2023 USPTA New England Conference Program

Thank you to Our Sponsors

Saturday 9:00-9:50 am: Panel - Our Favorite Programs Mike Kolendo is a USPTA Elite Pro, President of the USPTA NE Board, a certified wheelchair tennis pro, and was a member of USTA’s National Workshop faculty for 15 years.

Presently Mike is the Director of Tennis at the Northampton and South Hadley Recreation Departments and at Tennis at Maple Ridge – a small indoor facility in western MA. Past honors include: 2016 USTA WMA Volunteer of the Year, 2012 Joseph Dietz Bowl, 2011 NE Pro of the Year, and the 2010 Dan Bonfigli Award. Ranked #1 in New England eleven times in Doubles and once in Singles.

Lisa Wilcott served as Tennis Director for 30 years at the York Golf & Tennis Club in York, Maine. Lisa is currently a Senior Teaching Professional at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport RI. She is a USPTA Elite Professional, serves as Regional Vice President on the USPTA New England Board, and is also on the board of Tennis Without Borders. Since 2020 Lisa has travelled and worked with Gigi Fernandez, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, and The Bryan Brothers at Celebrity Camps in the US.

Dan McCormick will be starting his 14th season at the Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA, this summer. He has coached tennis, platform tennis, squash, and badminton on the Northshore of Massachusetts for 25 years. Dan has received one USPTA Regional Professional of the Year, and two USPTA New England Paddle Professional of the Year Awards.

He has been a USPTA member since 1984.

Milan Kubala has over 25 years of experience in managing, marketing, public relations, and coaching in the tennis industry. His experience includes being the former Director of Tennis at the Topnotch Resort in Stowe, Vermont, and the Midland Community Tennis Center in Midland, Michigan. He has served as the USPTA Michigan and Vermont State President, Division Vice President, and as an executive member of the USPTA Midwest and New England Divisions since 2000.

Milan has been a popular lecturer on tennis marketing, teaching, coaching, and facility management at the USPTA tennis conventions since 1999. Milan attended the PSK Olympic Prague Tennis Academy in the Czech Republic and was a member of the 1991 Czech National Championship Team.

Saturday 10:00-10:50 am: The 3-2-1 Method to Improve Tennis & Pickleball Angelo Rossetti: Angelo is Director of Racquet Sports at the Tennis & Fitness Center of Rocky Hill and served as the Director of Tennis at Weston Racquet Club, an Ivan Lendl Tennis Center, for over 10 years. He is a USPTA Elite Professional, PTR, MTM, USTA High Performance & Mental Skills, and IPTPA (pickleball) certified teaching professional, being first certified in 1992. Angelo is also NLP and Mindfulness certified, and studied to be a Dale Carnegie instructor, as he wanted to learn and teach the best ways to learn! Angelo was elected in 2017 as one of the youngest Presidents of USTA Connecticut (2018-2020).

Angelo played Varsity tennis at Hamden High School enroute to be a top Division I player at the University of Connecticut, where he earned a B.S. degree in Sports Science with a concentration in Sports Marketing. Angelo is a 2X Guinness World Records™ titleholder of two different tennis titles; the Longest Tennis Rally and the Longest Tennis Volley Rally. His most recent certifications are Developing Mental Toughness and USTA High Performance.

Angelo is a published author, TENNACITY: The Tenacious Mindset, On & Off the Court, based on his mental skills blog for tennis players and athletes and his online mental skills course with the same name which can be found at www.tennacity.org.

Saturday 11:00 am -12:20 pm: Games Based Practice - Let The Games Begin!!

Coach Greg Patton began his first tennis coaching job at UC Santa Barbara in 1976, kickstarting a forty-two year career that would take him across the world and impact thousands of athletes along the way. Patton's coaching has impacted young tennis players on and off the court including some of the top players in today's world rankings. In the Spring of 2018, Coach Patton retired from Boise State University, finishing his career as the winningest active collegiate tennis coach, fourth in alltime victories (808), and with 24 Conference Championships. Since retiring as a college head coach, Patton continues his near life-long journey in the world of tennis. Through camps and clinics, Coach Patton engages with tennis players of all ages and abilities. He also maintains a coaching position with the USA National Collegiate Team, where he continues to work with the top college players in the country. Off the court, Coach Patton continues to inspire and motivate teams, businesses, and other organizations through speaking events across the country. Coach Patton is a trainer for the Positive Coaching Alliance.

Saturday 2:10 - 3:00 pm: Nutrition Help For Your Players Jacqui Bryan: Jacqui Bryan is a nationally recognized Registered Nurse, a Whole Health Educator™, Certified Health Coach, and Functional Nutritionist. She holds a Master’s Degree in Health Communication from Tuft’s University School of Medicine and a Master’s Degree in Functional Nutrition from Parker University.

Jacqui is a Certified Nutrition Specialist® which is the most advanced sciencebased nutrition therapy certification for personalized nutrition practitioners. As an author, writer, and professional speaker, she has been featured in the New England Cable News TV series on health and wellness, has written for Weight Watchers International, and conducts patient engagement clinics for medical professionals.

Jacqui utilizes her professional and personal experience working with proven strategies to inspire individuals and groups to harness the power of their internal motivation for healthy behavior change.

