Beyond The Baselines

Wick Simmons, former CEO of NASDAQ and Chairman of The Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport, Joins The Podcast

Hardwick Simmons has been in the financial world for over 45 years. He's played tennis since the age of 8 and the first job he held was rolling courts at his beloved club in Marion, MA. He still plays tennis there at the club and remains active in finance and the business world. Just how did this Wall Street financier combine his work life with his love of tennis and help to bring the ATP to fruition and the WTA major growth? Find out as he joins the BTB Podcast.

Wick Simmons, former CEO of NASDAQ and Prudential and Chairman of the Board at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport, RI

Wick, as he's better known in the industry, has run or been a part of executive searches for international firms including Prudential, NASDAQ, Shearson Lehman Brothers and American Express where he served as CEO or President, as well as Lionsgate Films and Groton School. But with tennis his first sport and love, he's also one of the leading search consultants in the tennis world and was in charge of the search for Newport's International Tennis Hall of Fame, where he also served as Chairman of the Board. Wick hired Todd Martin and both he and Todd have never looked back.

Wick was there at the birth of the ATP Tour with friend and business associate Butch Buchholz. Wick later brought full sponsorship to the "fifth major" while he served as CEO of NASDAQ. Wick was also instrumental in the growth of the WTA, as personal friend Larry Scott asked for advice and support in 2003 when he ascended to CEO at the WTA. Together they added major sponsorship through the relationship with Sony Ericsson.

A CEO's Secrets To Finding The Right Candidate In Tennis and Finance

In terms of running a search in the tennis world, "it all starts with the quality of the pool of candidates, which is the hardest part," says Wick. "I think the key to any search is to find someone who culturally matches up with what you're representing. That fit is extremely important to start. That first year and a half or two years is what's critical, and if you've made the right fit, it doesn't always work perfectly, but nonetheless both sides find a way to make it work."

Reflecting back on his tenure at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Wick says there was an ulterior motive in hiring Todd Martin in 2014. "The Hall Of Fame really rests on the laurels of the members who are in it. At that time, what we didn't have was the support needed from the current handful of players. What the Hall needed was someone who could reach out to the younger, more current players.

Wick has found a similar issue not only at the Hall of Fame, where he stepped down and said he wouldn't remain on the board after several years, but at clubs and major firms at which he has worked across the nation, either as a board member or consultant. "It's so often that clubs or organizations stick with leadership far longer than they should." He discusses how programming can get old, and that boards must look at themselves and re-evaluate the needs of the club and review often the administrative leadership.

Hints For Today's Job Seekers

"Find something you're really interested in and pay your dues at the start and see what doors open for you." Wick looks back at his career, proud of his work and the legacy he has left at some of Wall Street's major firms. Commenting on the past year, Wick believes Wall Street firms will return to a new normality with office hours back on the cards. Working from home all the time, he believes, creates issues and many have found it more difficult than we are realizing at this time.

Harking back to JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country," Simmons points to the major difference between when he began his career in the workplace and today's millennials, looking to be hired. "It used to be make your workplace better before you left, but now it's more of make me better before I leave," says Simmons.

Wick took up golf at the young age of 65, but still finds tennis his number one sport. He sees growth from all ages and socio-economic demographics for tennis across the globe. "It's a great game. I love it. It's a life-time game and I hope people love it as much as I do."

Chris Gale, Director of Tennis at River Oaks Country Club, joins the BeyondTheBaselines.com and our "From The Desk of The Director" Podcast Series

From his Australian birth, to the roots he set in New York, through to his work at some of the most elite New England Clubs, Chris Gale now finds himself at the esteemed River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas. Chris discusses how his personal growth and business experience in the industry allowed him to follow his path to a club with 4,500 members and 15 teaching professionals.

River Oaks, with a net asset value of close to $50 million and an annual turnover hovering at $35 million, is a behemoth among clubs. Chris manages the 16-court facility, which sees all courts booked at the ungodly hour of 6am almost every morning. He shares with us a few insights just as to how he built a well-oiled machine through staffing, member communication, and simply, energy.

