Board of Directors
Together, We Preserve the Legacy of our Founder, Dennis Van der Meer
Ajay Pant
Ajay Pant
Ajay Pant is the founder of Karundy, a premier tennis consulting firm dedicated to helping racquet clubs maximize profitability and revenue per court. With a career spanning decades, Ajay has led some of the largest racquet sports operations in the United States.
He previously served as Vice President for Life Time, overseeing tennis, pickleball, and squash operations across 130 clubs. His leadership experience also includes roles as Senior Vice President of Operations for the Junior Tennis Champions Center and National Tennis Director for Midtown Clubs for nearly 20 years.
A recognized educator and industry authority, Ajay is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida and a consultant for USTA Education. He is one of only 16 professionals globally to hold the “Master Pro” designation from both the RSPA and PTR. His accolades include “Pro of the Year” honors from the PTR and USPTA, the TIA “Tennis Person of the Year,” and induction into the Ferris State University Professional Tennis Hall of Fame.
Jack Barker
Jack Barker
Jack worked for WABTEC for 32 years and finished his business career as the group controller of their worldwide mass transit operations. He has been a long-time volunteer with Special Olympics, Athletes Without Limits, USTA Southern and USTA of South Carolina. Jack’s unbounded enthusiasm and love for special athletes makes him an integral part of the Special Olympics National Championships presented by PTR each year. Jack is currently sitting on the boards of Special Olympics of SC and the Lowcountry Youth Tennis Association, as well as the PTR Foundation.
Dr. Jim Loehr
Dr. Jim Loehr
Dr. Jim Loehr is a co-founder of the Human Performance Institute, a world-renowned performance psychologist and author of 17 books including his most recent, Leading with Character. He also co-authored the national bestseller The Power of Full Engagement.
Dr. Loehr’s ground-breaking, science-based energy management training system has achieved world-wide recognition and has been chronicled in leading national publications including the Harvard Business Review, Business Week, Fortune, Newsweek, Time, US News and World Report, Success, Fast Company and Omni. He has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Nightline, The CBS Evening News, The CBS Morning News, and the Oprah Winfrey Show.
From his more than 35 years of experience and applied research, Dr. Loehr believes the single most important factor in successful achievement, personal fulfillment and life satisfaction is the strength of one’s character. He strongly contends that character strength can be built in the same way that muscle strength is built through energy investment.
Dr. Loehr has worked with hundreds of world-class performers from the arenas of sport, business, medicine and law enforcement including Fortune 100 executives, FBI Hostage Rescue Teams, and military Special Forces. A sampling of his elite clients from the world of sport include: golfers Mark O’Meara, Justin Rose, and Daniel Berger; tennis players Jim Courier, Monica Seles, and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario; boxer Ray Mancini; hockey players Eric Lindros and Mike Richter; and Olympic gold medal speed skater Dan Jansen.
Dr. Loehr has been inducted into two Hall of Fames, was a pioneer in the application of psychology to human performance, has received numerous sport science and coaching awards and has lectured world-wide on his performance technology. Dr. Loehr is currently applying his insights regarding character to youth.
He possesses a masters and doctorate in psychology and is a full member of the American Psychological Association.
The Human Performance lnstitute’s training is the result of decades of proprietary research and working with elite performers. The lnstitute’s training draws on the sciences of performance psychology, exercise physiology and nutrition to create lifelong behavior change. By training to expand and manage energy levels both personally and professionally, performers ignite their full potential in high stress arenas.
Curtis Holland
Curtis Holland
Professional Tennis Registry Coach Developer/Clinician
- PTR Certified Professional in Adult Development since 1989
- 2004 PTR Member of the Year for the State of Tennessee
- 2004 PTR Assistant Tennis Pro of the Year Tennessee
- PTR Certified Professional in 10 and Under Development since 2012
- PTR Certified Professional in 11-17 Development since 2013
- PTR Certified Professional in Performance Development since 2014
- Curtis Holland, of Springfield, Tennessee, has been named the 2013 PTR Jim Verdieck High School Coach of the Year
The City of Springfield in 2012 named the newly renovated courts at Garner Street Park – The Curtis Holland Tennis Complex. A PTR Clinician and Tester, and Lifetime Member of the American Tennis Association, Holland has been involved in tennis for 48 years as a player, teaching pro and coach.
