Many readers ask me if I could do a podcast because they would love to listen to what I have to say as they sometimes don't have time to read. I will be following up this article with a podcast later in the week. As you all know I find the USTA to be inept, corrupt and mismanaged for the past few decades. The result of such incompetence is only 100K kids playing, only 310K adults and a sad PR machine from the USTA that claims we have millions of kids playing and the 990 IRS document shows a pathetic number of members.

So, that means they lie to us, the public, in our face and the leaders feel no ethical or moral obligation to correct the false record. So, I decided to further showcase to the interested public a deal that they would like to keep under wraps and over your head.

Imagine if I went to the USTA and said, I got a deal of an event for you, here it is:

• We establish it in the UK so we pay fewer taxes.
• It will be a global event that comes to the USA for three days once every three or four years and in a year that there is an Olympics it will jump two years.
• We only own 20%, yet we fork $6M on a $30M valuation that Mr. Wonderful (Shark Tank) would laugh at you if you suggested such a bad deal. In the coming years, you could say that we invested $6M over a three year period so they play in the US for 1 day every year.
• We would ignore the IRS rules in the country, that forbid for-profit ventures that steer away from the mission, remember this venture is for profit and risk our nonprofit status being removed, but who cares.
• We will ignore that viewership in the US is mature and on average 65+ years, we will also ignore that the Tennis Channel never made money and was sold as a financial credit for its mature audiences.
• We will claim it is for the benefit of the sport and ignore that the Davis cup has changed its format.
• We will call it THE LAVER CUP, and charge for the event per ticket between $1900-$7500 for the average viewer.

If this does not make you want to throw up what does? The mission of the USTA is to grow the game and this does absolutely nothing competent to grow the game.

• When was the last time that the USTA INVESTED in the grassroots, $6M for three days?
• Why not have lower prices for tournaments so more kids can play and not have to pay $50.00 per tournament.
• Why not give loans to facilities and coaches to help them grow their programs and give scholarships.
• Why not fix the fact that most sections spend in overhead almost all the money they receive from USTA and allocate the money to coaches in the thousands of zip codes that need help? Florida, my section receives $3M and spends $3M in overhead. No one at leadership cares to fix this.
• Why not have free tennis under a well thought out program so we can
  Increase participation everywhere especially in high schools. $6M would help thousands of high schools in thousands of zip codes.
• Why not change once and for all the system that subtracts players instead of adding players.
• Why not police the outrageous travel expenses of all sections and make sure the money ends up in the kids/coaches hands not as resort fees.
• Why not develop a parks program that can be financed by the USTA?
• Why not help talented kids from poor families have a clear path to scholarships, so they know there is s scholarship for them if they grow with the game.
• Why do we need sections that don't grow the game or fund anything?
• Why not be transparent and show the real numbers rather than hide them from the actual customers of the game?
• For those who say that the USTA does community work, remember this: they fund the foundation with 1% of revenues from US Open and its only half of its budget. The other half they get from fundraising. So, they basically give nothing.

As you can see by their own actions and not my opinion the board and management are incapable of thinking what to do next and all they do is protect their positions and petty benefits. A shame to nonprofits, leadership, and management.

My vision is very clear and opposite of the USTA's. I believe that such a well-funded organization has a social and moral responsibility to society and that it should through the proper allocation of its vast resources help grow the game and make society a better place by having tennis kids all over this country from all walks of life experience the joy that is getting to be competent in such a hard sport. I want champions of life in every single zip code of this nation, I do not want a US Open winner or champion. I want leagues filled with players, kids in parks and coaches and clubs with healthy businesses. I want tennis to be the first choice for any high school kid.

I urge everyone who reads this to stop and take stock of how truly inept is the management of the USTA. Remember, the cost of fixing this level of ineptitude may be bigger than our ability to pay. Please, America, wake up, please stand up to this level of corrupt behavior. Demand transparency, ask for more money from the USTA if they use your clubs, stop the scam, for your business sake and for the sports sake. Take a stand.

"I say no to ineptitude and yes to growing the game"
I can be reached at @palenquej or jpalenque@yahoo.com

We were writing about Javier Palenque and his crusade for changes at the USTA in January, 2018 (Florida Man Wants Answers - Javier Palenque vs. the USTA or David vs. Goliath All Over Again), in March, 2018 (USTA: Everything Has To Change), and in April (My Twitter Account Has Just Been Blocked.) Javier Palenque grew up in privileged surroundings in Bolivia, went to private school and played tennis at an exclusive Country Club. Problem was, he absolutely didn't like those privileges. Didn't like to live in a country with very rich and very poor people and no opportunity for the average guy to break out. That's the main reason he loves America, which he calls "the country of change." At age 17 he moved to the USA to pursue his studies at Boston University where he received his MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Javier became an Investment and Real Estate Consultant in Florida. Watching his son playing tennis and seeing what is going on here in the tennis community around Miami, he thought he realized a discrepancy between the numbers published by the USTA and reality. Javier Palenque is a business consultant who deals with data. A hard facts kind of a guy. The situation, he claims, is much worse than "they" want us to believe. According to his articles, youth tennis is on the decline, attrition rates are much higher than reported, league numbers are muddled by using "registered players" and "unique players" whenever convenient. Javier has some choice words when it comes to the funds the USTA makes available into the tennis community and the income of the top 3 officers of that non-profit organization. "While the USTA Foundation gets only 1% of the 2015 revenue of over $248 million, the director's compensation is 2% and other salaries are 20%. How does Gordon Smith justify his $1.3 million a year salary?"