Brigham Young University Hawaii tennis coach Dr. David T. Porter has been named one of three 2006 recipients of the Tennis Educational Merit Award. These prominent tennis awards were presented last week at a special luncheon held at The Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa in Tucson, Arizona, during the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Annual Meeting.
The Tennis Educational Merit Awards are given annually to individuals who are U.S. citizens or residents that have made notable contributions in the tennis education field at the national level. Award winners have repeatedly demonstrated leadership and creative skills in tennis instruction, writing, organization and promotion of the game of tennis. Porter was honored for being a leader among tennis-teaching professionals.
Porter, a professor of Exercise and Sports Science at BYU-Hawaii, coaches both the men's and women's tennis teams and has won 10 national championships at the school. In the 2002-03 seasons both collegiate teams won the NCAA Division II National Championships. This achievement made Porter the only coach in NCAA history to twice win national championships in both the men's and women's divisions in the same year.
In his spare time, Porter has contributed to the growth of educational opportunities for tennis professionals. A United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Master Professional, his leadership has been integral in developing free audio seminars available via the internet, as well as courses on CD/DVD, and he was instrumental in the development of the first educational TV series, On Court with USPTA, currently in its third season on The Tennis Channel. He has served as Chairman and Co-Chairman of the USPTA Education Committee and USPTA Testing and Certification Committee, respectively, since 1994. He has also been instrumental in the improvement of USPTA course offerings at regional, national and international educational conferences, while integrating new materials into the USPTA's certification and testing system. He currently is Chairman of the USPTA's Player Development Advisory Council.
Porter currently has the women's team at BYU-Hawaii ranked number-one in NCAA II play, and the men are ranked 14th nationally.