Although Chris loves to be on the court, he realizes the importance of the administrative and business-side of the role and discusses the evolution of the Director of Tennis position. "When on court, ensure it's not just private lessons!" He looks to the future of the Director of Tennis position and notes that it has morphed in reality to a Director of Racquets. He believes soon that it could be called the CEO of the Racquets Department - a chief executive officer in the office and an instructional leader on the court.

In offering advice to up and coming professionals and guiding club boards and search committees, Chris says the number one characteristic, which is a recurring theme, is that a good professional and future director should be able to listen and learn. Having a mentor is inspirational and educational, and even just hashing out an issue with one's mentor makes for a better, wiser, and more disciplined leader. His second bit of advice? Whether at a seasonal or year-round club, "never let your guard down."

Leadership again is a current theme and Chris's leadership at all his positions, from his fragile start straight off a boat from Australia, to now leading one of the finest and most comprehensive programs in the country, is clearly evident and truly remarkable. He rotates his professionals so they don't burn out, he offers on-property mentoring and continuing education, and he looks to communicate better each day with both his equity members and staff.

Chris earned his stripes long before River Oaks Country Club. While at The Dunes Club in Narragansett, Rhode Island and at the Duxbury Yacht Club on the Massachusetts's coast about an hour outside Boston, Chris made two of New England’s finest clubs destinations where memories were created and summers full of fun and great tennis. And then instead of teaching "how to poach" on the doubles court in Duxbury, he got poached by the Texans. Here's the story.

Michael Morrison literally sees it all - from first serves to the longest drive. Having worked all the major tennis and golf tournaments and events such as the Olympics, Michael has a finger on the pulse of the ATP and WTA Tour like no other person. He monitors each golf and tennis major from the first tee off and first serve to the final putt or winning championship point. Serving the broadcast and sporting industries for over a dozen years, Michael has found a niche combining software development, stats and video production. And now he let's us in on some of the industry trade secrets.

Michael, himself an avid tennis player, believes the advent of computerized line-calling will change the face of junior tennis and recreational umpiring across the globe. "These line umpires work the juniors and more minor events so they get the call up to majors," says Morrison. "It's sad, but that is just not going to be the case in a matter of a year or two."

With three companies now vying for the line calling business across the ITF, ATP, WTA and the rest of tennis across the globe, Morrison believes that it will bring to an end the era of the linesperson not only at the majors and tour events, but it could affect the umpires at local events. Without the enticing possibility of heading to a major championship, umpires are most likely not going to serve nearly as often across local tournaments.

The Biggest Changes On The Men's And Women's Tennis Tour

Morrison, who works as an independent contractor reporting to ESPN and CBS Sports, is at every major tennis tournament from The US Open and Wimbledon to The Australian and Indian Wells. He believes that the athleticism of today's male professionals sets them apart from the players of the 80s and the 90s. On the women's side, he notes that the power game is now essential.

The End Of The Line Umpire

With technology taking over the line calling, Morrison also believes that the serve clock will become further entrenched and standardized across the majors and the tours. With television viewers asking for quicker matches, the serve clock is here to stay.

What Will The Golf and Tennis Tours Be Like Post Covid?

More dramatic! Without the crowds at Augusta this past month, Morrison says that Amen Corner was hushed and anti-climatic. The crowds will return and with them so will the crowd noise and the true fans of both tennis and golf. What might never return are the ball kids fetching Rafa Nadal's towel!

Have a listen to our chat with one of the most-travelled sports producers in the world and find out why the line umpire will be only seen by the next generation of players and tennis lovers through photography and art and how that might make Novak Djokovic's 2021 a little easier.

by Ed Shanaphy, USPTA, PTR

It's the age old question: What should be a tennis professional's compensation? Is your club paying too much for that junior tennis instructor, that Pilates instructor, or is your department head at tennis or fitness leaving annually because the compensation package is just too low for your region?

There are so many ways to slice a pie, there seems to be no clear industry standard as to what a "regular" compensation package should be for an instructor or a Director of Tennis or Fitness. With on-court revenue splits, independent contractor versus employee status, and with non-profit 501(c)7 clubs competing within the same personnel talent pool against for-profit clubs and corporations, the question will forever be at the forefront of our industry when hiring that new staff member.

