Jo to DivisionPresident johnefrausto@gmail.com
CathyThomas RegionalVicePresident Cthomas6@cinci.rr.com
Ma g ton 2ndVicePresident mboughton@ymva-cv.org
AndrewCoon 3rdVicePresident andrew.coonstl@gmail.com
K i Treasurer/Secretary kgyulai@oakland-hills.com
M s PastPresident tenace4@gmail.com
Hello my fellow RSPA Professionals! Summer's officially here, and I know many of you are already gearing up for a busy season. Here at RSPA Midwest, we're right there with you, getting ready for a phenomenal summer ourselves! We've got two fantastic events coming up in August and September, and we genuinely hope to see all of you on the courts soon.
Continuing education (CE) is a vital part of what we do as professionals. The RSPA requires you to earn 15 credits every three years, a standard designed to keep us all at the top of our game. I recently did some research into what other professions require to remain in good standing, and it's insightful:
Doctors: CE requirements vary by state but typically range from 30-60 credit hours every 2-3 years. Some states, like Illinois, are on the high end, requiring 150 CEs every three years, while Wisconsin requires 30 hours every two years.
Lawyers: Similarly, it varies by state, but most lawyers need at least 24 CEs every two years, with 2-3 of those credits specifically in Professional Conduct and Ethics.
Think of continuing education as a little nuclear reactor for your professional development. It doesn't just fulfill a requirement; it enhances who you are as a professional, kicking off the kind of energy that can propel your career to the next level. Whether you complete your CE online through the RSPA Tennis Resources page or in person at one of our many conferences, it's a win-win for both you and your members.
Don't Miss Out! Your Passport to Premier Events Awaits: 2025 Summer Symposium in Cleveland
We are thrilled to be heading back to Cleveland this August for our 2025 Summer Symposium! We're so fortunate in the Midwest
to have such strong relationships with some of the top tennis events in the world, and this year's Symposium promises to not disappoint. We'll be offering top-notch education and breakout sessions, recognizing our divisional award winners, and inducting our newest RSPA Hall of Fame members.
We have discounted tickets available on our registration link for those attending the RSPA Midwest education event or one of the certifications that you can purchase. While you're in Cleveland, be sure to find time to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame it's a must-see!
Paradise & Professional Growth:
2025 World Conference in Hawaii!
Get ready for an unforgettable experience! Registration is now open for the 2025 World Racquets Conference at the Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa in beautiful Kona, Hawaii. This will truly be a once-in-a-lifetime conference, packed with incredible education and networking opportunities. The Midwest RSPA will be hosting several social and networking events, and after winning the RSPA Olympics title last year in Palm Springs, we're definitely hoping for a repeat in Hawaii! We encourage you to bring your family and join us for this incredible conference.
Thank you for your continued support and for everything you do for our association. We are truly better and stronger when we work together. I'm looking forward to seeing you at one of our events very soon!
Regards,
John Frausto
RSPA Elite Professional
RSPA Midwest President
Dr. Jack Groppel, RSPA Midwest Hall of Fame class of 1999 is the first inductee in the Ferris State University Professional Tennis Management Hall of Fame.
International and national leaders in the tennis and racquets industry will be recognized in a new hall of fame created by Ferris State University’s Professional Tennis Management program, with Dr. Jack Groppel honored as the first inductee.
“Dr Jack,” as he is known in the tennis industry, has been a pioneer in the science of human performance since the mid 1970s.
“We created the Professional Tennis Management Hall of Fame to recognize the people in this industry who make a difference and supported opportunities for students that lead to rewarding careers,” said R J Tessier, PTM program director “Dr Groppel is internationally known in the tennis world, and highly respected as a pioneer in the science of human performance and health.”
Groppel was the founding chair of the USTA National Sport Science Committee from 1988 to 2003, has collaborated with world-class athletes from numerous sports, and has traveled the world to more than 50 countries teaching and coaching tennis for national federations, and athletes
Groppel’s groundbreaking work in tennis led him to conduct three Congressional briefings on worksite wellness, a United Nations event on the role of physical activity in preventing and lowering the incidence of noncommunicable diseases of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity, and to represent the entire worksite wellness industry alongside the U.S. Surgeon General in the historic call to action on walking and walkable communities.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled at this recognition by such a prestigious organization,” Groppel said. “I have always been amazed at the curriculum of Ferris State’s PTM, the internships created for their students to get hands-on experience, and the incredible work that their alumni continue to do.”
Ferris State’s PTM was created in 1986 and was the first 4-year program to receive accreditation from all the certifying bodies in the United States Its innovative curriculum and practical internships serve as a model for other programs in the tennis and racquet field.
