Recognizing Board Member Pam Sloan

I love volunteering with the USTA. There are so many valuable resources that help a community and its residents get engaged in tennis—one of the healthiest and most fun activities. As a certified park & recreation professional, I’ve seen firsthand how the USTA has for many years been a terrific platform to help me introduce tennis into the community.

For millions of Americans, parks are at the center of so many great memories and experiences. Parks are often our first experience with tennis (as well as many outdoor activities), so I am excited we got to celebrate National Parks and Recreation Month earlier this year—the month of July provides a great opportunity to focus on parks and tennis. Covid put the country in a tailspin and tennis in the parks was one wellness activity that the community could continue to work on. To me, the collaboration between the National Recreation and Park Association and the USTA is critical in growing tennis.

I began my tennis journey more than 35 years ago, with Kansas City (Mo.) Parks and Recreation, offering tennis lessons, NJTL and tournaments to more than 1,200 youngsters. I also oversaw the Ashe-Bollettieri “Cities” tennis program in KC, which grew to over 1,000 registered players. I was also a longtime volunteer in the USTA Missouri Valley section, including serving two terms as section president.

In 2004, I moved to Northern California and became the Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Stockton. I quickly connected with USTA Northern California to volunteer and get involved. On the local level, I’m the president of the Stockton Junior Tennis Patrons, a CTA.

I’m on the USTA NorCal section's Board of Directors and, among other assignments, am the chair of the section’s Parks and Recreation Committee. At the national level, I’m vice chair of the USTA’s Public Parks Committee and liaison to the NRPA (I was honored to be on the NRPA Board of Directors from 2012 to 2014), and I also assist with the USTA Facility Assistance Program. 

In 2011, I retired from the City of Stockton and became a principal consultant to the Municipal Resource Group in Danville, Calif., where I specialize in operations and management for parks, recreation and community services—so in my job, I’m still very much involved in helping to grow tennis in public parks every day.

From my first job in the 1970s as a director of youth sports, right though my current role as a consultant to communities, I truly believe sports—and especially tennis—is a key to an incredible quality of life. And promoting and growing tennis at the grassroots, particularly for youth, is critical. I’m so grateful for what tennis has brought to my life, and I’m thrilled to be able to give back to this great sport.

(Editor’s Note: The many honors Pam Sloan has received for her work in parks & rec, sports and community include AAU Life Membership Award in 1991; Kansas City Park & Rec Exceptional Service Award in 1992; National Public Parks Tennis Association’s Jean and Hollis Smith Lifetime Achievement Award; USTA Missouri Valley Tennis Heart of America Hall of Fame in 2018; and USTA Missouri Valley Tennis Hall of Fame in 2019.)