Staff Bios

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James N. Boyce Executive Director jboyce@tennisontario.com		Ely Schwartz Tennis Pathways Manager eschwartz@tennisontario.com

Jay Neill Membership Manager jneill@tennisontario.com		Kartik Vyas Provincial Coach kartikvyas@tennisontario.com

Andrew Chappell Interim Events Manager achappell@tennisontario.com		Gulshad Punja Administrative Assistant ota@tennisontario.com

Peter Malcomson Marketing Manager pmalcomson@tennisontario.com		David Lea Provincial Development Manager dlea@tennisontario.com

Rimzy Kuthubdeen - H.B. Com, CGA Controller rkuthubdeen@tennisontario.com		Samantha Pagnotta Rankings Coordinator tournaments@tennisontario.com

James N. Boyce
Executive Director

Jim brings a lifetime of dedication and experience in the tennis community to the Ontario Tennis Association. His extensive history began as a teenageer serving as captain of the Canadian team for the Junior World Championships and winning five prestigious national junior championships titles. These accomplishments awarded Jim the "Pepsi-Cola Outstanding Canadian Junior Award" three years in a row. As a university student on a full tennis scholarship he was captain of Mississippi State University's tennis team for three years and he was an all South Eastern Conference (SEC) player. Jim's stellar playing record flourished during his adult career as he was the Canadian Men's singles and doubles champion in 1976, a competitor on the Canadian Davis Cup team, and a 19-time national champion. Most recently, he had the honour of representing Canada once again, as a member of the Over 55 team during the 2009 Austria Cup in Mallorca, Spain.

Jim's credentials extend to coaching as well. He has been a certified Level 3 coach since 1984 and was awarded Tennis Canada's "Coach of the Year for Grassroots Development" in 1989. Additionally, Jim was the Eastern Canadian coach for 3 years, Chair of the Canadian Junior National Championships for 2 years, and coach of the Canadian National Team at the World Junior Championships in 1983 and 1985.

In 1977, Jim was hired by the All Season Racquets Club in Ottawa as their Head Pro and soon after, he made the transition to General Manager. Jim also served as General Manager at the Brantford North Park Racquets Club. At only 29 years old, Jim was selected as Chair of the 1980 Davis Cup Tie by Tennis Canada where he was instrumental in securing sponsorships and managing the event. Afterwards, Jim returned to Toronto as the Senior Professional at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club where he remained for the next ten years. In 1990, Jim decided to enter the real estate business, working as a Sales Representative for 7 years. During this time, he was simultaneously taking on the roles of Director of Junior Development then Director of Memberships at the Kew Gardens Tennis Club as well as Treasurer of the Toronto Tennis League. In addition to sitting on the board of Sport 4 Ontario for two years, from 2000 to 2005 Jim was an Executive Board Member (Finance) for the Sport Alliance of Ontario (SAO) and was the Chair of the Doug Philpott Inner-City Children's Fund which provides kids in need with free tennis lessons and equipment.

Jim began his career at the OTA as a board member, before taking the position of Chair of the Central Region in 1996. He soon moved into the role of Vice President of Marketing and Communications. Jim increasingly took a hands-on responsibility for the marketing aspects of the association and eventually decided to pursue the Executive Director position which he obtained in 1997. As Executive Director, Jim served as the project leader of the first web-based dynamic ranking system in Canada. This project, now known as Baseline, was completed in 2002 and is used by all provincial tennis associations across the country as well as Tennis Canada. Jim was also instrumental in the creation and design of tennisontario.com which currently receives 1,100,000 unique visits and 40,000,000 hits per year. In addition to these achievements, he also negotiated the long-term lease between the OTA and Tennis Canada at the Rexall Centre, where our offices have been located since 2005.

Currently, Jim's responsibilities include the overall management of the Ontario Tennis Association with a specific focus on the establishment and enhancement of the OTA's revenue streams. The OTA has experienced years of significant growth and improvement under Jim's leadership and the tennis community can look forward to even greater achievements in the years to come.

Jim can be reached at jboyce@tennisontario.com or at 416.514.1101.

Jay Neill
Club Membership Manager

Jay first started playing tennis at 13 in Port Perry, Ontario, where his high school built courts for the first time during the tennis boom in the 1970s.

After high school, Jay went to Durham College to study Business Adminsitration and got an accounting diploma. After working for eight years in accounting, Jay decided to return to college for two years in the Seneca College Coaching Techniques program with a specialty in tennis. Through this program, he gained his instructors and Coach 1 and 2 certifications.

Jay started his tennis career at Mayfair West where he ran tournaments. He joined the OTA in 1994. Jay has been with the OTA for more than 17 years. He spent two years in the Player Development portfolio before returning to Club Membership in 1997. Jay is a fully certified Coach 2 with diplomas from Seneca College (Coaching Techniques - Tennis) and Durham College (Business Administration - Accounting).

Jay is the person responsible for member club services such as the Club Insurance program. He also administers the Coaching Certification program.

Jay can be reached at jneill@tennisontario.com or at 416.514.1103.

Kartik Vyas
Provincial Coach

Kartik Vyas was born in Nairobi, Kenya and came to Canada in 1974. Having failed to qualify for the Kenya long distance sprint team, he decided to try his hand at tennis, learning to play on the municipal courts at Glenshields Tennis Club in Concord. Although he was primarily a recreational player, he got involved in coaching as a teenager. Kartik graduated from York University in 1994 with an Honours Degree in Political Science and a Minor in Marketing. While he studied, he also played on the varsity tennis and badminton teams. He worked for Tennis Canada as a student, looking after the clay courts among other things. He was also a volunteer at the Canadian Open on the transportation committee and also helped with the Remington family doubles. After university, Kartik joined the All Canadian Tennis Academy at York where he ran tournamnets including the ITF events.

