2026 Awards Banquet

2025 AWARDS BANQUET MAY 2ND, 2026

2025 AWARD WINNERS Tennis Professional of the Year Brandon Cutter

Brandon is the Director at the Harwichport Tennis Club in the summer. In the winter, Brandon is the Director of Junior Development at the Mid Cape Athletic Club in Yarmouth, MA. Brandon works with hundreds of juniors of all abilities (some are international) year. Not only is Brandon outstanding off the court, he very talented in teaching and facilitating many players having fun on the court.

Facilitates many USTA Teams Helped 100’s of junior play college tennis Runs weekly UTR and USTA New England Tournaments year round Operates a beautiful outdoor clay court club, the Harwichport Tennis Club which is a hidden secret on the Cape in Harwich Port Brandon is very active throughout the Cape Cod area, running regular exhibitions to promote tennis at various clubs.

Runs a high performance Junior program, year round servicing over 300 juniors Manages the operations and sales of a Pro Shop.

2025 AWARD WINNERS Pickleball Professional of the Year Michael Mercier

Michael Mercier has worked with over 1000 players of all levels through clinics, lessons, tournament play, exhibitions, and wheelchair & special need inclusive programs throughout Cape Cod to Cape Ann on the Northshore of Boston.

Director of Pickleball @ Willy’s Gym with 16 courts facilitating tournament, year round clinics, and exhibitions Director of Pickleball- Wynchmere Beach Club in Harwichport -(spring to late fall) 8 outdoor courts, clinics, programs, interclub matches 7 days week YMCA of the Northshore (Beverly, Gloucester, Salem, Ipswich, & Plaistow NH) Mike taught pickleball, leagues, exhibitions, and more with a population of 50,000 membership.

Picklr - Danvers MA club -teaching professional DUPR rating Coach Member USA Pickleball, Pickleball Canada Certified Pickleball Professional / IPTPA, IFP-RSPA, PPR

2025 AWARD WINNERS College Coach of the Year Suzanne Lazzaro

Suzanne Lazzaro was named Salem State Head Women's Tennis Coach in 2025. Lazzaro is currently the Youth Program Director for Nahant Tennis, and is the assistant Head Professional at North Shore Tennis and Squash Club where she provides private lessons for members in addition to hosting clinics for high school tennis players. Previously, she was the head tennis coach at The Academy at Penguin Hall in Wenham, Mass., where she was responsible for player recruitment and development and implementing training and conditioning practices consistent with NEPSAC and USTA guidelines.

2025 AWARD WINNERS Dan Bonfigli Industry Excellence Award Greg Moran

Each year our RSPA New England Industry Excellence Award is given to the New England professional who has combined an entrepreneurial spirit and altruism, utilizing their own and industry resources for the betterment of our professional tennis community. Greg Moran epitomizes the very definition of this award.

Greg is one of this country’s most renowned and experienced teaching professionals. He was the longtime owner and Tennis Director of the Four Seasons Racquet Club in Wilton, CT. For more than 45 years he’s helped players of all ages achieve their goals in our sport. He’s been a member of Wilson’s Advisory Staff, and a member of the Cardio Tennis National Speaker’s Teams, to name a few. He’s travelled not just in this country delivering workshops for players and coaches, but he’s travelled to Africa doing the same. He’s a frequent contributor to Tennis Magazine and is the author of the best selling Tennis Beyond Big Shots books.

His latest book, Beyond Hours & Dollars, is a major reason Greg is receiving this year’s award. This book outlines — in Ajay Pant’s words — the foundational purpose of coaching and how to navigate the different stages of your career. The book offers clear guidance on what to expect and how to avoid typical career missteps in each decade of your professional life, from your 20s through your 60s…

Moran shows you how to build a thriving career rather than just having a job.”

Other’s who’ve endorsed the book are an absolute who’s-who in our teaching world and the greater tennis community — people like Kim Bastable, Kathy Woods, Jorge Capestany, Ken DeHart, Dan Santorum, Mark McMahon, and Michele Krause. Not to mention the fact that Kirk Anderson wrote the book’s Forward.

Greg has self financed the publication of his new book. And… in an effort to help our industry as a whole, he’s decided to make it available at no cost to anyone — hence everyone at our conference will be receiving a copy free of charge.

2025 AWARD WINNERS Elevate Award Rebecca Morse

Rebecca has been at Wentworth By The Sea Country Club since late 2024 and has made a huge immediate impact on our program.

She increased the assistant pro teaching income by 50% in 2025 as she loves staying active on the tennis court. She does an amazing job with the kids and lower adult levels, even though she is a very strong player herself.

Her enthusiasm, energy and fresh ideas are contagious and have become such an asset to the club. She has come up with new special events and fun themed ideas that the juniors and adults really enjoy.

In 2025, she led and qualified our 3.0 team to 1st place and districts, after back-to-back last place finishes the previous years.

