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The United States Tennis Association recently announced the formation of a new Player Development Advisory Council (PDAC) filled with a range of experts to provide input on how the USTA can best enhance and optimize its support for high-performance American players at all levels of the sport.

The PDAC’s initial members include current and former players, parents, coaches, USTA Section leaders, and tournament operators who will serve as a sounding board for USTA leadership and its Player Development team.

“America sits in a very strong position today, both at the professional and junior levels; a position not seen since the early 2000’s. By giving a formal voice to a diverse breadth of viewpoints, we have an opportunity to build on that success,” said Lew Sherr, CEO and Executive Director, USTA. “Eliciting candid assessments and strategic input from experts around the tennis ecosystem benefits everyone and ensures that we deliver the best possible developmental and competitive pathway we can to practically and effectively support elite American athletes as they work to reach their fullest potential.”

Drawing on each participant’s diverse knowledge, experiences, and perspectives, the PDAC’s input and recommendations are expected to touch on a range of topics, including the pro circuit structure, junior competitive pathway, strength and conditioning needs, facility requirements, sports science, coaching, measurement of overall effectiveness, and success tracking metrics, among other topics.

Initial members of the PDAC include:

• Chris Boyer: Chief Marketing Officer of Good Solutions Group, Inc.; USTA Southern California Board Vice President; Committee Chair of the SoCal Pro Series (part of the USTA Pro Circuit); pro player parent
• Bob Bryan: Former world No. 1 professional doubles player; U.S. Davis Cup Team Captain
• Jim Courier: Former world No. 1 professional singles player; former U.S. Davis Cup Team Captain; International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee
• Lindsay Davenport: Former world No. 1 professional singles and doubles player; U.S. Billie Jean King Cup Team Captain; International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee; junior player parent
• Chris Eubanks: Current professional player and former Division I player at Georgia Tech
• Mary Joe Fernandez: Former world No. 4 professional singles and doubles player; former U.S. Billie Jean King Cup Team Captain; 2012 Olympic Team USA Women’s Tennis Coach; collegiate player parent
• Madison Keys: Current professional player
• Dana Mathewson: Current professional wheelchair player
• Ben Navarro: Entrepreneur and philanthropist; parent of former University of Virginia star and current pro player Emma Navarro; founder of Beemok Capital, which owns the combined ATP and WTA Cincinnati Open and the WTA’s Credit One Charleston Open
• Kurt Palmer: Chief Investment Officer of Beemok Capital; former collegiate tennis player
• Jessica Pegula: Current professional player
• Walter Porter: Principal, Deloitte Consulting; former college tennis player at Hampton University
• Michael Russell: Professional coach (Taylor Fritz); former professional player
• Bryan Shelton: Former head coach of Georgia Tech women’s tennis team and University of Florida men’s tennis team; former professional singles and doubles player; parent of former Florida star and current professional Ben Shelton.

Ben Navarro and Kurt Palmer have agreed to serve as co-chairman of the council and lead the PDAC’s initial assessment phase, which will be used to gather and shape PDAC members’ input into a series of recommendations to the USTA before the end of the year.

“This council is a strong testament to the USTA’s dedication to player development and to sourcing ideas and points of view from a diverse group to optimize an athlete’s high-performance pathway,” Navarro said. “With my combined background in business and as a father of a top American professional player who navigated the pathways through junior, collegiate and professional tennis, I look forward to sharing these experiences with the impressive tennis leaders assembled by the USTA to identify best practices in cultivating and supporting generations of American tennis talent.”

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About Rhiannon Potkey

Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories. Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches. Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You can reach Rhiannon by email at [email protected].