Kartik brings over ten years of tennis management experience to the OTA team. Kartik worked his way up through the "ranks" as an instructor in recreational programs to the Director of Camps and Tournaments with the ACE Tennis Academy in Toronto. While at ACE, Kartik was responsible for over ten events including the All-Canadian ITF Group 5 Tournament.

Kartik has moved into the position of Provincial Coach with the departure of David DeFehr.

Kartik can be reached at kartikvyas@tennisontario.com or 416.514.1104.

Andrew Chappell
Interim Events Manager

Andrew managed the Tennis Pathways program for two years at the OTA. The program was a great success, highlights by participation at many high profile events such as Yonge Dundas Square, Taste of the Danforth, Ottawa Super Ex, Mississauga Waterfront Festival, Vaughan Canada Celebration and the Niagara Peach Festival to name a few. He was also instrumental in continuing the growth of Progressive Tennis in elementary schools in Ontario as part of the Tennis Pathways program.

Competing at the Canadian University varsity level for Brock, and in OTA tournaments every chance he gets, Andrew has a great understanding of the competitive structure in Ontario and is excited to bring his passion for tennis to Player Development at the OTA as the Interim Events Manager.

Andrew can be reached at achappell@tennisontario.com or 416.514.1106.

Gulshad Punja
Administrative Assistant

Gulshad migrated to Canada from Tanzania in 1989. As Administrative Assistant, Gulshad brings over a decade of service to the OTA. Current duties are as a receptionist and administrative assistant. She handles the administrative support and data entry for the OTA database systems that handle tasks such as player registration and the Ontario Tennis Magazine distribution lists. She provides support for all the staff and helps out with many of their administrative tasks.

Gulshad can be reached at ota@tennisontario.com or 416.514.1100 Ext.0.

David Lea
Provincial Development Manager

As "Provincial Development Manager", Daivd is responsible for the booking and delivery of the Fairs and Clinics program, the Progressive Floor Tennis Program for Elementary and High School students, and Teacher Training/AQ. Additionally, David is the OTA's liaison for OFSSA Tennis, OTA Community Tennis Clubs, Regional Chairs, and the Mentoring of Certified Instructors in the province.

He is a member of The College of Teachers.

A detailed "CV" is available, if you are not reading a good, gripping biography at the moment.

David can be reached at dlea@tennisontario.com or 416.514.1121.

Ely Schwartz
Tennis Pathways Manager

In April 2007, Ely Schwartz graduated from the University of Waterloo where he studied business and recreation. Ely was a dedicated member of the University of Waterloo varsity tennis team and in his final year, he led the team as captain.

Ely first connected with the OTA through the Tennis Pathways program. With the support of the OTA and the Trillium Foundation, he launched a successful business, Varsity Junior Tennis, which encouraged young participants to enjoy the rewards of recreational tennis. The program was sucessful in that it both raised awareness of the sport in the Kitchener/Waterloo community and provided its participants with a unique and active summer experience. Upon returning to Toronto, Ely worked with Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment Limited in the Community Relations department where he continued to develop his outreach skills and industry knowledge.

For 3 years, Ely managed the Cardio Tennis program for the OTA. This included developing and implementing a Cardio Tennis School program, training teachers and tennis coaches to run the program, and providing resource materials to them to sustain the program.

The Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport has provided the OTA with funding to continue to promote tennis at the grassroots level through the continuation fo the Tennis Pathways program. This program has a great reputation for introducing tennis to thousands of children and adults, and linking them to continue to play in their community. Ely is excited to bring his experience and enthusiasm as manager of this program.

Ely can be reached at eschwartz@tennisontario.com or 416.514.1107.

Peter Malcomson
Marketing Manager

A lifelong tennis enthusiast, Peter bring many years of sales and marketing experience, from both outside and from within the tennis community to his position. After graduating with an English degree from York University, Peter spent 15 years in the advertising world, working first for an ad agency and later in sales and marketing for several media outlets including SCORE Golf, the National Post and Transcontinental. He was also a partner in the country's largest in-store radio network, POPPS. Peter eventually directed his efforts within the tennis business, working on contract for Tennis Canada and part-time as a tennis instructor at the Waterside Sports Club in Toronto. Most recently he was a partner in RL SportsLines, a tennis and golf apparel distributor. He joined the OTA in October 2010 in the capacity of Marketing Manager.

Peter can be reached at pmalcomson@tennisontario.com or 416.514.1102.

Rimzy Kuthubdeen
Controller

Rimzy migrated to Canada form Sri Lanka in 2001. He is a Certified General Accountant (CGA) and went on to obtain his Honours Bachelor fo Commerce degree from Laurentian University. RImzy has spent the last fifteen years working in the Accounting and Finance field in Corporate Canada and internationally, including a recent position as an Accounting Manager in the retail sector. He joined the OTA as its Controller in March 2010.

Rimzy can be reached at rkuthubdeen@tennisontario.com or 416.514.1108.

Samantha Pagnotta
Rankings Coordinator

As the "Rankings Coordinator" Samantha has been working as part of the Player Development Team with the OTA and Tennis Canada. She is responsible for handling all ranking and tennis inquiries, as well as working on the development of the Junior Competitive Structure in Ontario. This includes the head-to-head ranking system and the day to day tasks involved in running OTA sanctioned tournaments. Having a joint position with Tennis Canada, Samantha has also been able to work with the Tennis Development team on tournament entries for the ATP, WTA, ITF and other out-of-province events.

Samantha can be reached at tournaments@tennisontario.com or 416.514.1105.