PRESIDENT’ S MESSAGE Kevin Inn- President In the national tennis scene there are two exciting projects taking place.
First, the US Open is in the midst of a strategic transformation to renovate and update the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The project, which began in 2014, is slated for completion in 2018. In 2014, the USTA completed the west stadium courts and practice gallery. In 2016, in time for the US Open, the roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium will be complete and operational. The new Grandstand stadium court will also be completed. As part of the south campus renovation, a new grandstand will be built and it will connect to Court 17 with a widened walkway. In addition, ten of the field courts will be rebuilt. Lastly, in 2018 the new Louis Armstrong Stadium, with a retractable roof, will be built.
Second, the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida will be the new home of American tennis. The USTA National Campus, a state of the art tennis facility comprised of 100 tennis courts, will feature a mix of hard and clay courts as well as 36 and 60 foot courts and indoor tennis courts. USTA’ s Community Tennis and Player Development divisions will be housed in Orlando. The USTA National Campus is slated to open the fourth quarter of 2016.
In the local tennis scene, the USTA Hawaii Pacific Section continues to promote and develop tennis at all levels.
The year will kick off with the Tennis Championships of Maui and the addition of a $ 50,000 women’ s Challenger accompanying the $ 50,000 men’ s Challenger. The Royal Lahaina Resort on the beach in Ka’ anapali, Maui will host the event for the third year in a row.
Immediately following the Tennis Championships of Maui will be the USA versus Poland Fed Cup in Kona at the Holua Tennis Center. The USTA Hawaii Pacific Section is the organizing group in partnership with the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Holua Tennis Center and the Sheraton Kona. We are thrilled to host the first Fed Cup in the history of Hawaii Tennis. Hawaii will be a great stage for this event. We plan to bid on more events in the near future to include Davis Cup and Fed Cup events.
We continue to dedicate our resources to promote youth tennis with a record number of Play Days, Ten & Under Junior Team Tennis and our signature Play to Learn Tennis Program. The Play to Learn Tennis Program has been adopted by other Sections, like Pacific Northwest, so it continues to be a model of success in growing participation for both youth and adults.
Mahalo, Kevin Inn, President USTA Hawaii Pacific Section
2015- 2017 Board of Directors
Back Row( from left to right): Ron Romano, Walter Wong, Ray Hasegawa, Franklin Chee, Russell Lum, Kevin Inn, Dan Miyamoto, Vince Baldemor, David Lam. Front Row( from left to right): Josh Potterton, Betsy Purpura, Ann Miller, Kris Oyama, Chris Scharein, Windy Cummings, Donna Ede, Shari Fujita, Nick Yamasaki.( missing: Pom Luxton)
2 Hawaii Pacific Yearbook 2016