In the Trenches: Who's Sitting at the Table?

In the Trenches: Who's Sitting at the Table?

By Susan Nardi

Every year, our industry gathers to celebrate excellence.

We recognize champions, honor careers, applaud innovation, and talk passionately about growing racquet sports. We speak about attracting younger professionals, increasing diversity, supporting women in coaching, embracing adaptive sports, and building a stronger future.

Then I look around the room.

Or I scroll through a leadership feature.

Or I read the comments on LinkedIn.

And I can't help but ask one simple question.

Who's sitting at the table?

Recently, one of our industry's leadership features highlighted an impressive group of accomplished professionals. They have earned respect, built careers, and contributed to racquet sports. This isn't about questioning their individual achievements.

But it did raise another question.

If our industry's most visible leadership conversations continue to feature the same demographic, the same career paths, and often the same familiar faces, what message are we sending about who belongs in leadership?

That's not an accusation.

It's a mirror.

Because leadership isn't just about who occupies the seats today.

It's about who believes they can occupy them tomorrow.

For years, our industry has said we need more women coaches.

We've said we need more women in executive leadership.

We've talked about attracting younger professionals.

We've discussed the importance of adaptive sports, community engagement, diversity, and fresh ideas.

Those aren't new conversations.

They're recurring themes at conferences, committee meetings, and strategic planning sessions.

But conversations alone don't create opportunity.

Visibility does.

Representation does.

Intentional leadership does.

If a young female teaching professional walks into her first national conference, who does she see leading discussions?

If a coach who has built an extraordinary adaptive tennis or pickleball program attends for the first time, does he or she see that work celebrated?

If a thirty-year-old club professional has transformed participation in a struggling community, do they believe innovation matters as much as longevity?

Leadership sends signals long before it gives speeches.

One of the greatest challenges facing our profession isn't a lack of talented people.

It's that we often confuse familiarity with leadership.

The old boys' network doesn't always operate through discrimination.

More often, it operates through familiarity.

We invite people we know.

We recommend people we've worked with.

We promote people who remind us of ourselves.

None of those decisions feel intentional.

But over time, they produce remarkably predictable outcomes.

The same names.

The same perspectives.

The same circles.

Meanwhile, extraordinary leaders continue doing extraordinary work with very little recognition.

I've met coaches quietly changing lives every single day.

Women building thriving coaching businesses.

Professionals introducing thousands of children to tennis.

Adaptive coaches creating opportunities where none existed.

Wheelchair tennis instructors proving that inclusion isn't just a buzzword.

Pickleball professionals bringing entirely new communities into racquet sports.

Grassroots leaders filling public courts with people who never imagined they belonged there.

Many of these professionals may never hold a national title.

Some may never sit on a board.

But they are growing our industry one player at a time.

Shouldn't those be the people we elevate?

Perhaps it's time we rethink how we define leadership.

Instead of asking,

"Who do we know?"

Maybe we should ask,

Who's making the biggest difference?

Instead of celebrating titles, let's celebrate impact!

Instead of rewarding longevity alone, let's recognize innovation.

Instead of protecting networks, let's build pathways.

Imagine conference panels that intentionally include experienced executives alongside first-generation club owners.

Imagine leadership features showcasing women who have built successful coaching businesses.

Imagine adaptive professionals sharing ideas alongside directors of major facilities.

Imagine highlighting coaches under forty who are solving problems our industry has struggled with for decades.

Not because they're younger.

Not because they're women.

Not because they're different.

Because they're exceptional.

The future of racquet sports won't be built by preserving yesterday's leadership model.

It will be built by expanding it.

If we genuinely believe women belong in coaching, then they should be visible in leadership.

If we believe adaptive sports matter, those leaders deserve a seat at the table.

If we value innovation, then innovators should be recognized.

If we want the next generation to lead, they need to see that leadership is possible.

Not someday.

Now.

As many of us gather in Dallas this month, we'll talk about the future of racquet sports.

We'll discuss participation, coaching, technology, inclusion, and growth.

Those conversations matter.

But perhaps the most important question isn't how we grow the game.

Perhaps it's this:

Who are we choosing to lead it?

Because the future of our industry won't simply be determined by the people sitting around today's table.

It will be determined by who we invite to pull up a chair.

And that decision belongs to all of us.

On a personal note, one of the greatest privileges of my career has been mentoring and working alongside extraordinary women and men in racquet sports—first across the United States and now around the world. Watching them grow from passionate coaches into innovators, business owners, industry leaders, and changemakers has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life.

I continue to be inspired by what they have accomplished and by the programs they have built to make our sport stronger, more welcoming, and more impactful. They represent the future of racquet sports—not because of their titles, but because of their vision, their courage, and their commitment to serving others.

Long after today's committees, conferences, and boardrooms have changed, it will be these leaders who continue pulling up more chairs, creating bigger tables, and ensuring that the next generation has an opportunity to lead.

Because the strongest legacy we can leave isn't the seat we held at the table... it's the people we invited to join us there.