Tournament Director - Andrea Norman:  A great fan of tennis and a player since the age of eight, Andrea is marking her 17th year with The Nationals in 2009 and 11th year as Tournament Director.  She is responsible for much of the nuts and bolts administration of the tournament including website content, scheduling, tournament program, draw sheets, gate cards, and graphics. Andrea also serves on USTA NorCal’s Junior Council and as Vice Chair of the USTA’s Junior Competition Committee, and is one of the editors of Friend at Court.

Tournament Chairman - Lynne Rolley:  Lynne has been coaching tennis for 35 years.  She began her career as the Men’s tennis coach at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CC.  She became the tennis director at two clubs in the East Bay for 16 years where she founded the Stead Motors event and coached the professional team Oakland Aces.  The next 16 years were spent with the USTA as National Coach and Director of Women’s Tennis.  She coached many fine players such as Lindsay Davenport, Chanda Rubin, and Jennifer Capriati, as well as the Fed Cup and Pan Am Games.  Lynne was named Coach of the Year by the PTR National Association and is currently the Director of Tennis at the Berkeley Tennis Club. In 2008, Lynne was inducted into the USTA NorCal Hall of Fame.

Tournament Referee – Chris Preston: 2009 marks Chris’ 4th year as Tournament Referee and it’s a privilege to have him back!  Chris is an experienced Referee and official here in California and nationally, with vast experience with junior, collegiate, and professional tennis.  Chris is a no-nonsense official that brings a sense of fairness and respect for the game to our tournament.

Tournament Steering Committee Chair - Kay Lyman:  Kay is a latecomer to the tennis scene--very late--so she has had to cram her tremendous love for the sport into a short time.  Fortunately, she lives close to the Berkeley Tennis Club and spends a lot of time there playing and watching others play.  That’s why she is delighted BTC is the host of the USTA Girls’ 18 Nationals.  It will be the perfect combination of a club dedicated to tennis with a top tennis tournament, and she plans to watch and help every possible minute.

BTC Management - Geoff Hayes: Geoff has been Assistant Manager of the Berkeley Tennis Club since 1994, and General Manager since 2004. He is a Trustee of the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Foundation, served on the Alta Bates Celebrity Tennis Event Steering Committee for 12 years, and chaired that event twice.

Claremont Resort & Spa - Director of Catering & Conference Services - Kathy Marty: Kathy has been in the hospitality business for over 25 years wearing many “Director” type hats. Celebrating her 10th year at the Claremont this year and her 3rd year with Nationals she brings her expertise to the event in guestroom needs, logistics as well as food & beverage needs. Kathy is married to a tennis fan and has a 22 year old daughter and 21 year old son.

Claremont Resort & Spa - Director of Spa & Club - Kevin MacDonald: Kevin MacDonald has been in the Health and Wellness industry for 29 years. As general manager, owner, and consultant, Kevin has designed, built, and managed facilities on both coasts. The recipient of the NORCAL and National Organization of the Year awards in 1999 as General Manager of the Harbor Bay Club in Alameda, Kevin recently accepted the 2008 NORCAL Organization of the Year for the Claremont Resort. Growing up in a tennis playing family, Kevin played through high school competitively and remains an avid fan and supporter of the game. In his 10th year as Director at the Claremont Resort and Spa, he is thrilled to support woman's tennis by hosting the G18's.

Jan Brogan: Jan retired as Cal Women's Tennis Coach of 29 years with a career record of (.707), fourth on the NCAA's all time women's tennis victory list. Brogan amassed 8 Pac 10 Conference Coach of the Year and one National Coach of the Year awards. Her team had 19 top-10 national rankings and 26 consecutive NCAA appearances. Jan has started a performance coaching practice, Conscious Coaching, which integrates sport psychology and awareness practice into player, parent, and coach development.

