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 pro...