Women's History Month - Jackie Payne

Jackie Payne didn't take the typical path to become USTA Texas President. As someone who didn't play tennis herself, Jackie got involved with the sport as a tennis mom. Her involvement with the sport grew over time and after time with the Amarillo Area Tennis Association, she made her way to the section level. 

Jackie rose quickly through the ranks, becoming Secretary, then Executive Vice President, and now President. Nearly a year before her presidency began, she laid the groundwork for what is now the Rally to Serve volunteer structure, completely revamping how volunteering is done. Under her leadership, USTA Texas has shifted from committees to project teams, making the volunteering aspect easier and more modern.

When she was named President on January 1, she became the sixth female president of USTA Texas. We're just three months into her term, but the changes that have come to the section have been dramatic.

We were lucky enough to speak with Jackie and several other past presidents earlier this month. Here is Jackie's tennis journey in her own words.

"It actually began when [my daughter] Jennifer started playing tennis when she was six in 1999. I'm not too athletic, I can hardly chew gum and walk and put one foot in front of the other at the same time, but [my husband] Bruce is really athletic and we thought it was important to engage her in some kind of activity. There's a park right down the street from us and we were down there started chatting. We went to Walmart and bought her a racquet and the rest is history.

"I have to say that I learned everything from Ona Lee Johnson here in Amarillo. She was quite willing to spend I mean just hours with me. We would have lunch at least once a week when I was still working and I was just trying to learn. It seems like women, once we decide we're going to become a volunteer, we immerse ourself in it in some way or another. That's kind of the way I've always done things, regardless of what it was I decided to do. I knew I had to learn about the association and so Ona Lee was someone who was just great to help me learn about the governance, about how things worked, about programs. She had leadership roles in texas and she would encourage me to come along and learn from her. Then when I knew I was getting ready to leave [my job at] American Quarter Horse Association, I thought I could be the secretary and take some burden off of someone, so she encouraged me.