master Professional, Daglis has been actively involved in the tennis industry for more than 25 years. He served as president of the Southern Division in 1995 and 1996, and as president of the Georgia Professional Tennis Association in 1990 and 1991. He has received the Pride of the South Award and been honored as the Southern Professional of the Year, Georgia Professional of the Year, the 2003 George Bacso Tester of the Year, and the 2006 USPTA Alex Gordon Professional of the Year.

Vice President Mark Fairchilds

Mark Fairchilds has been the director of tennis at Modesto Fitness and Racket Club in Modesto, Calif., since 1991. He became a member of USPTA in 1987 and began serving on the Northern California Division Board of Directors in 1992, becoming president in 1998. Fairchilds is the 1992 USPTA Men’s Open Singles champion and 1993 USPTA national Open Player of the Year. He served as chairman of the USPTA Nominating Committee in 1999. He was also honored as USPTA Northern California Pro of the Year in 2003 and Inside Tennis Northern California Men’s Open Player of the Past 25 Years in 2006.

Vice President Jack Groppel, Ph.D.

Jack Groppel, Ph.D., of Algonquin, Ill., is a pioneer in the science of human performance, and an expert in fitness and nutrition. This USPTA Master Professional is the vice chairman and co-founder of the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Fla. In 1992, he joined with Jim Loehr to form what was then called LGE Performance Systems Inc. Groppel developed the Corporate Athlete® concept for his training program while serving as an associate professor of kinesiology and bioengineering at the University of Illinois. He currently is an adjunct professor of management at the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago. A fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine, he is a board-certified nutritionist in the American College of Nutrition and a former research associate with the U.S. Olympic Training Center. He served for 16 years as chairman of the National Sport Science Committee of the USTA and he is a recipient of the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Educational Merit Award.

Vice President Randy Mattingley

Randy Mattingley has been a USPTA member since 1979. He served as president of the Texas Division and served on the Management Committee of the USTA Texas Section. He was chairman of the USPTA Division Leaders Training Workshop and chairman of USPTA’s national Nominating Committee. Mattingley is currently the head tennis professional at Preston Manor Tennis Club in Lubbock, Texas (a new facility with nine outdoor and eight indoor courts, a fitness center, a water park and three restaurants). He was the director of tennis at prestigious clubs such as University Club of Houston, Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth and Lubbock Country Club. Mattingley has hosted professional exhibitions that featured tennis greats such as Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Mary Joe Fernandez, Zina Garrison, Bill Scanlon, Vitas Gerilitas, and Ken Rosewall. He has held numerous No. 1 rankings in Texas, as well as national rankings. He is a past recipient of the Player of the Year and Professional of the Year awards in the Texas Division.

Vice President Tom McGraw

Tom McGraw is the director of tennis at the Louisville Country Club in Louisville, Ky., from April through October and a professional at the Louisville Tennis Club from November through March. He has been a teaching professional since 1979 and a USPTA member since 1980.

McGraw served on the USPTA Southern Division board from 1996 through 2004 and was president in 2001-2002. He was named USPTA Kentucky Pro of the Year in 1996 and the USTA Kentucky Pro of the Year in 1997. McGraw was honored with the Pride of the South award in 1997, and in 1999 he was selected as the Southern Division Professional of the Year.

Secretary-treasurer Paula Scheb

Paula Scheb, USPTA Master Professional, is director of tennis and fitness at the Bonita Bay Club in Bonita Springs, Fla., the flagship property of the multidevelopment corporation Bonita Bay Properties. The club has 4,000 members, five golf courses, 18 hydro-courts and a brand new 10,000- square-foot fitness center. In the fall of 1999, the Urban Land Institute, the development industry’s most respected organization, chose Bonita Bay as the only community to receive its highest international honor – the Master Planned Community Award for Excellence. As past president of USPTA’s Florida Division, she is currently the director of testing and certification for the division. She is a member of the HEAD Penn national advisory staff and speaking team and is also a member of the Reebok national staff. Scheb has served as the USPTA national Nominating Committee chairwoman and was honored as a past recipient of the Florida Division’s Pro of the Year Award and the national USPTA/USTA Community Service Award. Scheb graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in business marketing. She played college tennis for the nationally ranked Lady Gators and was a doubles All-American.

Immediate Past President Ron Woods

Ron Woods has been involved in the tennis industry for more than 40 years. He started as an assistant tennis professional in 1965 after four years of collegiate play at the University of Houston. Woods is a charter member of the Texas Professional Tennis Association, which was started in 1965 and became a division of the United States Professional Tennis Association in 1969. Woods has been a member of USPTA since that time, and was director of tennis at the Corpus Christi Country Club for 31 years before retiring from that position in 2001. He is the past president of USPTA’s Texas Division, and has served on the USPTA awards, sports marketing, election reform, nominating, tournament and rankings, and budget committees. Woods’ background includes employment with a municipal facility, a country club, as a high school coach, managing a successful pro shop business, and work on USPTA and USTA committees. Woods was honored as Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Tennis Coach of the Year in 1982 and as USPTA Texas Pro of the Year in 1988. He was the regional director of the Texas Division’s USPTA Adult ­Tennis League and was instrumental in developing that league’s state playoff participation with more than 600 players.

Posted on September 20, 2007
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