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Hilton Head, SC – – The Professional Tennis Registry, the largest global organization of tennis teaching professionals, has awarded six members the International Master Pro award at last month’s PTR Symposium: Lynne Rolley, Delaine Mast, Herbert Schnaubelt, Oivind Sorvald, Wayne Elderton, and Frank Adams.

“These exceptional people are winning this award due to their dedication to PTR and their dedication to the future of this industry,” said PTR President and CEO Dan Santorum as he kicked off the awards ceremony.

Darryl Lewis, a current International Master Pro and the Director of Athletics at Old Town Club described the award. “The Designation of PTR Master Professional is the highest recognition outside of the Hall of Fame. It recognizes a career with a broad range of experiences, a significant amount of time spent in service of the sport and the PTR. All International Master Pros have been coaches and players. They’re driven and competitive in recreational tennis within their communities. They constantly give back through clinics and funding. They’re all leaders in our industry,” he said.

Lynne Rolley serves as the Chair on the PTR Board of Directors. With more than 50 years of teaching and coaching expertise at every level, Rolley served as the Director of Women’s Tennis for the USTA, coached the Fed Cup Team, PanAm Games and the US National Teams all over the world. She was the Director of Tennis at Berkeley Tennis Club and Moraga Country Club. Most recently, Rolley served as Executive Director of Tennis at La Quinta Resort and PGA West. Currently, she is the Director of Tennis at Meadow Swim and Tennis Club in Orinda, CA.

“After 50 years of coaching I can hardly believe I am receiving this. I have loved every minute of my coaching career. Receiving this honor and recognition humbles me and thrills me at the same time. I am proud to be part of this PTR community,” Rolley said.

Since 1986 Delaine Mast has been a figurehead for world team tennis, where she is the national director. She’s credited with getting more than a million people to play tennis. Mast has a long history of volunteerism within the USTA, having served on ten national committees or task forces since 1987. Currently, she serves on the USTA National High School Committee. Mast has also served as a Community Development Volunteer National Trainer since 1993; she was, in fact, one of the nine original national trainers and has conducted more than 50 workshops.

“People, education, and tennis are my passions in life. I roll my sleeves up every day to show others how much you can learn from this sport and how enjoyable and beneficial it is. It’s all about relationships and making a difference in peoples’ lives, especially the lives of our youth,” Delaine Mast said. She continued, encouraging the 400 attendees by saying, “never stop learning and find a solution.”

Herbert Schnaubelt has been a PTR member since 1989. From 1983-1989 he was the Head Professional at a German club with over 750 members and 35 different teams. He is a writer and a translator and in 2020 he moved to Italy to become the Technical Director under Luciano Botti. He has done over 4000 PTR Certification tests inside the office of Botti. In 2000 he met Dennis Van der Meer and was very struck by his innovations and friendliness. In 2005 he became full time as the PTR European Coordinator. He’s a speaker, presenter, player, tester, educator, and a man of the highest character.

“Experience, expertise, excellence are the 3 words I think of when I think of Master Professionals,” began Schnaubelt. Proud to be a member of the PTR, he continued, “The PTR with the pathway of education that was created has made tremendous steps forward. When we talk about making a world of difference, we are doing it.” He concluded, “It’s not about pure innovation, it’s about following the wisdom. I will promote and protect the wisdom of tennis.”

Oivind Sorvald has been the Director of Development for the Norwegian Tennis Association for more than 30 years. He was the Director of Tennis for the Van der Meer Tennis and has been a PTR Coach Developer since 1992. Oivind was awarded PTR Member of the Year in 2014. He is a level 3 Professional and has coached players for more than 40 years. Over the past 30 years he has been instrumental in the use of video analysis.

“I’ve been dreaming about this for a long time,” said Oivind. “Thank you to the PTR for giving me this unbelievable opportunity with unbelievable coaches and people,” he continued. Grateful for support, he concluded, “If you want to stay in tennis for a lifetime, you need your family to be there.”

Wayne Elderton is the Director of Tennis at North Vancouver Tennis Center and is certified as a Level 4 Coach in Club Professional 3. He is the second person from Canada to ever receive the award, following the footsteps of Butch Staples. Elderton is one of only 3 coaches who holds those certifications. He is a frequent speaker at conferences around the world.

Butch Staples, the first Canadian to receive this award, accepted the award on Elderton’s behalf.

“It’s a great honor to receive the International PTR Master Professional Designation. I’d like to thank the PTR and the selection committee for this distinction,” concluded Elderton.

Frank Adams is the Head Tennis Professional at the Highlands Ranch Community Association in Colorado, where he’s been for 20 years. In addition to keeping a normal lesson schedule, he also works with wheelchair players, the Native American Recreation Center in Denver, the Denver Asian Tennis League, and Star Search: a program that connects inner-city children to the sport of tennis. Frank has been inducted into the Black Hall of Fame, the Denver Asian League Hall of Fame, and was 2017’s PTR Professional of the Year. He’s a PTR Coach Developer and Mentor and has done a lot of work with the USTA both nationally and locally.

“It is the effort that makes you successful, not the outcome,” said Darryl Lewis, a fellow International Master Professional, who announced the award.

“I’d like to acknowledge the people who have come before me. They’ve been inspirational in my life in so many other lives. They’re about what we are here for. We all believe in the PTR’s motto We Make A World of Difference,” said Adams as he accepted the award. “Education is something that the PTR is noted for. It’s something we all believe and something we can learn from. I’m grateful for so many of the educational leaders who have come before me. This isn’t something that I’ve accomplished; I am the fruit of the effort of so many people and I am honored to receive this award today,” he concluded.