Richard Slivocka (2021-23)

USPTA Past Presidents

Feisal Hassan (2019-21)

USPTA Past Presidents

Gary Trost (2017-19)

USPTA Past Presidents

Chuck Gill (2015-17)

USPTA Past Presidents

Tom McGraw (2013-15)

Tom McGraw is the tennis director at the Port Royal Club in Naples, Fla. McGraw has been teaching tennis since 1979 and has been a USPTA member since 1980. He earned his Master Professional status in 2008. He previously served as president of the USPTA Southern Division and USTA Kentucky Vice President concurrently.

USPTA Past Presidents

Tom Daglis (2009-13)

Tom Daglis is a USPTA Master Professional. He was the 2003 George Bacso Tester of the Year. In 2006 he received the USPTA Professional of the Year Award. He was also inducted into the USPTA Southern Hall of Fame.

USPTA Past Presidents

Harry Gilbert (2007-09)

Harry Gilbert is the head professional at Waccabuc Country Club in Westchester County, N.Y., during the summer and is director of tennis at the Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Fla., during the winter. He has been a USPTA member since 1981. He served on the Florida Division Board of Directors for 8 years, including a 3-year term as president. He was named Florida Division Professional of the Year in 1992 and 1994.

USPTA Past Presidents

Ron Woods (2005-07)

Ron Woods has been involved in tennis for more than 50 years and has been a USPTA member since 1967. He was on the USPTA national board for 13 years. As a player, he attended the University of Houston on a tennis scholarship. Woods was the director of tennis at the Corpus Christi Country Club from 1970 to 2001, and then went on to serve as the executive director for the USPTA Texas Division until 2008.

USPTA Past Presidents

David T. Porter, Ed.D. (2003-05)

David T. Porter, Ed.D. is the head tennis coach at Brigham Young University - Hawaii. He is a USPTA Master Professional and was named USPTA Professional of the Year in 2012. He has been a Head Tester since 1988, served on the National Board from 1994-2007 and has been a member since 1986.

USPTA Past Presidents

Joe Thompson (1999-2003)

Joe Thompson is a USPTA Master Professional and the 1998 USPTA Professional of the Year. He was the director of tennis for Rolling Hills Country Club in Golden, Colo., for 30 years, and he has been a USPTA member since 1976.

USPTA Past Presidents

Will Hoag (1997-99)

Will Hoag has been the director of tennis at Coral Ridge Country Club, owned by the Robert Trent Jones family, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., since 1973. He became a member of USPTA in 1972, is a Master Professional, and he was named USPTA Professional of the Year in 2002.

USPTA Past Presidents

Kurt Kamperman (1996-97)

Kurt Kamperman is the USTA’s Chief Executive of the USTA National Campus and he has led the USTA’s efforts to increase tennis participation in the United States. He previously was president of the Tennis Industry Association. Kamperman is a USPTA Master Professional and has been a member for more than 30 years.

USPTA Past Presidents

Kathy Woods (1994-96)

Kathy Woods has the distinguished honor of being the first and only woman to serve the Association as national president. She was the director of tennis at the Racquet Club of St. Petersburg and has been a certified teaching professional for nearly 30 years. In 1996, Woods was honored with the prestigious Educational Merit Award by the International Tennis Association for outstanding service to tennis at the national level.

USPTA Past Presidents

Gordon Collins (1992-94)

Gordon Collins has been a USPTA member since 1976. He served as president of the Northern California Division from 1981-83 and he was the division’s Professional of the Year in 1980, 1981 and 1983. Collins is the tennis director at Bay Club Courtside in Los Gatos, Calif. He also serves as a director on the USTA NorCal Board.

USPTA Past Presidents

Jack Justice (1990-92)

Jack Justice has been a USPTA member since 1969. He also served as president and secretary of USPTA's Southern Division, was on the USTA National Junior Tennis League Committee, and was a USTA clinician and umpire. In 1988, Justice co-authored USPTA's “How to Hire a Tennis Professional,” an employment assistance manual that outlines 10 important steps in the hiring process.

USPTA Past Presidents

Rod Dulany (1988-90)

Rod Dulany became director of tennis at Washington Golf and Country Club in 1972 and served in this capacity for the next 30 years. He was the first Junior Tennis Council Chair for the USTA/Mid-Atlantic Section, and later served as section’s president and delegate to the USTA from 1991-1998. Dulany was president of the USPTA/Mid-Atlantic Division from 1977-1980 and served on the USPTA Executive Committee from 1976-1996 and the national USPTA Board of Directors from 1984-1992. Dulany is a USPTA Master Professional and was named the USPTA Professional of the Year in 1980.

