Executive Directors Message
Update from the USTA Hawaii Pacific Executive Director, Ron Romano
First of all, I hope you are well! Thank you for your support of tennis and thank you for your support of the USTA.
Tennis Survey
A recent Tennis Industry Association (TIA) survey reported that out of dozens of sports and activities, tennis was the 5th fastest growing sport followed by pickleball, the 6th fastest growing sport. Tennis reported 21.6 million players nationwide and pickleball reported 4.2 million players nationwide. The most recent tennis participation survey reported that 10 % of the Hawaii population, or approximately 130,000 people, play tennis on a regular basis.
Local Tennis Participation Results
The Adult League and Junior Team Tennis programs for the first 6 months of 2022, compared to the first 6 months of 2019, are at about 80 % to 85 % capacity. The Play & Learn Program (tennis introductory classes at 17 locations) has exceeded the 2019 participation numbers. Junior Tournament participation in 2022 is far below 2019 because of the following reasons:
Schools are not hosting tournaments
Clubs are not hosting tournaments
Central Oahu Regional Park has not issued any permits this summer because of the resurfacing of 13 courts and damage to 4 courts from pickleball lines
The competition for courts from pickleball and other users has resulted in less permits issued to the USTA
Central Oahu Regional Park (CORP)
We recently applied for and were approved to be the designated organization to “Adopt a Park” at the CORP Tennis Center. Historically we have helped support CORP by donating nets, windscreens, golf carts, squeegees and other equipment and supplies.
As I mentioned, 13 courts have been resurfaced and they are regulation and championship quality courts. 4 courts are temporarily closed due to damage from pickleball lines.
The USTA is concerned because there is talk that the Park and Recreation Department may install pickleball lines on “some” of the tennis courts at CORP. CORP was built with a vision to host state, national, international, college and other tournaments and some of these tournaments can not be played on courts with pickleball lines. We oppose the lining of any of the tennis courts with pickleball lines because we would no longer be able to host certain events that do not allow pickleballs. We have written to the Mayor, the City Council and the Director of Parks and Recreations expressing this viewpoint. We have also requested a meeting with the Mayor and City Council Members to explain this viewpoint and offer other solutions. Please see our “Save our Tennis Courts at CORP” article in this newsletter and please email or call the Mayor if you support our position statement.
For your information, there are 202 tennis courts in Honolulu. To date, the Park and Recreation Department has lined 173 of the 202 courts with pickleball lines
New Board of Directors
We have a new Board of Directors whose term will run from November 2022 to November 2024. There are 16 Board Members with representation from Kauai, Maui, East Hawaii (Big Island) and West Hawaii (Big Island). In addition, there are 5 brand new Board Members who have never served before. The Nominating Committee did an excellent job in selecting a diverse Board in terms of ethnicity, gender, age and expertise. See our September Newsletter where the new Board of Directors are listed.
USTA Hawaii Pacific Tennis Center
We are looking for land to build a USTA Hawaii Pacific Tennis Center. We are looking for 3 to 5 acres on Oahu to buy or lease. The Tennis Center would consist of 10 to 12 courts, a clubhouse with restrooms / locker rooms for men and women, offices, storage and a small stadium court. The Tennis Center would host a variety of tournaments, leagues, college matches, high performance training, introductory classes for youth and adults, to name a few, and it would also serve as an afterschool community center for youth. Please feel free to contact me at romano@hawaii.usta.com or 808-585-9526 if you have any information on a potential location for the Tennis Center.
Challenges
We have all been challenged for the past two and half years as a result of Covid. We are thankfully getting back to “normal” and we are seeing this in our tennis participation numbers. We hope to return to a “new normal”, similar to 2019, in 2023. This is good news!
At the same time, I would be remiss if I didn’t share with you some of our challenges. Our top challenges are:
Tennis Courts: there are less tennis courts, less access to tennis courts and more competition for tennis courts
Staffing: like most industries in Hawaii and across the United States, we are challenged to find workers and fill vacant positions. We are always looking for coaches and officials. Our number one priority is to fill a vacant part time Adult League Coordinator position based on Oahu. If you, or someone you know, is interested please email or call me at romano@hawaii.usta.com or 808-585-9526.
Pickleball: pickleball players are “taking over” tennis courts, lining courts with chalk lines and lining courts with tape that cannot be removed without damaging the courts.
Summary
We want to do a better job communicating to you, our members, and the tennis community at large. We will send you a monthly newsletter with updates and information. Mimi Kennel, our Director of Junior Tennis, will include a monthly update on junior tennis in our monthly newsletter. Please feel free to reach out to Mimi at kennel@hawaii.usta.com if you have any questions or need additional information regarding junior tennis.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me, Mimi or any of our staff with questions, requests for information or anything we can help you with.
Also, our “go to” hub of information is our website. Please go to www.ustahawaii.com for more information and updates.
Thank you again for supporting tennis and the USTA. Thank you for listening and please let us know how we can help you.
Mahalo,
Ron Romano