60 Years

in Tennis 1957 - 2017

KenStuart

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KEN STUART ATHLETE, BUSINESSMAN, ENTREPRENEUR,

INVENTOR, INNOVATOR, FATHER & FRIEND

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Ken Stuart hit his first tennis ball in El Monte, California in September of 1957, which was 30 days before his 14th birthday when his mother could not afford the $10 required to buy him football shoes and he was transferred to a 6th period tennis class and sent out to the backboards to hit tennis balls. Even in those days it was considered a very late start but by today’s standards that would be more than simply late, it would be impossible to come remotely close to what Ken accomplished. What fol-lowed was over 60 years of playing, teaching, coaching and promoting tennis. He designed, managed and owned successful tennis clubs. He hosted countless activities and events for players and charities throughout Southern California and for participants from around the world. Ken’s contributions to the tennis world are endless including envisioning and developing unique computer software programs specifically for the tennis player.

ACHIEVEMENTS FROM THE FIRST BALL THROUGH COLLEGE GRADUATION:

• HighSchoolwontwoCIFSouthernCaliforniadoublestitles.(1958&1961)• CommunityCollegeSouthernCaliforniaandCaliforniaStateSingles&DoublesFinalist(1963)• Intercollegiate,wontheCCAAStateSinglesandDoubleschampionshipstwiceeach.WontheNCAA

CollegeDivisionDoublesChampionship(1966)• NCAACollegeDivisionAll-American,LongBeachStateUniversity(1966)• Named49er of the Year atLongBeachStateUniversity(1966) (The only tennis player in the school’s history to

be given this award, which is provided annually to one student athlete in acknowledgement of national and interna-tional achievement in their sport.)

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Men’s Singles: Ranked #1 in 1972 National Public Parks Association

1966 Long Beach State 49er of the Year Outstanding Male Athlete/Scholar Award (The only Tennis player to be presented the award)

Below: Ken was Long Beach States’ first NCAA All American in Tennis

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TURNED PROFESSIONAL 1968 -

• Professional:Selectedin1970byPerryT.JonesandJackKramertobepartofaneightmanAmerican

travellingteamandjourneyedtothirteendifferentcountriesplayingattheAustralianOpen(2),Wimble-

don(2),andtheUSOpen(4).DuringthisperiodhewasafinalistindoublesinPerthAustralia(Kransky),

Manchester,England(Lutz),wononedoublestitle(Brown),andplayedWorldTeamTennisoneyeareach

fortheFloridaFlamingos,SanDiegoFriars,andtheLosAngelesStrings.

• WontheKodelCupNationalMixedDoublesChampionshipwithBettyAnnStuart.

• Wonthe1972UnitedStatesNationalPublicParkSinglesChampionshipachievingaNationalPublicPark

rankingof#1nationally.

• WontheUSTANationalHusbandandWifeTitlein1977withBettyAnnStuart.

• PlayedagainstfellowcompetitorsandfriendsArthurAshe,JohnNewcombe,JimmyConnors,Rafael

Osuna,AlexOlmedo,DennisRalston,TomOkker,RodLaver,RoyEmerson,CharliePasarel,StanSmith,

BobLutzandRoscoeTannertonameafew.

Ken was a teaching professional in Long Beach, Irvine, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach from 1971 through 1984. He enjoyed great success as tennis teaching professional and had dozens of his players reach national caliber status in the game. Ken played senior tennis only sporadically over the years yet still managed to win his share of titles in singles and doubles most notably the Southern California Senior Sectional Championships and the Pacific Southwest Senior Championships several times. He was a finalist in the Men’s National 35’s with partner Barry McKay. He played and won several State and National Team titles representing southern California in men’s team age divisions (35’s & 40’s Robyn Ray) (50’s Dick Leach) (55’s Larry Collins). He achieved a career high USTA National ranking in the men’s 40 division in 1983 of #2 and #3 respectively in singles and doubles.

Ken with Rod Laver Ken with Vitas Geralitis

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AS AN ADMINISTRATOR & PROPRIETOR

