USTA Eastern Welcomes In Members From All Regions For Annual Eastern Tennis Conference

Each year, the USTA Eastern Section brings together the members and industry leaders from all of its regions for the Eastern Tennis Conference, an all-encompassing weekend that features everything from workshops and clinics, to an awards dinner that honors those who made significant contributions to tennis in our Section.

This year’s event was held at the Saw Mill Club in Mt. Kisco, and provided invaluable experiences for all who attended.

“We were thrilled with how the weekend went,” said Jenny Schnitzer, USTA Eastern Executive Director & CEO. “First and foremost, we are very grateful to the team at the Saw Mill Club for their support in hosting our conference. When you are managing so many moving parts as you are with an event like this, it helps to work with partners who are as invested in the outcome as you are. This event was a massive success in large part due to their warmth in welcoming us and willingness to go above and beyond as the weekend unfolded.”

That welcoming nature went a long way, and with the Conference being held at a centrally-located venue in the Section, it made for a better experience for all the attendees.

“We enjoyed holding the conference at a local tennis facility in our Section for the first time, and many of our attendees agreed considering the feedback we received,” Schnitzer added. “Given the venue we were able to develop a strong schedule that featured more on-court sessions, always the most-highly-rated sessions of our conference.”

Those sessions included a variety of topic including PTR-certified instructor Mauricio Doria Medina emphasizing the return of serve; Somadi Druker and Bob Bynum (college tennis), Jackie Clark (high school tennis), and Martin Miedzowicz (USTA and inter-club teams) talking about the power of collaboration, accountability and mutual support in building cohesive teams; and USTA Eastern Director of Adult Competition Susan Friedlaender and several adult league coordinators answering all questions related to Adult League Tennis.

On Friday night, a ceremonial dinner was held as USTA Eastern honors those who have made remarkable contributions toward growing and promoting tennis at the grassroots level.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the inclusion of one of the best American tennis players of the last 30 years in John Isner, who was the keynote speaker, plus former Eastern standout and Top 150-ranked tour professional Noah Rubin. Both of them provided the attendees with insights from their playing careers with Isner providing an on-court workshop, as well as the two sitting down for a in-depth conversation to discuss an array of topics.

“John and Noah added immense value to the event. John is an absolute pro and we honestly can’t thank him enough. He was unbelievably generous with his time—leading three sessions, posing for photos with all of our annual award recipients, and even playing a little red ball tennis with our guests,” Schnitzer said. ‘And we couldn’t be prouder of Noah, who incidentally was one of our junior sportsmanship winners back when he was a young player in our Section. We’re so grateful that he was able to come out to interview John in our final session of the conference. He did such a fantastic job. One of my favorite moments of the entire weekend was when these two accomplished pro players reminisced about the time Noah’s shoes exploded on court while they were playing a match in Washington, D.C. You always hope that the people you bring in to lead sessions will really engage and delight your audience, and these two really delivered on that front.”

The weekend proved to be a huge success, and with tennis continuing to grow both nationally and in the Eastern Section specifically, the Conference was the ideal springboard for what should be another great year of tennis here.

“We were thrilled to bring together providers from all across the Section to not only share ideas about how we can continue to grow, but also to celebrate them for everything they’ve already achieved,” Schnitzer concluded.