USPTA Past Presidents

Jim Reffkin (1986-88) 

Jim Reffkin has been the director of tennis for the city of Tucson's Parks and Recreation Department and the Reffkin Tennis Center (renamed in his honor in 2009) for 40 years. He was named USPTA Professional of the Year in 1996 and he was inducted into the USTA Southwest Section Hall of Fame in 2005.

USPTA Past Presidents

Mike Eikenberry (1984-86) 

Mike Eikenberry has been a USPTA member for 45 years and was recognized with the George Bacso Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. As president, it was his recommendation that the USPTA look into the use of computers by the national office.

USPTA Past Presidents

Bill Tym (1982-84)

Bill Tym served as USPTA’s executive director from 1975-78 and helped create a standardized certification test. Tym was named USPTA Professional of the Year in 1982, College Coach of the Year in 1989, and Touring Coach of the Year in 1997 and 2002. He also received the George Bacso Lifetime Achievement Award from the USPTA in 2001 and the International Tennis Hall of Fame Tennis Educational Merit Award in 1981. He was inducted into the USPTA Hall of Fame in 2007.

USPTA Past Presidents

Tim Heckler (1980-82)

Tim Heckler was CEO of the USPTA for 30 years, from 1982-2012. Prior to that, he served on the national USPTA executive committee and board of directors. He was named USPTA Professional of the Year in 1979 and a Master Professional. As CEO, Heckler guided the Association through a period in which it increased its membership 5-fold and its annual income 10-fold, established USPTA as the foremost organization of teaching professionals in the world, and revolutionized USPTA's operations through computerization. He was inducted into the USPTA Hall of Fame in 2000.

USPTA Past Presidents

George Bacso (1978-80)

George Bacso was USPTA's Director of Certification and Academies for many years. He traveled the world conducting Certification Exams, Tennis Teachers' Courses, and Certification Training Courses (PTCA I). Bacso was instrumental in developing the current USPTA certification process and worked with the USPTA's national tester network. He also served several years as the president of the USPTA Eastern Division. He received the USTA National Education Merit Award and the national USPTA Professional of the Year Award. Bacso also received the inaugural George Bacso Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998, and he held a Master Professional rating. He was inducted into the USPTA Hall of Fame in 1994.

USPTA Past Presidents

Sheldon Caldwell (1976-78)

Sheldon Caldwell was the “father of ADDvantage Magazine,” which was first published in 1977. As president, his goal was to recruit more members into USPTA, and to improve the way the Association communicated with the members and the industry.

USPTA Past Presidents

Alex Gordon (1976)

Alex Gordon served as president during a very turbulent time in the USPTA’s history. Under his leadership, the board was completely revised and the USPTA began to experience unprecedented growth and progress. As a coach, he was first hired on as head professional at Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego in 1946. He taught there for 10 years, returned in 1960, and remained there until 1976. The San Diego resident passed away during his term as president. The Alex Gordon Professional of the Year award was named in his honor, and he was posthumously inducted into the USPTA Hall of Fame in 2007.

USPTA Past Presidents

Tex Schwab (1975)

Tex Schwab introduced during his presidency the first filing system of membership data, which was recorded on note cards and kept in small cardboard boxes. There were approximately 1,000 members at the time. He was a USPTA member for 42 years.

USPTA Past Presidents

Les Longshore Jr. (1974)

Les Longshore Jr. was a professional tennis player, coach, umpire, English teacher, and distance runner. He was a cofounder of the Southern Professional Tennis Association and the Birmingham Track Club. He ran in every Vulcan Run marathon and completed 37 marathons, the last in 2002 at age 76. He was a USPTA member for 50 years.

.

USPTA Past Presidents

Ted Withall (1973)

Ted Withall has been a USPTA member for 64 years. He is a Master Professional and he served as the Florida Division president in 1967. He founded the H.V. Kaltenborn Junior League in Stony Brook, N.Y. (1958-61) and the Arvida Trophy League, an adult competitive league for clubs from Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (1958-70).

USPTA Past Presidents

Dave Muir (1971-72)

Dave Muir has been a USPTA member for 53 years. In 2015 he received the USPTA George Bacso Lifetime Achievement Award. Muir’s former students now make up a large percentage of teaching professionals currently in Chicago. He has also coached several college national champions and Illinois high school champions. He continues to be an integral part of the local USTA Competition Training Center Program, being a CTC coach for the last 20 years. Muir also served as president of the USPTA Midwest Division, and he was the head coach of the USTA Competition Training Center at Homewood-Flossmoor from 1988-2009.

