With more than 35 years of experience on Southern California tennis courts, Chuck Kingman has seen it all as a coach, director of tennis, club manager, pro shop owner, tournament director and high school coach. 

So, there’s no one more qualified to speak on the need for more women tennis leaders and coaches in Southern California than someone like Kingman, who is beating the drum for the upcoming Women & Girls Who Ace event taking place August 5-7 at the University of San Diego. 

“Anything that gets more women into coaching, I’m all for,” said Kingman, the longtime boys’ and girls’ coach at Marina High in Huntington Beach. “Just providing opportunities and showing them what a career in coaching could offer them is what we are trying to do. And showing them that there’s a career path there. I think things like this event go a long way in helping with that.”

Kingman was asked why there is a shortage of female teaching pros. “That’s a really good question,” he said. “People have asked that question for so long. We have a lot of great coaches like Stella Sampras and Debbie Graham. The problem they have had in the past is that after women get done playing tennis, they have the tendency to move on and get married and have children and take different paths for some reason and not become coaches.”

Getting more women into the teaching profession is a big reason why the USTA Southern California section led by Director of Engagement & Industry Relations Nancy Abrams is bringing back for the second year the Women & Girls Who Ace Summit and Coaching Awards presented by the USTA Southern California and the Professional Tennis Registry and hosted by the University of San Diego.

The three-day festivities kick off Saturday, August 5, with a Women In Sports panel starting at 2 p.m. at the new Snapdragon Stadium. Participants will then stick around and enjoy NWSL action as the San Diego Wave FC face Angel City FC. For tickets click HERE. 

“At last year’s inaugural Summit, the panels focused on the impact of Title IX as we celebrated 50 years of this federal legislation,” said Abrams, who will announce on August 6 the kickoff of the USTA SoCal Women’s Coaching Cohort. “The female collegiate coaches, sports executives, and athletes revealed that although progress has been made with gender equity, more needs to be done to facilitate opportunities for girls and women to pursue their passions through sport.

“This year marks another milestone, the 50th Anniversary of equal prize money for men and women at the US Open. With gender and pay equity as factors in growing the female coaching base, USTA Southern California is expanding the Women & Girls Who Ace – Empowerment Through Sport initiative. I am passionate about collaborating on these opportunities with the PTR/PTRW Because We Can program, CIF and USD to mentor the next generation of female coaches, athletes, and sports executives.”

Kingman – who serves on the USTA Southern California Board of Directors and is an advisory team member for the CIF – will serve on a CIF alumni panel Monday, August 7, presented by the CIF’s Ron Marquez. 

Click here to register for this workshop by August 2nd!

Like Kingman, South Carolina resident Milena Vidos has a vested interest in seeing more females become tennis instructors and leaders in their communities. 

The Director of Education & Diversity for the Professional Tennis Registry, Vidos said the re-launch of the PTR-Women’s initiative “Because We Can” serves as a pathway to connect with and educate women who want to get into the teaching pro profession. 

She added that events like Women & Girls Who Ace complements everything the PTR-W is doing to get more women into coaching.  

“We’re trying to make it bigger and have heard such great feedback,” said Vidos, who on Sunday, August 6, from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. will deliver a unique on-court workshop along with the PTR’s Marley Woods. “USTA SoCal deciding to do three days this year and involve not only coaches, but also include the high school players and coaches which just makes it broader.” 

Vidos said PTR memberships consist of a little more than 26 percent of females, adding that young girl juniors and college players need role models to see that coaching can be a career option for them. 

“I think women bring a lot to the table,” said Vidos, a Brazil native. “We feel like there is a big gap there between the males and females. I think it’s for different reasons, and one is that girls just need a chance to see that they can become coaches and it’s not just for men. If you can see someone doing that job, you can see that you can do it as well.” 

She added: “I grew up with only male coaches and I didn’t know any different. But as I got older I started to realize I could have gotten a little more out of my coaches if I had a female coach who would understand me a little, as well.”

Visit the website here to learn more about and register for the event.