Tournament Desk - Sarah Robinson:  Sarah looks forward to meeting each of you at the Tournament Desk.  She spends both her working days and her days off with tennis.  For ten years she has worked for USTA NorCal, in the Leagues Department, coordinating and administering adult league competition in Northern California. When she is not at work she enjoys playing on several of those league teams.  Her home courts are at the Berkeley Tennis Club.

Tournament Registration - Vivian Scharlach: Vivian is the current President of the Berkeley Tennis Club and is pleased to once again be helping out at this year's Tournament. She is looking forward to meeting the participants as well as watching their exceptional play. Vivian started playing locally at Berkeley High School and continues to enjoy playing both socially and competitively participating on several USTA teams.

Sponsor Liaison - Linda Peltz:  Linda began playing tennis as an adult when she met her future husband.  She became involved with the USTA by assisting with the Crawford Cup and then running the Bank of the West Shoot Out for four years.  Linda has served on the NorCal Board for nine years, as well as served on a National USTA Committee for Special Populations.  She has also captained and played on league teams for 21 years.  Linda is delighted to again be working with Andrea and Lynne and looks forward to a great Nationals at Berkeley Tennis Club and Claremont Resort &Spa.

Cheryl Berg: Cheryl is a member of the Claremont Resort & Spa, where she began playing tennis as an adult.  Needless to say, she was quickly hooked.  Since then, she has captained and played on various league teams.  She is looking forward to her second year with the tournament, sharing her knowledge of Berkeley with visiting players and coaches at the tournament's Information and Tournament Desk.

Player Housing - Pinkie Flad: I am an avid skier and raised three kids who are competitive or professional skiers. I also am devoted to the game of tennis and play every day I can for the Claremont as well as teams in Moraga and San Francisco. I'm looking forward to meeting the girls as well as the volunteers who will house them.

Web Master - Ed deSousa:  Ed is responsible for the Berkeley Tennis Club website. His experience made the transition to duties as web master for the Nationals seemless! He is Assistant to General Manager Geoff Hayes at the the BTC. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley, he has owned a tennis shop, played tennis most of his adult life, and has been a member of BTC's 4.5 Adult and Senior Leagues. He can be contacted at efdesousa@comcast.net.

Photography - Andy Stern:  Andy was an award winning documentary and news producer for ABC News, PBS, and KQED.  He established the broadcast journalism program at the Graduate School of Journalism University of California, Berkeley in 1969.  Andy retired after 25 years, and helped establish broadcast journalism programs in the former Soviet Union for the next five years.  Now he has gone back to his first love-photography.  He has had a major retrospective of his work from the 1960s, and a show on Appalachia took place this fall at the University of Kentucky.  He first began playing tennis in high school.  Whether Andy has improved from that time is a matter of debate!

Jim Landes, Sponsorship Chair: Jim began playing tennis tournaments at the age of eleven, first in the Eastern section and later at the national level.  He enjoyed the camaraderie, the travel, and the tennis.  Jim went on to play in college and briefly tried his hand at satellite events.  He still loves playing and has four children who play some at the tournament level.  Jim’s love of tennis and this event lead him to taking over as Chair of our Sponsorship Committee in 2008 after serving as Transportation Chair in 2007. 

Bill Brobeck: Bill’s enjoyment of tennis began when he first picked up a J.C. Higgins racquet at the age of 6. He was one of Kevin Merrick’s first students and definitely the youngest at the Orinda Country Club. At 10, he began playing tournaments where he always was beaten by his arch nemesis and good friend, Steve Cornell. He had the distinct honor of being coached by Jack Shaw and more recently reconnected with Lynne Rolley, his current coach and dear friend. As a third generation player, Bill welcomes every opportunity to continue to bring the game of tennis to our youth.

Veronica El Baze:Veronica also is the Coordinator of the Nationals Fundraiser and her bio and photograph are above.

Kathy Marty: Kathy also is the Claremont Resort & Spa - Director of Catering & Conference Services and her bio and photograph are above.