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I have never come across a book
that was more jam packed with information about managing a tennis
club. Having been in a General Manager position of a Los Angeles
based tennis and fitness club I can appreciate all the guidelines,
rules, and forms Mike VanZutphen has packed into this 383-page
8.5x11 book. In fact, I wished I had that book on hand at the
time. Would have made my life a lot easier.
Mike starts out with a 10-page
Club Audit to enable the reader to "meet the perceived
needs of our membership/guest," followed by an 18 page section
he describes as General Guest Information. I loved that
part because it provides a complete packet of information and
sample sheets to be given to new club members, including
- Staff
- Hours
- Basic policies
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- Court booking
- Guest policy
- Leagues
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The section Tennis Lessons
and Clinics is packed with details and samples about lesson
fees, junior development pathway, program schedules, camps, attendance
sheets and the likes. Under Tennis Essentials Mike lists
- String Services + picking the
right strings
- Sample Racquet Log
- Ball Machine + Log
The next chapters are dedicated
to the Swimming Pool (should you have one), Programming
with policies and rules, a 7-page Membership Retention Program
Packet, and an 18-page Job Descriptions section that
covers
- Employee or Independent Contractor
- Swim Professional
- Front Desk Agent
- Maintenance Engineer
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- Snack Bar Area
- Pro Shop Manager
- Program Director
- Activities Director
- Director of Tennis
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The Employee Training
section includes bonus programs, cost/benefit analysis, training
games, checklist and sample training sessions with meeting agendas,
and is followed by an extensive chapter on Operating Procedures
including cleaning and maintenance.
The next 180 or so pages are
filled with samples of plans and proposals, numbers, projections,
just all useful information with lots of real life examples.
When you write such an extensive
book and fill it with so much useful content, you can't avoid
typos. Self-published books don't necessarily have the luxury
of a professional proof reader. I tend to not dwell on mistakes
especially after reading and reviewing the late Vic Braden's
last book, which actually included a letter of apology for all
the typos.
Mike VanZutphen's career, his
accomplishments, and now his book are just too valuable as a
resource for club managers and as such I think it should belong
on every club manager's desk. |
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Mike Van Zutphen
has had thirty years of experience in Tennis Instructional Program
Management, including the design and development of direct mail
and promotional campaigns. He's a Certified Master Professional
in the USPTA- one of 135 classified educationally at that level
in the world.
The recipient
of 5 Southwest Professional of the Year Awards, 2 time recipient
of the Southwest Coach of the Year Award, 2 time recipient of
the National USTA Community Service Award only Professional in
US to ever receive it twice. Mike was also the recipient of the
Humanitarian Citation given by then Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard
now serving as Attorney General State of Arizona.
Mike is a Board/Committee
Member of the USPTA National Testing Committee, designing and
administering content and certification for USPTA. Five year
member of USPTA National Executive Committee, representing Southwest
USPTA, four years as Divisional President.
Qualifications
include professional skills in all operations of club management
from proshop, programming, training and supervision of staff
along with skills in computer and point of sale systems.
Detailed
Bio here |
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Mike lives in Newport Beach California
and is the Director of Tennis at SeaCliff Country Club in Huntington
Beach. He has 2 daughters and a wonderful wife of 35 years. He
is still coaching tour players in the 200 level ATP and 100 Level
WTA. He works on his website the one minute tennis lesson to
help his members and clients with mechanical proficiency.
You can purchase Mike's book
(and his other tennis publications) here: http://oneminutetennislesson.com
You can reach Mike at mikevz29@yahoo.com |
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