Rebecca has a very bright future in the tennis business and is particularly interested in coaching, where she will excel.

2025 AWARD WINNERS Michael Mercier Diversity & Inclusion Award Kristen Gerety

Kristen was the head coach for the Middletown/Newport, RI boy's co-op tennis team. Both of these communities are very different when comparing socioeconomic and ethnic diversity. Kristen worked, tirelessly, at bringing these two groups together to establish a cohesive culture of respect and selfawareness. As a result, of her efforts, the team was recognized as the D1 recipient of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Sportsmanship Award which recognizes their "on court" etiquette during match play. Kristen's program is also the only D1 program representing these schools. She was also able to guide and coach this group to the playoffs in 2025.

Kristen is also very active with TeamFAME, an NJTL, located at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport, RI. Kristen serves on their Advisory Board and helps to facilitate discussions and provide leadership for the National Tennis and Learning Center. This effort provides after school enrichment for under served middle school children in Newport, RI. Kristen chairs a committee that leads graduates of the TeamFAME program to continue their tennis journey into high school participation and college tennis recruitment. She helps to guide prospective student athletes in essay writing and becoming more familiar with the process of being comfortable and confident in this process.

2025 AWARD WINNERS Small Facility Manager of the Year Sandra Romero

Sandra Romero transitioned from the banking industry to the tennis world, bringing with her extensive experience in customer service and financial management. She has demonstrated a strong ability to adapt by quickly mastering the operational aspects of managing an indoor tennis facility.

In addition to her administrative responsibilities, Mrs. Romero has taken the initiative to learn the game and remains an active player, which has further strengthened her connection with the tennis community.

As a manager, she maintains an open-door approach, welcoming feedback and addressing concerns from both customers and staff. Her friendly and professional demeanor makes her highly approachable, while her ability to communicate directly yet tactfully ensures that she handles challenging decisions with professionalism and respect.

2025 AWARD WINNERS Al Rogers Memorial Award Wilbur Shardlow

Education is in Wilbur’s DNA. He has been a member of the USPTA/RSPA for 37 years and within that time has earned hundreds and hundreds of hours of continuing education credits. Wilbur states he is a lifelong learner who, just recently, earned his Kovac Institute Tennis Serve Specialist certificate! Wilbur has also earned the following: Elite Tennis Professional with the RSPA Tennis Analytics Certified Analyst USRSA certified Master Racquet Technician GRSA certified Master Professional Stringer ERSA certified Master Professional Stringer Wilbur not only loves to learn he loves to share his knowledge with others.

Wilbur runs the high school coaches clinic in Maine, something he has done for many years. Wilbur is also passionate about mentoring those interested in becoming certified tennis teaching professionals and has headed the divisions mentoring program.

This spring, Wilbur was inducted into the Maine Tennis Association Hall of Fame.

2025 AWARD WINNERS Regional Tennis Professional of the Year Wayne Turner

This past year, Wayne had significant achievements in several notable areas: Tennis - Coached Prout School High Girls Tennis team to win the Division 2 Championship, posting an undefeated season despite losing 9 seniors from the previous season when they were conference finalists.

Squash - Coached the Portsmouth Abbey Boys Squash team to win the New England Championship, despite being unseeded in the Independent School League.

Adaptive/Pickleball - Leading the Love Serving Autism chapter at Newport Pickleball Club, serving 5-8 neurodiverse children with weekly adaptive experiences. · Wayne will be certified in Padel in the spring and will direct programming for the new Padel program at Newport Pickleball for all ages and levels in the Newport and South Counties area. He served on the RSPA New England Board from 2005-2007 and is an elite professional and served as the RSPA New England Head Tester from 2002 to 2018. He has fulfilled all education credits to date and has attended and organized several division conferences.

Wayne serves as the Director of Community Engagement and Director of Junior Development at Newport Pickleball as well as an adjunct professor at Rhode Island College, teaching racquet sports in the Health and Physical Education Department.

2025 AWARD WINNERS President’s Award Ettore Rossetti & Angelo Rossetti

The Rossetti Brothers, Angelo and Ettore, are certified RSPA Elite tennis teaching professionals for 34 years. They are both also certified Pickleball coaches through several organizations. Ettore retired from the humanitarian organization Save the Children after 20 years of service. Angelo and Ettore have set five Guinness world record titles, and currently have partnered with the world’s largest Pickleball rating system, DUPR, where people can challenge themselves to do the most amount of volleys in one minute. They raised over a quarter of $1 million for charities through each of their world record event endeavors.

RSPA created a documentary about the brothers last year. They’ve received two national awards among other regional awards, although their mission is to be inspired and inspire someone every day through their achievements.

They currently run Rossetti Brothers Pickleball as well as mental skills coaching for tennis, Pickleball and athletes of all sports. They can be found in New Haven, Connecticut running Pickleville.