A new president!
This week we saw the passing of the president’s baton between our past president, Nate Harlan, and our incoming president, AJ Benevides.
A few thoughts from our board members on Nate's tenure:
Brad Hales- During Nate’s stint as President of SOKY, the Bowling Green tennis community has seen tremendous growth. Nate played a role alongside Martina in bringing indoor tennis to Bowling Green, and was instrumental in Buchanon’s grand opening. He worked alongside Chad to create the SOKY lounge inside the indoor facility.
Nate has played a big role in advancing SOKY tennis. He's worked on grants from USTA with Louise, created social opportunities such as our Halloween party and the Wimbledon party. He's helped advance our social media alongside Carrie, Cassidy & AJ. Our leagues are at an all time high in participation thanks to Nate & Brad's leadership, with local teams receiving two state championships this year. Finally, with his assistance to Paula, we were able to successfully host several state tournaments the last few years that saw record turnout.
Martina Fee- We’re so grateful for Nate’s leadership. Nate stepped into the President role as the building started construction and through the first year of use. He has invested a lot of time and energy into this process including construction meetings, planning meetings, and WCPR meetings.
Nate has been a great leader for SOKY tennis. One of his dreams for this community is to host a large tournament and that dream is coming to fruition. The SOKY and Warren County tennis community is better because of Nate Harlan’s leadership and guidance.
Minda Schafer- I have known Nate for several years not only through serving with him on the SOKY Board, but also being fortunate to play next to him on the court. He plays with amazing sportsmanship which he also carried into his leadership role as President of SOKY Tennis. Nate is always available to make sure he supports tennis and us as players. There are so many accomplishments he was pivotal in supporting, like bringing the USTA Mixed Doubles State Tournament and then soon after the USTA Combo State Tournament to our community. We have been very fortunate to have him as our President over the last few years and know he will be right beside us continuing to support this amazing game on and off the court!
SOKY is a better, stronger organization, as Nate passes the leadership baton to AJ Benavides. We’re all thankful to Nate’s level of commitment to our tennis community. We're also super excited for AJ. He's going to do a great job!
