Why I am fiercely devoted to the success of Conga Sports

The exciting road to turning couch potatoes into court gladiators

How It All Began

Publishing my newsletter TENNIS CLUB BUSINESS puts me in the unique position of communicating with tennis professionals, organizers, club owners, and USTA staff/executives on a regular basis. A couple of things I've learned over time in regard to the industry and the way tennis is perceived in general.

1. Tennis is an unmovable object. Entrenched in ancient history, governed and organized mostly by older, white men. Resistant to any change whatsoever.
2. The USTA is an equally unmovable organization. Resistant to change, it entrenches new ideas in multi-year committee decisions but only if those ideas come from within. Categorically rejecting ideas from outside sources.
3. Fun is not embedded in USTA executives' DNA. For decades they resisted using the word because it means changing their thinking and distracting from the serious business of making money and controlling the tennis market.

My numerous newsletter pleas to the USTA for adding more fun to tennis usually ended with expressing my vision of creating so much fun that adults and children would say, "Yes, I want to join this tribe. I want to play tennis. This cool sport looks like so much fun!"

Realizing that this will never in a million years happen with the USTA in control, I decided to do it myself. To create an organization that people flock to because it provides more fun and excitement.

Starting Conga Sports

I incorporated Conga Sports Inc in August 2021 as a member-based for-profit organization?and began working on a business plan and testing different programs. From day one it became clear that making tennis more affordable/accessible had to include working with local sponsors to absorb some of the cost associated with any program.

Our first mission statement explained how we are a network of affiliated racquet clubs and individuals searching for courts and others to play with. Over time we added that by shifting the economic model from players to sponsors, we were enabling more people to join the sport and stay in it.

From day one I had an unpublished mission statement that's still guiding me today: WE WILL BE 10 TIMES BETTER THAN THE USTA!

I was quite lucky in attracting a number of high-quality professionals to the Conga Sports Advisory Board such as Ken DeHart, Gary Horvath, AJ Chabria, Lisa Stone, Aruna Bernier, Bryan Baker, Tina Samara, Steve Riggs, and Michele Krause. Their guidance is very important to me and I appreciate any suggestion they may have and every question they will answer. I am regularly communicating with AJ Chabria because I want him to be our Director of Communications next year.

We dabbled a bit in WTT (World TeamTennis) leagues but found it hard to compete with USTA legacy programs like Adult Leagues. We also determined that the WTT format was too much the same old, same old for us to adopt it as a Conga Sports program.

CITY SLAMS Was Born

That first WTT test league gave me great insights into what's possible. It basically was a catalyst for an idea that formed in the spring of 2022: CITY SLAMS.

The idea behind CITY SLAMS was pretty simple:

• Create a series of tennis tournaments for recreational players
• Introduce radically new elements and don't shy away from being different
• Morph CITY SLAMS over time into a program that looks more like a pro tour. I called it the "Tour for the little guy."

During the year 2022, we began to plan CITY SLAMS, created our START/RESTART clinics and tournaments program for beginners and "restarters" and defined a number of new verticals for the organization. Membership growth was extremely slow in part because we were an unknown entity and didn't have a fleshed-out set of programs yet.

During the Fall/Winter of 2022, I lucked out in welcoming Nikki Carlin to my team. Nikki is an advanced-level tennis player and a brilliant organizer who regularly comes out with new ideas and loves to bounce them around with me.

Savannah Who?

The spring of 2023 was quite pivotal for my CITY SLAMS planning. While the first teams formed in Southern California, I came across a phenomenon in the sport of baseball I had never heard of: the Savannah Bananas. Owner Jesse Cole had turned this Coastal League baseball organization from a boring team with 200 home game visitors into an exciting entertainment troupe with sold-out 4,000 home game visitors and a 10,000 fans waiting list for tickets. I bought Jesse's book "Fans First" and sent him a text to tell him how much I loved his concept and that I could see myself introducing some of it in tennis. Here's his reply.

Needless to say, the idea for a Tennis Show was born. And I thought this will shake up the tennis industry for good, haha. In fact, I loved it so much, it even made it as a slide into our official pitch deck. The idea of developing an entertaining show around CITY SLAMS and creating a huge fan base of players to come to watch our matches is very intriguing to me.

In the meantime, the first SoCal City Slams season was progressing. We decided to keep it small while in the CITY SLAMS "Proof of Concept" mode. Four teams competed in a format that is quite close to World Cup Soccer. Los Angeles, Studio City, Pasadena, and Studio City. The team playing for the city of Los Angeles won it and we were very lucky that the 1981 Australian Open winner Brian Teacher, who is also our Independent Advisor for Tour and Competition, was able to attend and award the trophies.

Where Are We Today?

It is August 2023 and we are in a very exciting phase with Conga Sports.

Organization: We are in the midst of a Test The Waters campaign for a community funding round to start in September/October.

CITY SLAMS: The second SoCal season will start next month, probably with 8-12 teams. The first NorCal season is planned to start in October. Depending on the results of our community funding campaign, we will start expanding CITY SLAMS eastward in 2024. Mid-2024 will be the start of our first Tennis Show during CITY SLAMS finals.

Other Conga Sports Verticals: I don't want to give too much away but in addition to growing our membership, other verticals are focused on family tennis, corporate tennis, learning the sport, and fun special events and tennis trips.

So, What Keeps Me Going?

Our unpublished mission statement says a lot about my motivation. But being better than the USTA when it comes to tennis programs is not the only motivator for me. I see how other sports are much better at attracting young players, for instance. I am determined to change that and create a tribe that kids of all ages will want to be part of. Why? Because playing tennis with Conga Sports is cool. Because fun is mandatory. Because there will be no pressure, no cheating, no sandbagging. And that applies to our adult programs, too.

To create better tennis for everyone. That's what motivates me and keeps me going. I know the road to success will be stony and a lot of people are thinking what we try to do can't be done. My message to them: Our movement, our tribe is unstoppable. Every morning when I get up, I start thinking about creating something that has never been done in tennis. That is the most fun for me.