PTM students receive a bachelor’s degree in business of their choice along with oth ti l i ti tifi ti
In 2005, Rafael Nadal was near the top of his game. Spanish tennis not so much. So tennis clubs started wooing younger players with a new racquet sport. Over 17,000 plexiglass courts later, Padel ranks up there with paella, tapas, and Rioja reds in Spanish lifestyle #2 behind only soccer.
In the US, another racquet sport has enjoyed a similar meteoric rise. One that often require little initial investment and even less time to learn. If tennis demands countless hours finding the sweet spot, pickleball just requires picking up a racquet.
Padel is somewhere in the middle Part tennis, part pickle, part geometry class Padel offers an easy path-to-fun, long rallies, plenty of calorie burn and a cushy turf surface for those aching joints. There’s just one hiccup Padel courts aren’t cheap
That’s where Mindspring Padel comes in. We offer a unique, risk-free and turnkey solution to ensure your club succeeds in integrating Padel and enjoys all the benefits it brings
Globally, Padel is on a steep upward trajectory
According to Babolat & Wilson, global Padel revenues will surpass tennis’ by 2026. We have partnered with the RSPA to help jump start that growth in America. We cover the costs of the courts and ground work to get you up and running; then get reimbursed over time via court bookings, whether its a pay-to-play or free-to-members court usage framework.
Ready to ease into this inherently addictive sport? Email LB@mindspringpadel com, call 760-5051862 or visit us at mindspringpadel com
Dallas Aleman John Frausto Mike Graff
RSPA Midwest Division 2024 Award Winners
2024 RSPA Midwest Illinois Pro of the Year
2024 RSPA Midwest Professional of the Year Kati Gyulai Mike Lange
2024 RSPA Midwest Wisconsin Pro of the Year Scott Ficks
2024 RSPA Midwest Indiana Pro of the Year Lucas Waak
2024 RSPA Midwest Michigan Pro of the Year Amy Nestle
2024 RSPA Midwest Fay Tooley Award Dallas Aleman
2024 RSPA Midwest Nancy Mickler Award Mary Herrick
2024 RSPA Midwest Elevate Award
Kyle Pipkin
2024 RSPA Midwest High School Coach of the Year Andrew Shipp
2024 RSPA Midwest Individual Jr. Coach of the Year Joe Stafford
2024 RSPA Midwest Large Facility Manager of the Year Stuart Nett
2024 RSPA Midwest Small Facility Manager of the Year Jason Norville
2024 RSPA Midwest Charity of the Year (10K or less) Kristen Harrison
2024 RSPA Midwest Dan Oliver State Presidents Award Costin Fink
Lynn Bender, RSPA Professional, from Zeeland, Mich., was honored with the Brad Parks Award at the 2025 USTA Annual Meeting & Conference, held in Carlsbad, Calif. First presented in 2002 by the USTA and the International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Brad Parks Award is awarded to a group or an individual who promotes wheelchair tennis and provides opportunities to wheelchair players through the development of programs. The award honors the founder of the sport and 2010 Hall of Famer Brad Parks.
Lynn Bender has been playing tennis her entire life, opening doors along the way for athletes with disabilities to also be involved in the sport of a lifetime. Lynn married her husband, Curt, who has been a wheelchair tennis athlete for years, which led her to become deeply involved in the wheelchair tennis community
Bender has worn a variety of coaching hats, as a certified tennis professional, head coach of the Holland Christina High School girls’ tennis team, collegiate wheelchair tennis coach, and an enthusiastic camp instructor at the annual USTA/ITF Cruyff Foundation camps, teaching tennis to kids from around the world.
She has also competed on and captained a USTA League team for many years, in addition to cofounding the non-profit Grand Rapids Wheelchair Sports Association, serving as a tournament director at the Grand Rapids USTA and ITF tournament, and being a dedicated USTA Midwest Section, and USTA National Wheelchair Committee Member for so many years. Lynn truly has done it all in the sport of tennis.
“The Brad Parks Award was created for people like Lynn, who have dedicated much of their tennis lives to the growth and success that wheelchair tennis has enjoyed, and will continue to for many years ahead,” said Theodore Loehrke, Managing Director, Section Partnerships, USTA. “A huge ‘thank you’ to Lynn, and her dedication to her family, her passion for tennis, but specifically, wheelchair tennis!”
The 2024 USTA Outstanding Tennis Facility, Pearson Automotive Tennis Club, in Zionsville, IN. were featured at the 2025 USTA Annual meeting & conference in California Currently, they have 11 certified RSPA pros and a 12th that just needs to send her video to complete her certification to bring them up to 12. The PATC is a not-for-profit run by a generous volunteer board – they suppor t schools, community programs and charities. There are 8 indoor tennis cour ts, recently resurfaced and added new lighting that really brightened things up. The club is currently testing two Zennis smar t cour ts.