What Is The Role Worth To The Club And Its Membership?

Perhaps the first question we should ask when looking at this issue is the following: What does the club and its governors think the actual director's job is worth? When considering this point of view, take into account the region, the size of the club and its membership, the revenue of the program over the past several years, and get comps. By comps we mean just that - you don't buy a house without investigating comparable houses and their selling points in the area. We should do the same in terms of filling a Director of Tennis or Fitness position. Call the other clubs in the area, and find out how they have compensated their department head and look at their program size and membership numbers at the same time.

Two things about garnering comps. Remember that your department head should be more of an administrative position at your club than an instructor. Instructors are on a different pay scale. What do marketing managers and marketing directors at similar roles make in the area? If a talented director, he or she could take one of those roles as well. And also note that not all clubs are non-profits. The compensation package for a director of tennis for Club Corp, a Dallas, Texas company which owns over 200 clubs across the nation, will be severely different from a non-profit country club in one region. Club Corp looks at their centralized budget, costs and purchasing in Dallas which affects their compensation package while filling a position, say, in Riverwoods, IL.

How Much Control Does The Club Require Over Its Director?

How much control do you desire as a club over your Tennis or Fitness Director? This answer will dictate whether, in some respects, you have your department head as a contracted employee of the club or serving as an independent contractor to the club. In some instances, your hire will make this decision for you and will demand to be one or the other, if given a choice.

Another variable is the cost basis of the position to the club? Is the club offering benefits, such as a 401k retirment plan, health and dental coverage, and life insurance to key department heads that work year-round? For seasonal clubs, is the position requiring housing that is paid, as a benefit in kind whether as an independent contractor or employee, on behalf of the worker by the club? This is all part of the compensation package and should be considered part of the entire employee's cost to the club.

What Percentage Of On Court Or On Floor Revenues Should The Club Retain?

Percentages retained by the club in the first instance with Directors of Tennis and Fitness have forever been under scrutiny. Again, the club must look at the costs associated with the role and the department as a whole. The philosophy of the club plays a roll here as well. Does the club's governing body expect a department to be profitable, break even, or operate at a loss annually? Will the management slice of some of the funds paid by members as annual dues to cover the operating loss of a department or do they expect that department to run at break-even or at a small profit? If a golf club as well, which sport is the dominant revenue stream? And if a tennis only club, well then the tennis department can't outspend the dues and new member initiation fees.

If you don't worry about the nickels, the dollars will follow."Former Director of Tennis at a New England Country Club

In retaining percentages of on-court revenues, clubs also need to look at the cost difference between an independent contractor and an employee, which are significant, not only in terms of employer taxes, but also in terms of liability. Independent contractors must provide their own liability insurance, workers' compensation, housing, and tools for the trade (i.e. balls, hoppers, equipment,) and must complete their own schedules, bookings, and billings - deducting these costs from the club's operating costs. Therefore, in most cases, percentages retained by the club tend to be significantly lower in terms of appointing an independent contractor than when hiring an employee, due to lower costs associated with a contractor.

Leave Room To Incentivize Your Assistant Instructors

What percentages should the club retain from Directors of Tennis and Fitness? And how much should an instructor on the floor or the clay received for privates and group classes?

Whether on the gym floor or on the tennis court, one item that we find occurs too often - clubs leave little room for staff after the Director's cut. For example, say a lesson is for argument's sake $100 gross revenue. If the Director is an employee, say the club keeps 25 percent. That leaves $75 for the assistant and the director to split. To keep good instructors, those instructors should feel valued. Leaving an instructor with perhaps just 50 percent of the revenue while on court or on the gym floor might be disheartening. However, if the director takes 25 percent, that leaves just 50 percent or $50 to the instructor. We believe that 60 percent is a good starting point for the assistant professional on private lessons.

