John Embree Joins Donnay USA
July 4, 2011
Tennis industry veteran John Embree has joined Donnay USA as a consultant to be its director of sales and lead marketing efforts in the U.S., the racquet brand announced. Embree has served in a variety of capacities in his 30-plus years in the industry as a brand executive, as well as compiling grassroots experience as a tennis director, teaching pro and USTA administrator.
“John has a tennis industry pedigree and reputation for honorable leadership that is second to none,” said Bobby Choe, CEO of Donnay USA, which re-launched the brand last year.
Among his accomplishments, Embree launched the USTA Adult League tennis program in 1980 and became its first national league administrator. Following a four-year stint as general manager and director of tennis at the New Orleans Hilton Rivercenter Tennis Club, he moved to the brand side of tennis.
He spent 17-1/2 years at Wilson Sporting Goods where he held a numerous roles, including vice president and general manager for the global Racquet Sports Division for over six years. In 2004, he became managing member and president of Balle de Match tennis apparel, and most recently served as president of Prince Sports, the Americas.
For the past year, Embree has developed a consulting practice to help a variety of tennis enterprises, including the USTA, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), Peter Burwash International, and OTG Technologies.
“I am excited to join a brand that has such a rich heritage with icons such as Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg and Andre Agassi as part of its illustrious past,” Embree says. “Now, with its current XēneCore and with Dual Core technologies, Donnay is uniquely positioned to marry its legacy and its new technology to offer players racquets that are ‘new school’ and state of the art.”
The current Donnay line-up consists of the X-Series for players with long and fast swings launched in 2010, and the new X-P-Dual line for players with medium-to-long swings and the X-P and X-P Lite models for players with short-to-medium swing styles. Visit donnayusa.com.