What’s your name?
David Beck
Where are you located?
St. Louis, MO
Where do you work and what’s your current title?
Bellerive Country Club – Director of Racquets
What are your 3 favorite things about this course?
I enjoyed all of the modules, but particularly the complimentary racquet sports module, the clay court maintenance information, interviewing and culture model and the power of moments. I think we are in the member experience business and creating memorable moments is something that we need to make a priority more often.
What has surprised you the most about this course?
Maybe that I am very happy in my role and that my strengths match up well with what it takes to be a director.
Have you been able to apply anything you’ve learned so far? If so, what?
My marketing plan is working much faster than I had anticipated. I wanted to attract more female tennis players this summer and it is already working. We have added 6-7 new recurring players in less than 2 months.
What was the reason you chose to take this course?
I wanted to understand the business side of the being a director better. I wanted to gain a better understanding of best practices. I enjoyed how this course was laid out and how each of the module took a deep dive into all the various aspects that are important to being a director. For me, this course was exactly as advertised. It was thought provoking and allowed to think more critically about how I do things and how I can do things better in the future.
How would you describe the Director of Racquet Sports Certificate Course to someone who doesn’t know what it is?
This course will give you the tools and blueprint for how to be an excellent director. For those contemplating if they want to be a director, this course will thoroughly prepare you and teach you that there is much more to the job than the title and compensation. To be a successful director you need to love the job and love most of it. I have seen great coaches not become great directors because they do not enjoy the administrative side of things. This course will get each student to do self-examination and to see if their strengths line up with what it takes to be a great director.
How did you get into racquet sports? Did you always want to have a career in this industry? HAVE you always had a career in this industry?
I was working at Walt Disney World and was approached by a few pros from Peter Burwash International. They told me about how you could travel and teach tennis in some unbelievable locations around the world. I had never thought about teaching tennis before and my plans to break into the movie business were going nowhere, so I thought “why not?!” I had spent a summer in Germany in college and they needed someone for their top rated camp at Bio-Hotel Stanglwirt in Austria. They hired me and trained me and I spent the next three years teaching tennis in Europe, the Caribbean, and Florida. After that I taught school for six years and earned my Masters in History. I got back into teaching tennis for a club in Cincinnati that was affiliated with Midtown. I have been teaching tennis ever since and have spent most of the last 9 years as a director.
What is one racquet sports or leadership related podcast/social account/book/publication/person you’d recommend others to follow and why?
The book One Minute Manager is great. From the course – Culture Wins was a great book and I did enjoy The Power of Moments that we had to read.
I have read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and that was great. I enjoy the podcasts that Kim Bastable and Simon Gale do. They are very informative.
If you could give one piece of advice to people just starting in this course, what would it be?
The more effort you put in to this course, the more you will get out of it. I worked very hard and feel like I learned a lot and am a better pro for it.
Interested in our Director of Racquet Sports Certificate?
You, too, can develop the business and leadership competencies required to successfully manage a tennis and racquets operation. Visit our website for more information.
