Management

After an impressive 12-year career in healthcare philanthropy and fundraising that included five years at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and seven years with the Anne Arundel Medical Center Foundation (AAMCF), Briana Walsh is thrilled to join JTCC as Chief Development Officer.

Briana’s hard work for the AAMCF helped secure a $3 million private gift to build a new mental health hospital in Anne Arundel County. The Severna Park native graduated from Loyola University and earned an M.S. degree in Sports & Event Management from George Washington University.

She is ecstatic to join JTCC and return to her roots in sports philanthropy where she began her career with the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation fundraising for youth baseball programs in underserved areas of the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

A former top 50 WTA Tour doubles standout and two-time recipient of the National ITA/Arthur Ashe, Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship, Megan serves as an aspirational role model for JTCC players and coaches. She continues to be widely recognized as a leader in the sport and was recently appointed to the USTA Board of Directors.

As the General Manager of Player Development and a member of the Executive Team, Megan’s goal is to create an environment of excellence both on and off the court at JTCC. Her certifications include PTR Performance, USTA High Performance and USTA Facility Coach.

Since joining JTCC in 2016, Megan has coached and mentored players who have been crowned NCAA Champions, achieved top 100 ITF junior rankings, and who have continued to succeed playing DI and DIII collegiate tennis.

Competing on the professional tour from 2008-17, Megan demonstrated her consistency by reaching the Round of 32 at all four Grand Slams in doubles and winning the WTA Monterrey doubles championship in addition to 10 ITF doubles titles.

While earning a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from William & Mary in 2007, Megan completed a stellar college tennis career with a top 10 ranking in both singles and doubles, achieving the #1 ranking in doubles and #7 in singles. The six-time All-American reached the semifinal round of the 2006 NCAA Singles Championship and the final round of the 2007 NCAA Doubles Championship.

Megan’s coaching philosophy is, “Get players excited about their progress which will fuel their motivation to continue to work hard, overcome setbacks and reach their full potential.”

With more than 20 years of professional experience in the health and tennis industry, Joe has an impressive track record of growing memberships and the game of tennis.

Joe held key management positions with Midtown Athletic Clubs and Midtown Health from 2003-17. He was hired as a tennis coach and moved quickly through the ranks to become Regional Tennis Director. In that role, Joe oversaw all tennis operations at two of Mercy Health’s clubs and three area country clubs. Joe was then promoted to General Manager for Mercy HealthPlex Anderson, the flagship of Midtown Health, where he operated a 150,000-square foot Health Wellness & Tennis Club in Cincinnati and led a team of 225 associates dedicated to creating the best athletic club environment in the greater Cincinnati area.

From 2017-19, Joe was General Manager of the Raleigh Racquet Club, a 31-court facility on 20 acres with more than 1,000 members in North Carolina.

When he was Senior Vice President, Joe immediately created Learn Tennis Now, JTCC’s new adult tennis program. He is responsible for oversight of club operations, programming and staffing. In addition, he manages capital projects and seeks new business development opportunities for JTCC nationwide.

Joe was recruited to play collegiate tennis for Methodist University in Fayetteville, NC where he graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a concentration in Professional Tennis Management,

Joe holds certifications from USPTA, PTR, and USTA Sports Science.

For more than two decades, Vesa has been the driving force behind JTCC’s holistic coaching philosophy since the doors first opened in 1999 at the training center in College Park, MD.

Vesa is a strong believer in the Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) stages and the Long-Term Progressive Training Methods. He has directly overseen the development of hundreds of JTCC players competing in all levels of tennis; USTA, ITF, NCAA, ATP, WTA, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Grand Slams, and Olympic Games. Under his leadership, JTCC has been named the National Development Program of the Year in 2013 and 2017 by USTA.

In 2011, Vesa was selected as the National Developmental Coach of the Year by the US Olympic Committee and was recognized as the National Junior Coach of the Year by Tennis Industry Magazine in 2013. Vesa is widely acclaimed as one of the best development coaches in the world and is a frequent speaker at national and international coaching education seminars.

As JTCC President, Vesa directs long-term strategic planning, facilitates project implementation, and fosters new partnerships. He also manages and mentors staff members and ensures the high standard of quality of JTCC programming.

His coaching certifications include USPTA, PTR, and USTA High Performance.

Vesa earned both an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and a MBA from the University of Tennessee.

One of the most successful and experienced executives in the tennis industry, Ray is passionately committed to growing tennis participation at every level of the sport.

Under his leadership as the CEO since 2008, JTCC has been the recipient of the USTA’s Development Program of the Year, the USTA Organization of the Year, and the USTA Facility of the Year.

Most importantly, JTCC programs have developed ATP and WTA Tour players and more than 200 student-athletes who have earned over $21 million in college scholarships at top NCAA Division I, II, and III programs.

Ray was a founder and president of ProServ, a leading sports management and marketing firm, which managed top athletes including Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Tracy Austin, Pam Shriver, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Payne Stewart and Dave Winfield, among many other superstars. Ray directed the Volvo Grand Prix and the Volvo Masters at Madison Square Garden, serving as the tournament director for more than 100 major events.

Ray promoted the Nuveen Tour from 1993-2000, the first worldwide senior tennis circuit featuring Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and other legends of the game who competed in 22 events drawing 500,000 spectators annually.

As the first National Executive Director of the National Junior Tennis League (NJTL), Ray led the organization’s growth from three cities to 50 chapters. JTCC’s GEICO Game On! and Sandy Spring Bank Advantage Prince George’s programs are legacy NJTL chapters made possible through Ray’s vision.

Ray has served on the board of directors of the USTA and both the men’s and women’s professional tennis associations. He represented the North American Tournament Directors on the Men’s International Professional Tennis Council and the Top 20 players on the WTA Board of Directors.

Ray was inducted into the Mid-Atlantic Tennis Foundation Hall of Fame in 2005.