Eight Earn USPTA Master Professional Status
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Poornima S. Rimm
3535 Briarpark Drive, Suite One
Houston,
(713) 978-7782
pr@uspta.org
10/05/05 - Eight tennis professionals recently earned recognition as Master Professionals in the United States Professional Tennis Association, the highest professional rating within the tennis profession. They are:
• Fred Burdick, Dalton, Ga. – owner/director of Mountain View Tennis
• Jeff Hawes, Gibsonville, N.C. – tennis director at Alamance Country Club
• Will Hoag, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – director of tennis at Coral Ridge Country Club
• Dan O’Connell, Nadi, Fiji, South Pacific – International Tennis Federation development officer, Pacific Oceania
• Albert “Allie” Ritzenberg, Bethesda, Md. – founder/director of St. Alban’s Tennis Club
• Paul Roetert, Ph.D., Key Biscayne, Fla. – managing director of USA Tennis High Performance
• Pat Whitworth, Stone Mountain, Ga. – director of tennis at Hamilton Mill
• David Zeutas-Broer, Worcester, Mass. – director of high performance and junior competition for USTA New England Section
Only about 1 percent of USPTA’s more than 13,000 members worldwide have achieved the Master Professional designation. The eight were recognized Sept. 23 during an awards presentation at the 78th World Conference on Tennis at the Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa in Marco Island, Fla.
Members must hold USPTA’s highest certification rating (Professional 1) for more than 10 years before becoming eligible for the Master Professional designation. Then, each must fulfill a broad spectrum of requirements, including making significant achievements in areas such as tennis teaching and coaching, business, education and volunteer work.
“Earning Master Professional designation takes years of dedication to the tennis profession and to sharing knowledge about the sport with others,” said USPTA CEO Tim Heckler. “It is not a singular accomplishment, but recognition of the broader, notable success of a tennis professional.”
Biographies of the eight new Master Professionals follow.
Founded in 1927, USPTA 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 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 www.uspta.com.
Biographies:
Fred Burdick, Dalton, Ga.
Fred Burdick has 33 years of tennis-teaching experience, and now is the owner/director of Mountain View Tennis in Dalton, Ga. He also is executive director of the USPTA Southern Division. Burdick, a United States Marine Corps veteran, has served USPTA as a divisional leader, including Southern Division president, and on national committees, including the nominating committee. He has twice received the Southern Division’s Pride of the South award, 15 years apart.
Jeff Hawes, Gibsonville, N.C.
Jeff Hawes is tennis director at Alamance Country Club in Burlington, N.C., where he also owns and operates the tennis pro shop. He is first vice president of the USPTA Southern Division. In 1995, Hawes earned a master’s degree in health/physical education from Tennessee Technological University, where he was assistant tennis coach. He has been named professional of the year by the USPTA Southern and Missouri Valley divisions, and also has been recognized for his community service.
Will Hoag, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Will Hoag is director of tennis at Coral Ridge Country Club in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he began teaching tennis more than 30 years ago. He is a former president of the Florida Division and was selected Florida’s Professional of the Year three times. In 1989, he began his service on the national USPTA Board of Directors, and was president from 1997-99. He has coached top players, hosted large fund-raisers and run national tournaments. Hoag was the 2002 USPTA Professional of the Year.
Dan O’Connell, Nadi, Fiji, South Pacific
Dan O’Connell has been development officer, Pacific Oceania, for the International Tennis Federation since 1991. After receiving a master’s degree in physical education from Bemidji State University (Minnesota) in 1976, he left the United States to begin work as national tennis coach of the Kingdom of Lesotho, Africa, for the United States Peace Corps. He also has served as director of the Academics for African Athletes, which helps find scholarships for student-athletes from Africa and Oceania in United States universities.
Albert “Allie” Ritzenberg, Bethesda, Md.
Allie Ritzenberg founded the St. Alban’s Tennis Club in Washington, D.C., in 1942 and has continued as its director. His autobiography, Capital Tennis, includes personal glimpses of Washington insiders, including presidents and cabinet members. Also, as a player or organizer, he was involved in exhibitions and tournaments with great players including Althea Gibson, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall. Ritzenberg, a World War II veteran, has maintained his own high status as a player, and was ITF’s
No. 1 player in 85 singles in 2003. He is a 53-year member of USPTA.
Paul Roetert, Ph.D., Key Biscayne, Fla.
Paul Roetert is managing director of USA Tennis High Performance in Key Biscayne, Fla., where his responsibilities include oversight of USTA’s junior competition, coaching education and sport science, and men’s and women’s tennis departments. Roetert, who earned a doctorate in biomechanics from the University of Connecticut in 1990, is the coauthor of two books related to sport science and tennis, and has written chapters for three other such books. He is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine and national board of advisers for the Harvard/Smithsonian Institute.
Pat Whitworth, Stone Mountain, Ga.
Pat Whitworth has been a tennis professional in Georgia since 1979, where he’s now the director of tennis at Hamilton Mill in Dacula. He is the regional vice president and immediate past president of the USPTA Southern Division and was the 2001 USPTA Southern Professional of the Year. Whitworth has been involved with computers for more than 20 years, and often speaks about using technology in the tennis business.
David Zeutas-Broer, Worcester, Mass.
Zeutas-Broer has more than 20 years of coaching and teaching experience in the tennis industry, including as club professional, college coach, founder of a holistic training program for tournament juniors, parks and recreation tennis program director and more. He has served his USTA section for more than 10 years and the USPTA New England Division since 1977. He has been named the USPTA New England Division coach of the year twice and professional of the year in 2004. Currently, Zeutas-Broer directs high performance and junior competition for the USTA New England Section.
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