Too bad! David Haggerty, the man who single-handedly brought so much havoc to professional tennis, was re-elected. Not surprising, New York Times, Tennis.com, TIA Tennis Industry Insider and most other publications just published a brief announcement never mentioning any of the disaster decisions Haggerty had a hand in during his first term.

My questions: Who did they have to strong-arm to get him re-elected? Could it be that a lot of money was spent under the table? How many of the national governing bodies were bought outright to vote for Haggerty? We'll probably never know. So, the good ol' boy network is back together, alive and well. And I am reading that none of the Board members ever played professional tennis. And no one got fired for the scandals of 2018/2019. Great!

In between meetings at the USPTA's Las Vegas World Conference I happened to stick my head into the main room all speakers used and watched Len Simard in the middle of his presentation 'What employers look for in the Director of Tennis/Racquet Sports position.' Much to my surprise, he divulged something he admitted he wasn't supposed to say yet. "Starting in 2020, Tennis Director positions will be certified by USTA and USPTA only. Clubs hiring for this position will most certainly ask for the certification in the future."

I said to myself, wow, do the (very capable) PTR professionals know that? I'm sure this will be another controversial and heavily discussed decision coming from the newly formed partnership between USTA and USPTA. I may have more information about this next month.

Week after week I'm getting the Florida section newsletter (FLORIDA Weekly E-News) and every time I'm amazed how good it is. I do like their approach to growing tennis and communicating this in a plain, no-nonsense format of mostly text headlines with very few graphics and no photos.

Not sure if it has anything to do with the new ED Laura Bowen or the fact that women outnumber men 43:17 but something quite positive is going on in Florida. Some of the interesting changes:

• Changed Local League Coordinator titles to Play Coordinator
• Created an attitude of service to the community
• Coordinators are required to come up with ideas for creative social play opportunities, casual leagues, beginner programs, social events
• One coordinator is even including pickleball in her social events

I get the sense they are trying to listen to new ideas. What a great concept. Bravo. Check out the below image from their website.

This is a must-read, people. Many California club owners may have to turn their independent contractors into employees starting January 2020. And you know, what happens in California usually spreads to other states fairly quickly.

Delaine Mast has been growing tennis for over 40 years. This month she shares with us her views on what we can do to grow the sport of a lifetime. Very interesting 7-point roadmap.

What made my day right at the start of Monday morning were dozens of participants coming up to me and encouraging me to continue holding USTA/USPATA/ITF feet to the fire - despite my oftentimes critical stands in regards to our governing bodies' leadership decisions

Our October Organization of the Month is the brainchild of a tennis professional who cares: Adam Jasick. Many of you may know him as PTR Clinician, international speaker, summit host, and recipient of the 2019 PTR Volunteer of the Year award. What most of you don't know is his immense effort to build a school in the village of Bogaré in northern Togo, West Africa. After you let that sink in and checked out the article about his work, please think about supporting him. We all know there are plenty of charity efforts out there, but if you are looking to make a donation in 2019 and save on your taxes, consider Adam's FUTURE CHAMPIONS FOUNDATIONS. Details in the article.

Our new contributor and data master Gary Horvath is coming in with two articles. His contribution IS THE USTA LEAGUE INCREASING TENNIS PARTICIPATION is equally thought-provoking and comes with a surprising conclusion.

In US PLAYER DEVELOPMENT MEASURING ITS EFFECTIVENESS Gary takes a good look at the data and analyzes cold, hart facts. I bet you'll find it interesting what he came up with.

Thank you, everyone, for sending us so many emails. The subjects we asked your opinion about were USTA Player Development, US Open 2019, and working in the Middle East. Not surprising, USTA PD had the most submissions. Very interesting read. But Lucia Obysovska's bad experience in Dubai is worth reading, too.

My heart goes out to Pickleball Champion Barbara Wintroub who never complains about her own personal issues (we found out she was admitted to the ER last month) but always tries to help comrades in her age group who are being severely discriminated against by the USAPA. It's a scandal if you ask me. And why doesn't GM Justin Maloof reply to the complaints. Did he copy a page out of the USTA playbook?

And here I was thinking he has more class.

Thank you to all our other contributors this month. Suzanna McGee with a great article about PALLOF PRESS FOR CORE STRENGTH & STABILITY, Ed Shanaphy's OFF-PEAK HOURS: HOW TO MAKE THEM MORE INVITING AND ATTRACTIVE, and Marsha Friedman with JOURNALISTS SHARE ADVICE ON HOW TO PITCH THEM.

Congratulations to our Award winners: TV 1860 Aschaffenburg in Germany (Facility of the Month); Future Champions Foundation in Whitehall, Michigan (Organization of the Month); Phil Vivian in London, United Kingdom (Male Pro of the Month); Nancy Hougland in Overland Park, Kansas (Female Pro of the Month).

Have a good October, everyone!

Rich Neher