Both ATP tour players Rajeev Ram and Nishesh Basavareddy consider the PATC their home club as they are coached by Bryan Smith, RSPA Elite Professional.
Congratulations to the PATC for this Prestigious award.
The game of tennis as we know it, didn’t always look the same as it is today The origins of the sport go back over 900 years The first kind of tennis got it’s start by being played as a handball game in alleyways in small villages in France. Over hundreds of years, an official court was established along with racquets, balls, and a unique set of rules. These courts still looked much different than today’s style of tennis. It was played indoors and played like a tennis and squash hybrid. Players would rally over the net but also had walls on all 4 sides of the court that were also in play Racquets had a small head with a tilt along with hand-made balls The oldest of these courts dates back to the 1530s and is still used today at Buckingham Palace
The unique style of tennis persisted as the only racquet sport until the early to mid 1800s As the story goes, a group of players were waiting for their court time, and it was a beautiful day outside. The group grabbed a spare net and set it up outside and volleyed over the net until they could go back in for their court time. Over a couple decades, the idea of outdoor tennis became more popular. Eventually, the rules for the game were set, and the game of lawn tennis was born.
Today, the game of tennis consists of long physical points played at the baseline on mostly hard courts In fact, grass courts make up less than 1% of all tennis courts in the United States. One of just a handful of places in the US that host grass court tennis can be found in central Wisconsin at Sand Valley. The resort currently has the largest number of public use grass courts in the country. In 2019, Sand Valley opened their first tennis program with 15 courts. The original courts were stripped as the resort redesigned the layout for the racquets program In 2024, Sand Valley reopened the racquets program with a fresh set of 16 grass courts and an indoor court for the original game of tennis
Sand Valley likes to create an experience for the guests with everything they do The experience for the racquets program is “tennis as it was meant to be.” Guests can try out what it was like to play the original game on the indoor court tennis court (also referred to as “real” tennis in the UK) and after head outside to the grass courts. The grass courts are surrounded by sand dunes in a quiet part of the resort allowing players to take in the scenery and experience what it’s like to play tennis on the original surface.
Denny Schackter, RSPA Elite Pro Waukesha, WI
In late March I had the privilege of attending the USTA semi-annual meeting Even though there were meetings galore conveying a great deal of information, I believe I gained the most insight on things chatting with fellow volunteers at meals.
I am currently heading up a very talented Task Force for the USTA Midwest Section on the subject of “retention.” Certainly, one of the greatest challenges we have as an industry to keeping players in the game, whether youth or adult
While at the USTA meeting, I ran into a gentleman I have great respect for. Skip Hartman has been a mainstay in NYC for many years creating and maintaining many youth and adult tennis programs spanning all social and economic levels I told him the challenge of our Task Force and he said you only have to know one word to maintain and retain players and that word is “ask.”
He stated that one of his most valuable employees is a person who calls their respective memberships in anticipation of an event or lesson program and simply “asks” that person to join in. It got me thinking, “who does not enjoy being asked to join anything?” If someone asks you to dinner, or invites us to an event, or asks our opinion, we are immediately flattered and sometimes, even thankful.
My conclusion is our business is a “wait and see” culture. “Let’s see who signs up” instead of calling and asking them to join The sales part of our industry is too often overlooked when it should be a vital part of program marketing.
Since this article is appearing in June, what a great time to strategize for Fall on how you are going to fill up your tennis classes, drills and leagues. A review of your membership will probably find a good number of names that have not been engaged in club programming for a while. Untapping the untapped is certainly a great way to increase numbers and therefore retain players
Attention all Tennis and Racquet Sports Facilities. To recognize those facilities who make it a priority to have their racquet sports professionals certified and are in good standing with the RSPA, the RSPA Midwest Division is pioneering a new recognition program. Facilities around the Midwest can apply for our RSPA Platinum Program. Those clubs whose staff are 100% RSPA certified and in good standing are eligible to apply.
Clubs that are approved will receive:
➢RSPA Midwest Platinum Club Banner (3’x6’)
➢ recognition in our newsletter
➢Recognition at the 2025 Summer Symposium in Cleveland in August
If you are interested in applying, fill out the JotForm below. Those clubs who are approved will be notified by June 31, 2025
RSPA Midwest Division Platinum Club Form
form.jotform.com
10 clubs will be recognized for 2025, the first 10 to apply and comply will be recognized. We will accept 2 clubs per state (Oh., Mi., Wi., In., IL.)
Platinum Clubs will be recognized at our Summer Symposium in Cleveland in August 2025.
Greg Aten Midwest Executive Director
386 Kings Court Copley, OH. 44321
