Mark is global tennis enthusiast with 20 years of certified professional tennis experience as a teacher, coach, director, clinician, and mentor. Mark’s goals are to grow the game of tennis in the Mid-Columbia region by inspiring and building more accessible pathways to tennis in our community and to develop a culture of growth in tennis and life through actionable outreach, including the underserved and underrepresented demographics of our regional communities. Mark also hopes to build a youth tennis foundation that supports education opportunities and tennis scholarships, with the goal of instilling the love of tennis for life.

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Mark has served a variety of roles in the tennis industry through the years.  Since 2018, Mark has served on the board of directors and as the president for the past 4 years for the Mid-Columbia Tennis Association, a USTA non-profit 501c(3) organization. Formerly, Mark served as a high-performance coach with Murillo Competitive Advantage, an elite tennis academy funded by the Andy Roddick Foundation, to train nationally and regionally ranked juniors ages 8-18. Mark worked closely with six elite coaches with national and global recognition to assist and coordinate daily high-intensity training programs tailored to unique performance needs from small groups of four to larger groups of 40+ players.

 

Mark also served with the tennis management company Peter Burwash International as a tennis director and instructor of competitive and social tennis programs for members and guests of clubs and resorts, among five international destinations in three countries, including Palm Springs, California, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and Guam. While teaching at the illustrious JW Marriot Desert Springs Resort & Spa, Mark served as a seasonal character in the PBI Tennis Show, also known as the “Harlem Globetrotters of Tennis.” On Guam, Mark was also selected by the Guam National Tennis Federation to represent the island nation as the Guam National Tennis Coach in 2007. Mark continued to serve as a high-performance coach of Guam’s top eligible junior and adult players in development of a competitive training regimen for year-round international competition, including the development of a tennis academy on Guam.

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Mark started playing tennis at the age of 5, following a family tradition of weekend tennis at the public parks. Lumbering around a Wilson Chris Evert wooden racquet became a rite of passage and by age 6, his father introduced him to former Tri-City Court Club tennis director Al Hopp’s Junior Development program. Mark grew to love the game and quickly found the tennis court to be his home away from home. For most of his junior years under the tutelage of Al, Mark was given free group lessons in exchange for helping teach other groups because his family did not have the finances to support the cost of lessons. He credits Al as a ‘godfather of tennis’ that helped instill his love for the game and tennis’ application for life. Mark quickly advanced in tournament class through the years and became a top junior player in the region.

 

Mark played collegiate tennis at Pacific Lutheran University, helping his team reach an NCAA Div. III #8 national ranking from 2000-2001. Mark’s junior competitive tennis background started as a USTA champ player and progressed as a stand-out player for Kamiakin High School from 1995-1999 with a regular-season undefeated record all four years going 64-0. Mark is a 2-time district and regional champion, highlighted by helping his team to a 1st-place finish at the WIAA 4A State Championship in 1998 and 2nd place in 1999. Mark was a doubles state finalist with his partner Luke Roloff in 1998 and earned 4th place in 1999.