Saturday 3:10 - 4:30 pm: 7 Ways To Improve Your Player's Performance

Ken DeHart is the Director of Racquets at Alpine Hills Tennis & Swimming Club in San Jose, CA. Ken is a USPTA Master Professional, recipient of the USPTA Lifetime Achievement Award, 4-time winner of the USPTA Divisional Professional of the Year, 3-time winner of the USPTA Career Development Award, and was formerly a divisional officer for the USPTA Southwest and USPTA Northern California divisions.

Ken is an international speaker having spoken at Coaches Conferences at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. Also, Ken is a PTR Master Professional, has been inducted into the PTR Hall of Fame, and is a member of the Yonex Speakers Team.

Saturday 4:40 - 5:20 pm: Singles Tactics Danielle Lund McNamara was a standout player at the University of Michigan. She was the Big Ten Sportswoman of the Year and All-Big Ten Player. In her thirteen years as the Head Women's Tennis Coach at Yale, McNamara led the Bulldogs to four Ivy League Championships, four NCAA Tournament appearances, and four ECAC Indoor Team Championships. Her teams were ranked as high as #1 in the Northeast and #28 in the nation. She was named the Wilson/ITA Northeast Region Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2013. McNamara was also incredibly successful at developing her players on an individual level. She coached Yale's first ever Ivy League Player of the Year and the first ever All-American players, as well as two Ivy League Rookies of the Year selections. Overall, McNamara coached 39 AllIvy singles and doubles players in her tenure at Yale.

McNamara demonstrated a tremendous ability to recruit the best and the brightest players on a national level, recruiting multiple blue chip and 5-star players according to the tennisrecruiting.net rankings. She recruited seven top25 ranked classes, three of which were in the top 10. Two of her recruited players competed in junior Grand Slams prior to coming to Yale (Wimbledon, US Open). Currently, Danielle runs her own tennis company, DLM Coaching, where she provides tennis recruitment services, total athlete development services, and on-court coaching.

Sunday 8:30 - 9:20 am: Coaches Clinic

Ken DeHart is the Director of Racquets at Alpine Hills Tennis & Swimming Club in San Jose, CA. Ken is a USPTA Master Professional, recipient of the USPTA Lifetime Achievement Award, 4-time winner of the USPTA Divisional Professional of the Year, 3-time winner of the USPTA Career Development Award, and was formerly a divisional officer for the USPTA Southwest and USPTA Northern California divisions.

Ken is an international speaker having spoken at Coaches Conferences at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. Also, Ken is a PTR Master Professional, has been inducted into the PTR Hall of Fame, and is a member of the Yonex Speakers Team.

Sunday 9:30 - 10:20 am: Bring Your Brain Into the Game for Improved Coaching & Performance

Skye Whitehurst is the owner of SKYE-SPORT LLC, and is passionate about maximizing human potential. She has been working on that endeavor for over 30 years as a psychologist, coach, teacher, program developer and speaker. She holds a Masters in Psychology and Level II Certification in Energy Psychology and is a member of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. She has helped individuals, teams, coaches and organizations reach higher levels of excellence and growth through her methodology which combines the hard sciences of neurology and neurobiology with disciplines of psychology and mind-body practices. She has been a speaker and panel participant for the US Ski and Snowboard Annual Club Excellence Conference in Utah and a chosen speaker for the National Outdoor Leadership School's Annual Risk Management Conference. Other clients include the Montana Conservation Corps, US Snowboard and Freeski Association, Park City Ski and Snowboard, and the Vermont Alpine Racing Association. Although the snowsports world is second home to her, she has also empowered swim, track and field, soccer, and cross country athletes, performers, executives and others. She is excited to join us in our world of tennis.

Sunday 10:30 am -11:20 am: Recipe For Spicy Gourmet Doubles Coach Greg Patton began his first tennis coaching job at UC Santa Barbara in 1976, kickstarting a forty-two year career that would take him across the world and impact thousands of athletes along the way. Patton's coaching has impacted young tennis players on and off the court including some of the top players in today's world rankings. In the Spring of 2018, Coach Patton retired from Boise State University, finishing his career as the winningest active collegiate tennis coach, fourth in alltime victories (808), and with 24 Conference Championships. Since retiring as a college head coach, Patton continues his near life-long journey in the world of tennis. Through camps and clinics, Coach Patton engages with tennis players of all ages and abilities. He also maintains a coaching position with the USA National Collegiate Team, where he continues to work with the top college players in the country. Off the court, Coach Patton continues to inspire and motivate teams, businesses, and other organizations through speaking events across the country. Coach Patton is a trainer for the Positive Coaching Alliance.

Sunday 11:30 am - 12:20 pm: Purposeful Practice

Pam Dodman is a USPTA Elite Professional who has been a member of the USPTA since 1990. She has been a tester, District USPTA president, and has served on various USPTA boards. Pam received the USPTA New England Pro of the Year Award and USPTA New England Tester of the Year Award in 2009.

As a player, Pam has attained a 5.5 rating and has won two Gold Balls winning the 35 and over Grass Court Championship, and the 35 and over Hard Court Championship. She also has won a Silver Ball and Bronze Ball.