Board of Directors
Together, We Preserve the Legacy of our Founder, Dennis Van der Meer

Scott Tharp
Scott Tharp
Scott has made a career of providing opportunities using sports and the many assets of affiliated professional franchises as the hook to empower and enrich the lives of under-resourced children, youth, and adults. He is the President/CEO of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation. Snider Hockey achieves its mission to build lives and unite communities by melding recreational and supplemental educational services with a nationally acclaimed life skills curriculum that is delivered to over 3,000 families in urban Philadelphia. Prior to his current position, Scott served as the Executive Director of Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education, which is the owner/operator of the Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis Center and National Junior Tennis League of Philadelphia providing quality tennis and educational programming to more than 6,000 inner-city children. At the 1997 PTR International Tennis Symposium, Scott was acknowledged as one of eight charter PTR International Master Professionals and is certified by the USPTA as an Elite Professional. He is the past chairman of the PTR Master Professional Committee and has been honored by the PTR as its International Pro of the Year, the PTR Tester of the Year, and twice as the Middle States Pro of the Year. Throughout his professional career, Scott has stayed deeply involved in the sport of tennis. He has served multiple terms on the USTA/MS Board of Directors. Scott has participated in the USA Tennis High Performance coaching program, has served on the Advisory Board for the Professional Tennis Management programs at Queens University and Methodist University and was appointed to the Presidential Task Force on Sports and Higher Education. Scott was inducted into the USTA/Middle States Hall of Fame in October 2015.

Jack Barker
Jack Barker


Ajay Pant
Ajay Pant
As the Senior Director Racquet Sports for Life Time, Ajay currently oversees 33 clubs with tennis, 25 clubs with squash and 105 clubs with pickleball. Prior to joining Life Time, Ajay was Senior Vice President Operations for the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC). He was also the National Tennis Director for Tennis Corporation of America (TCA)/Midtown clubs.

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


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

Lucy Garvin
Lucy Garvin


Kristen Campbell
Kristen Campbell


Pat Van der Meer
Pat Van der Meer


Jean Mills
Jean Mills


Ron Manilla

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.