Before I start I need to tell my SoCal friends that it gives me no pleasure criticizing your USTA section. But somebody has to do it. It's one of the most underperforming sections in the nation and that's because of leadership. No, not only the former CEO but all those other dignitaries that continue to be involved pretending to want to grow tennis in Southern California.

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When I first set foot in the offices of the Southern California Tennis Association in 2006, I was in awe of the organization just because of its rich history. Just check out this web page and you know what I mean. Headquartered on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles in Westwood, California, home of the Los Angeles Tennis Center, it was run by its Executive Director, the late Henry Talbert. At the time, I was Team Lead for Adult Leagues and NTRP Ratings on the USTA Tennislink Team and used my visit to get to know that USTA section and its staff. 

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What struck me as odd was the total lack of modern technology and management tools in that office. Yes, they used computers and email but I came to the conclusion that the people running the office and the association were holding it back. 

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I also noticed a strange animosity between a group led by management (not the ED!) and the rest of the office. I quickly realized that Talbert did not run that office at all and the atmosphere there was downright toxic. They rarely held any meetings and everyone was just trying to do their job. And then there was that never-ending line of all of them and their friends giving themselves awards and marching each other into the Hall of Fame. But I guess this is not unusual for many of the USTA sections and USTA national. "It's his/her turn" is the mantra for awards, Hall of Fame, Presidentships, Board of Directors, you name it. 

 

At that time I already thought Perry T. Jones would probably turn in his grave watching all this. I just want to point to 3 areas that speak volumes about the downfall of the SCTA.

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1. TOXIC BUSINESS CLIMATE

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One of the things I had noticed during my visits to the SCTA offices was their toxic business climate. After just a few interactions with then-competitive director Annette Buck, it was clear to me that management had a rather disturbing relationship with anyone that was trying to make money in tennis in Southern California. There were a few exceptions like the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club which is owned by Board member and SCTA Board compadre Bill Kellogg. Clubs that were holding SCTA events, such as LA Tennis Club were exempt from that negativity. 

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I often talked to tournament directors that complained about the aggressiveness of the SCTA office when it came to reissuing sanctions. "They're holding my sanction hostage" was one of the sentiments at the time and I am told that hasn't changed at all.

 

My feeling was always that SCTA management thought the SCTA was to be the ONLY organization in Southern California that had a right to make money in tennis. Marla Messing stepped into tennis with seemingly similar views, very happy to piss off every tennis club owner and tournament director within a few miles of her pet peeve, the planned tennis supercenter (Kimmelman). What I see is an organization that continues to make it harder and more expensive for clubs to get sanctions for USTA tournaments and at the same time giving them the middle finger by building a huge tennis center that will probably suck up most of the big tournaments. Wanna bet? (Except for the "in" clubs, like LJB&TC, of course.)

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This toxic business climate seems to be, unfortunately still present today. I've been talking to people who are so disgusted with the negativity and the "no can do" attitude of some of the SCTA directors, they gladly take their tournaments and leagues to UTR and never look back. "I've had it with the SCTA," one businesswoman and tournament director told me a week ago. "You can tell me no but do it nicely!" My reply to her, "That's what you get when you hire rookies and get rid of all the experienced people." I mean, without training, how would a Millenial know what customer service means, right?

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2. Mr. K. 

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Up to that time, I never had much interaction with the son of tennis legend J.K. and to this day I have no idea what his involvement with the section was, in addition to being Tournament Director of the Los Angeles Open, an ATP 250 men's tournament. I believe it was 2011 when said Mr. K. hired me to help promote that ailing tournament. And I accepted although two of the office staff people advised me not to. Their reasoning: "He doesn't want help with the tournament. He wants to sell it. Hiring you is just for show." I didn't listen to them and oh, did I learn how right they were. I remember screaming sessions between myself and Mr. K. in his trailer office where he told me to slow down at the top of his lungs. At the time I actually thought he would physically attack me. I was accused of all sorts of things, like providing certain promotion suggestions "just to get my cronies in." When I shared that experience with some SCTA staff, they rolled their eyes and nodded. "Yep, that's the Mr. K. we know." It was clear that this man didn't want any help in promoting the event.

 

Those three months working for Mr. K. were a nightmare and from that point on I had lost all respect for the man and all faith in SCTA leadership.

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Little did I know that Mr. K. was already actively trying to sell the tournament. I was told by someone very close to those efforts, that he had an offer from Larry Ellison, owner of the BNP Paribas Open and the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, to take the tournament to the desert and keep it in SoCal. I was also told that the offer stood at between 3 and 4 million dollars. 

