LONG-TIME COACH, COLLEGIATE PLAYER AND USTA VOLUNTEER RELOCATES FROM FLORIDA
USTA Florida Hall of Fame inductee Maria Cercone has been named USTA Southern Manager of Junior Competition, USTA Southern Executive Director & COO John Callen announced today.
Cercone has made her mark in tennis in Florida as a tennis director at three major tennis clubs since 1990 and as a USTA High Performance Coach. She also has a long-history of service to USTA Florida, including serving as a Vice President from 2000-2004. She was inducted into the USTA Florida Hall of Fame last year.
A native of Argentina who grew up in Largo, Fla., Cercone was a highly-ranked junior in Florida and nationally in the 1970s. While earning a B.A. in English Writing from the University of Pittsburgh, she played tennis at line 1 for four years.
Beginning in 1990, she served as Tennis Director at the Treasure Island Tennis & Yacht Club, the Seminole Lake Racquet Club and, for the last eight years, at the Bardmoor Golf and Tennis Club. Cercone holds a USPTA High Performance, USTA High Performance and USTA Sports Science Levels 1 and 2 certifications. She coached the Florida Junior Fed Cup Girls’ 18s team along with Zonal and Mills/Redgrave Challenge teams. Her service to USTA includes being a member of the USTA Player Development, Collegiate and Competitive Youth and Training committees, along with the following USTA Florida posts: Board of Directors, Junior Competitive Council (chair), Collegiate (chair), High Performance (chair), Diversity (chair) Coaches Commission and Nominating committees.
In 1996 she received the 1996 United State Olympic Committee Developmental Coach of the Year. She was twice named as USTA Florida Junior Coach of the Year. Other Florida honors include 2008 Tennis Family of the Year, 1995 Tennis Merit Award, 1995 Tournament of the Year and the 1973 Jimmy Gant Award.
Callen said, “We are extremely happy to have a person of Maria’s caliber on our staff. She has served with distinction as a coach and volunteer and brings years of experience in junior tennis to the USTA Southern staff.”
USTA Southern Director of Programs & Player Development Bill Ozaki added, “I’ve known Maria for more than 25 years and she has been an outstanding coach of young players. She is also known as a standout volunteer who has a vast understanding of the USTA and its mission.”