As that assistant gains popularity with the membership, the percentage basis can be transferred over perhaps in the second year to clinic revenue on that assistant's court. Rather than pay a straight $50 for an hour teaching a clinic, if the revenue of the court is $150 (6 members paying $25 each) then the assistant can realize $75 if paid 50 percent per hour teaching clinics. The club's compensation package has created an incentivized assistant teaching clinics and has incentivized that assistant to fill the clinic courts.

Let's look at this in the bigger picture. If that clinic revenue is across three courts of 6 members each, that is $450 total revenue. With club retention of 25 percent, that's $112.50 to the club. If the Director is teaching one court and has two professionals at $75 each on the two other courts, that is a total cost of $262.50, leaving just $187.50 to the Director, or 41 percent. That's not bad for just one hour.

But here's where retaining great instructors through compensation and cutting retained percentages on private lessons can pay dividends to the club and the director. Let's say that three great instructors go out and teach that clinic, leaving the Director to teach an hour's lesson at the same time. Well, the same $112.50 goes to the club for the three clinic courts, the cost of the clinic instruction is $225 across the three instructors, leaving the Director just $112.50. But if the club, which has given, say, a better percentage of 90% to the director on private instruction, then the director is making $112.50 plus $90 on the private for a total of $202.50 for the hour. Over $200 per hour is a good rate no matter what business you might be in. Ah, you might say the Director is down $25 on the original example. Yes. But, and here's the club's real saving, the Director has saved an hour of time on court for that private lesson. Rather than spending two hours in the cage of the tennis court teaching the clinic and the private, the director is spending only one hour on court, leaving more time for administrative tasks and membership services. The instructors are all making more, the director is making more per hour and the club is retaining more. It's a win, win, win.

Conclusion

A wise director once said to me: "If you don't worry about the nickels, the dollars will follow." He's right. Each club has its own identity and ethos, and each club has different costs and motivations for profit in comparison to member services. But, either way, if you work on programming and incentivizing staff, the dollars will follow.

Far too often we hear "Our director is overpaid." This is a broad brush stroke. What's the market place? Has the club checked comparable positions at surrounding clubs? Is the director mostly on the court or is he or she mainly administrative? If mainly on the court or gym floor, could it be that the salary is too low and the club is forcing the director to teach? If mainly off the court or gym floor and there is little programming, could it be that the stipend or salary is too high and has de-incentivized the director to push the boundaries and create more programming?

The adage "You get what you pay for" holds true in tennis and fitness. Compensation can make or break any role in tennis or fitness. Ensuring that it is comparable with the experience of the candidate or employee, compares favorable with other similar roles in the region, and is offered in an honest and trustworthy nature, compensation should be highly researched and logically produced. Compensation should add to the productivity of your professional or instructor by motivating their role through pinpointing areas that the club or facility feel are worthy of growth and attention.

Ed Shanaphy, former CEO of Haysbridge (UK) Ltd, a global marketing conglomerate with head offices in London, is President of SBW Associates, Inc and BeyondTheBaselines.com. He earned his B.A....

Author and outstanding player Judy Aydelott recounts the many places she and her husband, Gordon, have played and the people they have met through tennis in the half-century of playing as top amatuers in the nation. From the national husband/wife tournament to raising two daughters, both of whom are outstanding athletes, Judy takes us from the beginning of the family's love of tennis, to the courts of Waccabuc Country Club, to the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow.

Judy and Gordon Aydelott on tour.

After years of people saying "You should write a book" - well, Judy did just that. Judy put pen to paper after interviewing her "heroes" who include former Mayor David Dinkins, USTA President Katrina Adams and American spy the late Fred Kovaleski. Judy's book "The Sport Of A Lifetime" is a wonderful tour of tennis and our country through the game's lens over the last 50 years. These are the players and people in our sport, all of whom are a part of Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation.

https://www.amazon.com/Sport-Lifetime-Enduring-Personal-Stories/dp/1937559645/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+sport+of+a+lifetime+judy+aydelott&qid=1602935178&sr=8-1

Judy Aydelott's interviews make for a wonderful read into the history of tennis and those who made special parts of the sport their very own.