USPTA Past Presidents

Jack Barnaby (1969-70)

Jack Barnaby was a USPTA member for 47 years. Barnaby was instrumental in the creation of the first USPTA Certification Exam in the mid-1970s. He was the winningest coach in the history of Harvard University, coaching from 1932 to 1976. He was posthumously inducted into the USPTA New England Hall of Fame in 2013. 

USPTA Past Presidents

Milton Phillips (1967-68)

Milton Phillips also served as the Association’s secretary. He was a tennis professional at Schuyler Meadow Club in Loudonville, N.Y.

USPTA Past Presidents

Bill Lufler (1963-66)

Bill Lufler was a collegiate coach at Presbyterian College, the University of Miami, and the University of South Florida. He was the head professional at West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, N.Y., and at the St. Petersburg Tennis Center and Safety Harbor Spa and Resort in Florida. Under his direction as president of the USPTA, the Association adopted stricter admission standards and encouraged better communication among those in the profession. He was a USPTA member for 65 years.

USPTA Past Presidents

Ralph Chambers (1959-61)

Ralph Chambers coached Army Men’s Tennis from 1933 to 1946. In 1965 he received the Joseph D. Deitz Bowl Award. In 2000 was recognized in as the USPTA’s longest serving member – 72 years. 

USPTA Past Presidents

Arthur Condon (1957-58)

Arthur Condon was the professional for Old York Road Country Club in Jenkintown, Pa., and Northeast Harbor Tennis Club in Northeast Harbor, Maine.

USPTA Past Presidents

Thomas Byrne (1955-56)

Thomas Byrne was a USPTA member for 44 years. Prior to serving as national president, he was the Eastern Division’s president from 1954-55. He was the professional at Travers Island, N.Y., for many years.

USPTA Past Presidents

Mercer Beasley (1954)

Mercer Beasley coached at Tulane, Princeton, Lawrenceville School and the University of Miami, and taught tennis at private clubs in Milwaukee, Pasadena and Chicago. In 1933 he authored the book “How to Play Tennis: The Beasley System," a highly influential book that emphasized accuracy and consistent play.

USPTA Past Presidents

George Seewagen (1948-53) (1962-63)

George Seewagen was the only member to serve as president twice. He was the tennis coach at St. John’s University for 49 years. He also was the tennis professional at Jackson Heights Tennis Club and the 7th Regiment Tennis Club, and he coached the ELTA Junior Davis Cup Squad.

USPTA Past Presidents

Frank Rericha (1947)

Frank Rericha served as executive secretary of the association from 1945-1946 before serving as president. He was the tennis professional for Greenwich Country Club in Greenwich, Conn., for many years and then later worked at the Wilmington Country Club.

USPTA Past Presidents

Charles Wood (1942-46)

Charles Wood was a charter member of the PLTA and was the first amateur to turn professional. He played in the first National Professional Tennis Championships in 1927 and won the National Professional doubles title in 1933 and 1936. He was the owner and manager of the Coral Beach Club in Palm Beach, Fla., for many years.

USPTA Past Presidents

James Pressly (1940-41)

James Pressly (1940-41) was the fourth president of the association, and he was a club pro for Jupiter Island Club in Florida and Bedford Golf and Tennis Club in New York for more than 30 years. He was a captain in the U.S. Army during WWII. Before he was a teaching professional, Pressly earned a master’s degree in history from Columbia University. All five of his children played college tennis and two went on to earn national titles.

USPTA Past Presidents

Henry Geidel (1938-39)

Henry Geidel was a charter member and also served as secretary of the Association. He was the tennis and squash coach for the Nassau Country Club on Long Island, where he worked for more than 32 years.

USPTA Past Presidents

Edwin Faulkner (1936-37)

Edwin Faulkner was a charter member of the association and also served as president of the Middle States Division. He coached tennis at Swarthmore College in Delaware County for 41 years. He was named head coach of the Spanish Davis Cup team in 1923, and from 1924 to 1926, he coached the United States to three consecutive Davis Cup victories. 

USPTA Past Presidents

George Agutter (1927-1935)

George Agutter was a charter member and the USPLTA’s first president, serving seven terms. He was a teaching professional at West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills in New York City. He previously worked at the Queen’s Club in London.

USPTA Past Presidents