In 1973, Ken was chosen from over 1200 candidates to design, build, program and manage the prestigious John Wayne Tennis Club,whichopeneditsdoorsinSeptemberof1974.IndesigningtheJohnWayneTennisClubandwritingalltheguidelinesandproceduresandoperationalpolicies,ahighlightofKen’slifewasrealizedatthistime,whenhebecamegoodfriendswiththelateactorJohnWayneandfound“hishome”indirectingallaspectsoftennis.FromthenhehasbeentheowneroffourprestigioustennisclubsinSouthernCalifornia(JohnWayneTennisClub,RacquetClubofIrvine,PalisadesTennisClub(CostaMesa),PalisadesTennisClub(NewportBeach).It is of note that in 1975, Ken developed a universal rating system as the John Wayne Tennis club was hosting over 700 guests per month and worked with the USTA in rating tennis players from around the nation. Ken’s outline and contribution to the USTA was one of the contributing formats and foundation for what is known today as the NTRP National Tennis Rating System. Inaddition,Ken’scrowningachievementintennisishisinventionanddevelopmentoftheonlyproprietarycomputerizedmatchmakingsystemintheworld.Designedasanadvancedtooltogetandkeepplayersactiveinthesport,hebegandevelopmentofhissoftwaresystemfortennisplayerswhenhestartedtheoriginalPalisadesTennisClubinCostaMesa,California,in1990.AthisPalisadesTennisClubinNewportBeach,California,fivestaffmembersusethisprogramsevendaysaweektoarrangematchesformembersandtheirguests.

OneofKen’smembersrecentlycalculatedthatifyoutookeverymatchthatKenhas“touched”overthepast42yearsinsomewayinvolvedinarranging,schedulingandputtingallparticipantstogetheraccountingfortheirrespectiveskilllevels,timeandplayingpreferences,itislikelythatKenhashadahandinovertwomilliontennismatchesathisfourclubshereinSouthernCalifornia-afeatthatisunlikelytobeduplicated.

Ken’sinvolvementwiththetennisworldisreachinglegendarystatus-someofhiscontributionsarethefollowing:

• HostofWorldTeamTennisfouryears.

• HostoftheNationalWheelchairTennisNationals.

• HostoftheUSNationalHighSchoolBoysTeamChampionships17yearsandcounting.

• HostofnumerouscharityeventsincludingtheAdoptionGuild,TopGun,WimbledonWest,JohnWayne

CancerFoundation,SpecialOlympics,RallyfortheCure.

• HostofnumerousleagueeventsincludingPacificSun,Hill&

Canyon,variousUSTAandHill&Harbor.

• HostedaspecialmadeforTVeventin1998,whichwastelevised

worldwidethatfeaturedJohnMcEnroe,JimmyConnors,Yanick

NoahandBjornBorg.

• HostandpromoteroftheprestigiousPacificSouthwestSenior

Tournamentsince1995withcontinuousgrowtheveryyear.

• HostedandpromotedoneofthemostsuccessfulDavisCup

matchesheldinsouthernCaliforniabetweentheUnitedStates

andtheNetherlandsin1997.

Ken Stuart, Director of Tennis, John Wayne Tennis Club

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BROUGHT THE DAVIS CUP TO NEWPORT BEACH

Kenhassaidthathissingleproudestandbiggestachievementinbusinesswasnegotiating,landingandhostingthe1997DavisCuptennismatchbetweentheUnitedStatesandtheNetherlandsatPalisadesTennisClubinNewportBeach.

Over6,000seatsweresoldoutdailyatthePalisadesTennisClubandoveronehundredmillionviewerssawtheeventliveoverthreedaysonESPN.ThisachievementwonhimtheNewportBeachPersonoftheYearAward.

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Ken with Roy Emerson (world famous tennis champion and philanthropist) discussing Roy’s Adoption Guild Tournament.Palisades members have consistently given the most support to the tournament which raises funds to financially support Holy Family Services, a foster and adoption agency in Southern California.By bringing the Davis Cup to Newport Beach, the city presented to

Ken the Person of the Year Award.

1967: Coach, Costa Mesa High School Tennis Team

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS

Ken with his daughter, Hanna, and two sons, Josh and Cody.

Letter from Jack Kramer sending congratulations upon the success of Palisades Tennis Club.

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In 2015, Ken was awarded a prestigious award from Wilson Racquet Sports Company for 50 years as a member of their professional advisory staff. Ken is the longest staff member at Wilson Racquet Sports, second only to Jack Kramer.

This year will mark the 90th Anniversary of the prestigious Pacific Southwest Senior Tennis Tournament. It will also mark to 21st continuous year with Ken as its tournament director and his club as host for the event, which has enjoyed steady growth every one of those years. This year the event will have hosted over 12,000 southern California senior tennis matches under Ken as its tournament director.

Ken is a self-made man who loves life and all he encounters in it. He is a great father and enjoys his three kids thoroughly. He is a wonderful friend-loyal and dedicated. When he is your friend, you can count on him forever. Ken has been an avid car collector since he was fifteen years old. He also treasures memorabilia and antiques.

Ken developed his proprietary Match Making system that organizes and sets up matches with players with similar rankings, time availability and more!

KenStuartPalisadesTennisClub1171JamboreeRoadNewportBeach,CA92660949-644-6900www.palisadestenniscom

Ken has been an avid car collector since he was sixteen years old.

1973: Ken with John Wayne at the Grand Opening of the John Wayne Tennis Club.

1976: Champagne celebration of winning #1 Tennis Club in Southern California.