Luciano Botti
Luciano Botti
Luciano is a PTR International Master Professional and was inducted into the PTR Hall of Fame in 2018. He served on the PTR Board of Directors for over 20 years and has served on the Foundation Board for over 10 years, previously as the Vice Chairman. Luciano is the PTR Europe Provider, ensuring the continued growth and success of our organization in Europe by forming alliances with national federations, particularly Italy, Germany and Austria. Luciano was especially instrumental in facilitating the partnership between PTR and FIT (Federazione Italiana Tennis). As part of this partnership, FIT and PTR started to organize the International Tennis Symposium that takes place in Rome at the beginning of the ATP Master 1000 Italian Open. In addition, Luciano is President of Tennis Services, a company that specializes in managing tennis facilities and events. Fluent in five languages, Luciano has been a contributing editor of Tennis Italiano, Tennis and other magazines. Luciano became the official PTR provider in Italy, Germany and Austria in 1985. Under Luciano’s leadership, PTR grew from the original 5 Italian members to 1,400 members today.
Roy Barth
Roy Barth
- Grew up in San Diego, CA
- Married to Colleen McAndrews. We have two sons, Jonathan and Sandon, and five grandchildren.
- Played four years at UCLA and then on the Professional Tour for seven years. Moved to Charleston in 1976 as Director of Tennis-Kiawah Island.
- Retired after forty-two years. Currently Director of Tennis, Emeritus.
- Volunteer highlights over thirty-five years with USTA-SC, -Southern, and National include the following:
- President of USTA-SC
- Chairman of the South Carolina Tennis Patrons Foundation
- Member of the Southern Tennis Patrons Foundation
- Chairman of the USTA Davis Cup Committee
- Member of the USTA- Jr. Player Development, -Local Jr. Competition, -Collegiate committees, and currently on USTA -Sportsmanship committee.
- Professional Tennis Registry
- Member for thirty-four years
- Treasurer for five years
- President for three years
Kristen Campbell
Kristen Campbell
Originally from Michigan, Kristen spent most of high school training under the tutelage of Dennis and Pat at the Van der Meer tennis academy. She went on to play Big 10 college tennis before eventually graduating from Michigan State University College of Law. Kristen maintains a full time law practice while trying to keep up with her young son in the Pacific Northwest. Kristen is grateful for the many lessons learned and friends acquired through the sport of tennis and is proud to give back through assisting the Foundation.
Jean Mills
Jean Mills
Jean Mills is the Director of Tennis for the Polo Club in Boca Raton. Jean is a Charter Member of PTR from 1976. She is a PTR Intl. Master Professional and was awarded the PTR Professional of the Year in 2002. Jean served on the PTR Board of Directors from 2000 – 2017 and served as President of the Board from 2009-2010. She has hosted numerous PTR and PPR Certification Workshops at the Polo Club. Jean was honored with the Yellow Tennis Ball Tribute Award for her dedication to the growth of tennis and community outreach in South Florida.
Radhika Venkata
Radhika Venkata
Radhikha Venkata’s career in tennis included winning India’s national championships, playing in the Junior US Open, US Clay Courts, US Grass Courts Championships and on a full tennis scholarship at the University of Texas, with an ITF ranking as high as 17.
Radhikha was singularly fortunate to have had Dennis Van Der Meer as her mentor extraordinaire since she was 14 years old. In many ways, Dennis molded her playing and coaching career with his amazing generosity and knowledge. Radhikha was a Head Professional at VDM Tennis Center for more than six years, served as an International Tester for the PTR, and continues to use his guiding principles in her everyday life.
Post tennis, Radhikha enjoyed a successful multi-year career in Marketing, Project and Product Management in Technology companies in Texas and California until the birth of her twin daughters. She revels in the outdoors, and in meeting hiking challenges like Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu and soon the Everest Base Camp.