Judy's theme through the book revolved around how tennis was a part of peoples' lives through world conflict and immigration combined with service to America through either the military or intelligence, political office, or volunteer work. Throughout the book there is a civility in the heroes she interviews, a civility that today's younger generation has not fully experienced. We can only hope that they will in years to come.

Enjoy this interview with the interviewer, Judy Aydelott. a pioneer of women's tennis emanating from Northern Westchester County, New York, who made her mark across the country through her playing, and more recently, through her writing.

Emma Doyle is one of the world's leading tennis coaches. But she is also finding that her role as a coach provides her insights into her clients inner selves, Tennis mirrors life and Emma finds that females are more empathetic than their male counterparts.

Dave Fish, former coach of the Harvard Men's Team, joins us and reflects brilliantly on how the changes we are seeing in society at present can be traced in almost direct parallel through the development of the game of tennis in America and the establishment of the Davis Cup. He then looks across the Covid-19 issue and societal pressures and forms what he sees might be a new paradigm in local, national and international tennis.

"Never Let A Good Crisis Go To Waste"

Dave puts in perspective, by referring back to the 1960s and 70s and how his collegiate career progressed, how tennis and role models helped to maintain his goals and moral views as society questioned itself, much like today.

Dave believes that Covid could positively and significantly change the face of tennis, from collegiate tennis through to junior tennis and even at the professional level. He sees a future that is much more "localized" through UTR, rather than chasing points through certain age categories. Funds might not be as available, in the near term, to juniors following Covid. The former Harvard coach sees a possibility in which a refocusing on player development in the coming years might bring success to American tennis again.

Through the Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) program, Dave believes tennis will also be further "localized" - with tournaments across all age groups based on ability, not age. More local play will be a part of the future picture of competitive tennis, from juniors all the way through to the professional leve.

Dave discusses the NCAA rules and how they may come to affect decisions by junior tennis players in which some juniors are more than ever repeating 8th grade. This "gap" year then allows American junior players to compete with older European players who are participating at higher and higher rates in college tennis. Communication at the right time and through the appropriate avenues by a junior to a college coach is crucial for both the player and the coach, Dave points out, as they work through the recruiting process.

And, having spent over 40 years as head coach at Harvard, how would Dave approach a parent and junior player who might ask: "I won't develop as much at college as I will on a pro tour... you might just keep me at number 5 for all four years."

Dave's biggest challenge as a coach? Well, it wasn't getting James Blake on to the tour. Have a listen and find out what made Dave Fish one of the greatest tennis coaches in NCAA history.

As a business owner and leader in our industry, Kalindi Dinoffer has led the industry not only with training aids and creation of tools for teaching professionals, but also in marketing. Kalindi's efforts in marketing her brand both at national industry conferences, through social media and video presentations have introduced her as a leader in our industry.

As Kalindi starts to mix and dabble with mindfulness and combining that in her life and business with her tennis following an injury-prone career of competitive tennis, she takes us on a journey through training, meditation and marketing.

Discussing who served as her mentors and role models, Kalindi looks at her exposure as a junior player and while in college, not just on the courts but, like her company's name, off the court as well where her Spanish professor and then an Italian professor at the business school, Kalindi speaks about her experiences growing up in the business. She discusses why she thinks the golf industry and the PGA are leaders in the leisure industries and why we, in the tennis industry, follow their lead.

Kalindi's latest achievement is the creation of a 5-day Virtual Symposium, starting July 13th. Given the restrictions that Covid-19 has placed on our industry, Kalindi along with inspirational speaker and tennis coach, Emma Doyle, have put together a panel of phenomenal speakers from across the tennis industry. With three interactive sessions daily, this is one event not to miss.

Kalindi's business for tennis and pickleball and more is at OnCourt, OffCourt and you can reach her any time at her email: [email protected]

You may visit her website at www.oncourtoffcourt.com

Director of Junior Tennis Christen Zawatsky discusses working in tennis as a female for a female director and why she doesn't like to coach ladies club teams.

A National Town Hall discussing restructuring staff at country clubs as facilities reopen amid Covid-19