 

Much to my and everyone else's surprise, I learned a year later that he had convinced the Board to sell the tournament to an investor in Bogota, Colombia. We all asked what happened to Larry Ellison's offer to keep the ATP event in California? But, as usual for USTA executive-level honchos, they don't see a necessity to explain their actions to lowly members of the public. The discussion at the time: Maybe Mr. K. and Mr. L. were not on good terms. Who knows?

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Wikipedia writes that the tournament license was purchased for $1.5 million and I believe that is the money paid to the ATP. Who knows what the SCTA got for it. Some say it was $3 million. Be that as it may, the tournament had left Bogota again in 2016 and is now the Los Cabos Open in Mexico. 

 

For me, Mr. K. will always be a mere shadow of his famous dad, who did not look out for the tennis community in SoCal, the USTA members, and others who loved that tournament.

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3. M. M.

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I guess the transition time after Henry Talbert was best filled with Bruce Hunt. I didn't have much interaction with him but in his 4 years, I regarded him as a standup guy who was trying hard to do the right thing. Whether the SCTA Board let him do that, is another question. 

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Then there was Marla Messing. Oy. You have read my stories about her. She was just plain wrong for that job. How the Board allowed her to become CEO and mess up the entire section is a mystery to me.  Above and beyond what I already wrote about that misguided individual, here are two tidbits you may not know have happened under Messing's regime (and I have to assume with the SCTA Board's knowledge and approval.)

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• Deterioration of the relationship with HEAD
  I wrote about the no-class way messing started to deal with Tecnifibre without even contacting the longest-standing supporter of Southern California tennis, HEAD Racquet Sports. But I was shocked to hear that HEAD had donated $5,000 worth of racquets and balls to the section TSR's and Messing made them take that entire shipment back. I guess the SCTA CEO who reportedly did not play tennis, did also not like one of the most successful brands in our sport. I know a handful of tennis non-profits in South Los Angeles and other areas that would have gladly taken that shipment off her hands.
   

• Treatment of Asian League Coordinators in the San Gabriel Valley
  The team of Jim Wong and his wife dutifully served the San Gabriel Valley tennis community for some 27 or so years in the name of the SCTA. They NEVER objected to helping out at the tournament desk when it came to Sectionals or National League tournaments. I knew them since my time on the USTA Tennislink Team 2006-2010.
  
  The Wongs were always there. Reliable. Good at their job. Loved the USTA and loved tennis. Then they landed on the shit list of SCTA directors and that was bad news for the Wongs.  Was someone trying to stick it to the Wongs because they were Asians, as one tennis pro insinuated? Who knows. But when Christina Wong made a mistake, the powers to be at the SCTA went into action. They immediately fired her and then it looks like they terminated him because he is married to her. 
  
  Let that sink in, folks. (I hope members of the SCTA Board are reading this!) You fire a USTA Coordinator because of an infraction (not sure what, I guess she let someone register after registration closed. Wow! Where's the guillotine?) Then you fire her husband because he's married to her. Wow again. You think Jim Wong has a legal case against the section? Hello, SCTA, "guilty by association" is illegal here and anywhere else! Only rookie managers can make such grave errors in judgment!
  
  My question: Were Asian League Coordinators being discriminated against at the SCTA?
  
  But to make matters worse, I was told, in true USTA fashion, no one called or reached out to the Wongs. I heard that the office sent a humiliating letter to the league players although Jim was an outstanding member of the USTA community and not involved in anything they accused his wife of. Jim Wong learned from a league player that he had been fired! It seems they terminated him because he was married to his wife. One director allegedly said that Jim Wong was terminated to "preserve the integrity of the league." I am asking the section management, "Do you have a problem with ASIANS? Were they terminated because they were ASIANS?" If the answer is yes, you guys may be in for a world of hurt. 

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And it all happened under Marla Messing! Who was appointed by the SCTA Board!

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I have to ask the SCTA Board: Did you not know any of this? Is that what you call your fiduciary duty? But, of course, I'm not surprised at all. You guys at the SCTA Board, let them destroy the SCTA legacy, and now you look at the ruins of that once-proud USTA section. You're probably shrugging your shoulders right now.

 

I know that HEAD is not holding a grudge. They are happy to go back to their once fruitful relationship with you guys. But the Wongs? Man, you fucked that up royally. And if you do that to such a nice couple, who knows what you are capable of next?

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The section is looking for Messing's successor and if he/she has any backbone they at least give Jim Wong his job back (with all back pay) and make the Board give him a PUBLIC apology. And firing the people responsible for that disaster seems like the right thing to do for me. So the SCTA can go back to being one of the respected cornerstones of Southern California tennis again.

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