Beginning their time in both adult leagues and as captains not long ago, husband and wife Eileen and Ronald Yip have quickly emerged onto the scene as two of the sections’ best leaders, captaining their teams with integrity, professionalism, grit and sportsmanship.

EARLY LIFE / EDUCATION & CAREERS

The Yip’s journeys in life and tennis shared its similarities, as both did not pick up the sport until their teenage years, while also growing up in Southern California following a departure from their initial birthplaces. Eileen spent her childhood in the San Gabriel Valley after a move from Massachusetts when she was only two years old, while Ronald grew up in the Brightwood area following his family’s immigration from Hong Kong to Monterey Park when he was just three years old. With both Eileen and Ronald taking interest in sports from a young age, Ronald was the younger of the two that first stepped on a court, beginning to play when he was in the seventh grade.

Discovering his love of tennis and competition, Ronald continued to play from then on throughout high school, where he spent a year on the frosh team followed by three years on the varsity squad. Only beginning to play tennis when she was a freshman, Eileen was a member of her high school team for all four years, choosing to stick with tennis over her other interests volleyball and basketball. Like Ronald, Eileen spent a year on the freshman team followed by three years on varsity. 

Although both enjoyed the sport, neither continued to play following their high school years, and instead shifted focuses to their studies. Five years older than Ronald, Eileen was the first to attend university, remaining relatively close to home while at Cal Poly Pomona. Majoring in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management and Human Resources, Eileen graduated in 1998, where she would then accept a position with Panda Restaurant Group following an internship with the Cal Poly Foundation. 

A Business Administration major, as well, Ronald also stayed local attending UC Riverside, where he would graduate in 2003. Upon graduation, his career began shortly after when he was hired at AT&T Wireless as a call center customer service representative. Remaining with AT&T for nearly two years, Ronald took on a new role with Panda Restaurant Group shortly after his time there, beginning to work as a telecommunication administrator, mailroom and warehouse clerk, and receptionist. 

Although starting with the company in 2005, Ronald would not meet Eileen until a few years later, as their paths would first cross in 2008 after being introduced by colleagues. Bonding over shared interests in and outside of work, the two began to date, growing both as a couple and in their professional lives over the years. Creating memories and a relationship together that was ready to withstand the test of time, Ronald proposed to Eileen. Not too long after, the two tied the knot in 2011. Growing together through the years, Ronald and Eileen both climbed the ranks in their professional careers. Continuing to advance at Panda Restaurant Group, Ronald has worked within various roles for the organization, spending time as an Administrative Assistant, Property Coordinator, Corporate Paralegal, Senior Corporate Paralegal, Senior Risk Analyst, Safety Manager, and now Senior Safety Manager in his nineteenth year.

While switching places of work early in her career, Eileen would discover that Human Resources would be her calling while with Panda Restaurant Group. Looking back on her career, Eileen has now held roles working as an HR Generalist, Director of HR, Manager of People Advisory Services, Educational Programs Chair, Senior HR Business Partner and a Client Relationships Executive. Here, she has worked for companies such as The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, EY, PIHRA and now ADP, to where she has been for nearly the last twelve years. 

RE-DISCOVERING TENNIS / CAPTAINING

While both Ronald and Eileen had a history with tennis and enjoyed the sport, it was not something they participated in during their first ten years together while married. Each of the Yip’s more than twenty year long hiatus from tennis would all change in 2021, as their lives, like everyone else’s, dramatically changed with the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping across the world. Being regulated to work from home in light of these events, the couple was eager to find ways to stay occupied outside of work and looked to regain a bit of normalcy in their lives while being active.

That summer, Ronald decided to pick up a racquet again and enrolled himself in local tennis clinics. After rekindling his passion for the sport and wanting to share the experience with his wife, Ronald signed Eileen up for the same clinics that October. Thought at the time to be just a hobby lasting through the pandemic, the Yip’s discovered a love of competing together on the court, and have only begun playing more frequently over the last few years. 

Re-learning the basics of the game inspired Ronald to take up league play, which is where he discovered USTA SoCal. Ronald played in his first league in March of 2022, while Eileen followed suit shortly after, joining a mixed doubles league alongside her husband that December. 

Beginning to play competitively evolved into something more that the two could do together, lead their own team within adult leagues. With on-court experience under their belt, Ronald and Eileen decided to take over the reins as co-captains in 2023, managing a team out of their hometown’s Arroyo Seco Racquet Club. 

“Ron has always been pretty good about working out and staying healthy thanks to Panda’s culture of maintaining a healthy lifestyle as well as people development,” Eileen shared. “Other than running half marathons and playing softball in Panda’s interdepartmental league, Ron restarted his tennis game back in 2021 at Arroyo Seco Racquet Club by registering and re-learning tennis through a Sunday clinic. Because Ron had not competed in tennis since 1999 but still had a competitive drive, he decided to sign up for the USTA adult league in the Spring of 2022 to compete again.  Ron played with a few teams in the San Gabriel Valley League until Winter of 2023 when Ron and I formed our first mixed doubles team at Arroyo Seco. Our team name started as One Hit Winners, but the team name later evolved to Ball Hogs which is what our teams are called now.”

In their over one and a half years in this role, the Yip’s have combined to captain fifteen teams across various different levels of play. So far this year, Eileen and Ron have co-captained seven teams together in the leagues of 18 & Over 7.0 Mixed Doubles, 40 & Over 7.0 Mixed Doubles, 18 & Over Mixed Tri-Level, 18 & Over 3.5 Men, 40 & Over 3.5 Men, 18 & Over Men’s 3.5 Doubles, and Men’s Tri-Level. In addition, Eileen has captained the “Ball Hogs” by herself across multiple divisions this year, including leading teams of 18 & Over 3.5 Women, 40 & Over 3.5 Women, 18 & Over Women’s 3.5 Doubles, and a Men’s 3.5 Singles Team that Ronald is a player on. 

“Ron and I work well in this co-captain tandem,” added Eileen. “Here, I am able to manage the schedule, rosters, and connect with other captains, while Ron helps coach our team on fundamentals, tennis mechanics and in-play strategy. Through captaining, we have formed many new friendships within our teams as well as in the league. Our goal for our teammates is to ensure that we are all having a great time, trying to get a win, meeting new friends while getting a great workout out of each set we play.”

As captains, the Yip’s find joy in being able to bond over a shared hobby together. Being surrounded by competition and others looking to better themselves inspires both Ronald and Eileen, and only pushes them to work harder to provide the best experiences for their teams. Like their jobs, captaining shares its similarities, requiring team camaraderie, motivation, a positive environment, and dedication. 

“With Ron, I enjoy the strategy discussions we have to position our players, having fun playing a sport we enjoy, and having been able to grow our tennis community,” Eileen stated. “My favorite aspect about captaining is motivating our team on a weekly basis to do better. I understand that it is okay if we don’t win all the time, and that it’s more important to focus on the progression we make as we continue the journey together. I love how leagues are always competitive and the camaraderie of all the players and families. It’s great interacting with other captains and teams that reciprocate the joy of this sport.

As the Yip’s are still relatively new to both the USTA Adult League and the captaining scenes, they hope to keep improving each time they step on to the court and send their players to battle. Individually, Ronald and Eileen look to keep working on their mechanics as players, while they aspire to one day have their teams qualify for Sectionals, and possibly even Nationals.