USHSTA Executive Director
Steve Milano was responsible for the launch of the U.S. High School Tennis Association in 2000, serves as its executive director and conducts the USHSTA coaching workshops. He is also the founder and executive director of the National Federation of State High School Tennis Associations.
Tennis Background
Steve served as the first Executive Director of the Professional Tennis Registry Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation dedicated to the training and education of tennis teachers and coaches, from 1987 to 1992. The PTRF is the 501(c)(3) charity arm of the Professional Tennis Registry, a 501(c)(6) trade association.
While at the PTRF, Steve served as publisher and editor-in-chief of TennisPro, the bi-monthly trade magazine for tennis teachers and coaches read in more than 100 countries worldwide. In addition, he coordinated the PTR Foundation International Tennis Symposium, an international gathering of tennis teachers and coaches from more than 30 countries.
At the Foundation, Steve assumed sole responsibility for turning the organization into a respected industry entity, working with such individuals as Arthur Ashe, Tracy Austin, Bud Collins, Owen Davidson, Billie Jean King and Stan Smith.
Since 1988, Mr. Milano, a professional journalist and former tennis teacher, has interviewed and worked with many of the top tennis coaches and sport scientists from around the world, including Vic Braden, Peter Burwash, Dr. Louis Cap, Louis Cayer, Dr. Jeff Chandler, Dr. Bruce Elliot, Carlos Goffi, Dr. Jack Groppel, Page Love, Dr. Jim Loehr, Luis Mediero, Edvard Raastad, Dr. Paul Roetert, Richard Schoenborn, Dennis Van der Meer, Jim Verdieck, and Dr. Ron Woods.
He has worked with representatives of the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Associaion, Deutsche Tennis Bunde, Jamaican Lawn Tennis Association, Namibia Tennis Association, Mexican Tennis Fedration, Norwegian Tennis Association, Registro Profesional de Tenis, Tennis Canada, United States Tennis Association and United States Professional Tennis Registry.
Steve has used the knowledge he has gained to write more than 200 articles for teachers and coaches; present lectures in Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and the U.S.; and produce two videos on motor learning, one of which, Teaching Tennis: Individual Instruction©, placed first in its category in the prestigious National Educational Media Network video competition. He also produced two tennis videos for recreational videos, How to Win at the League and Local Tournament Level© (Singles and Doubles) in conjunction with Dunlop Racquet Sports, again winning an NEMN award.
Steve wrote and published Scholastic & Academy Tennis: Planning the Season©, the first guide to applying periodization principles to on-court tennis training programs. He also wrote all of the contents for the USHSTA Coaches Workbook.
With the rise of the Internet, Steve turned to creating content for tennis consumers, creating hundreds of articles for website such as LIVESTRONG, the Arizona Republic‘s Healthy Living Channel, Youthletic, TheNest Woman, Smart-Healthy-Living.net, PlayYourCourt, and even Michelob Ultra’s active living website.
Steve was one of the first 50 people in the U.S. to take and pass all three courses of the USTA’s comprehensive Level II Sport Science workshops covering nutrition, physiology, sports medicine and biomechanics, motor learning and psychology. Based on his demonstrated knowledge of the application of the sports sciences to tennis coaching, the USTA allowed Steve to skip the Level I test requirement.
He has spoken at the U.S. Open for the USTA’s Tennis Teachers Conference, the Texas Tennis Coaches Association annual convention (the fourth-largest tennis coaches conference in the U.S.), the Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Association and has conducted coaching workshops for the USHSTCA in California, Georgia, Louisiana, New York and Texas. At two USPTR International Tennis Symposia on Hilton Head Island, his lectures were rated #2 and #5, respectively out of more than 40 speakers. He was invited to Spain to speak at the annual conference of the Spanish Professional Tennis Registry, spoke at the Mexican Tennis Federation‘s annual congress, consulted and lectured at a tennis conference for Asian coaches in Bali for the Indonesian Tennis Federation, conducted a sport science workshop and junior clinics for the Jamaican Lawn Tennis Association and acted as a Certification Tester for the USPTR there, and conducted clinics for coaches and juniors for the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association.
Steve taught tennis professionally beginning in 1984, teaching and coaching adults and juniors in a wide variety of recreational and competitive programs. In 1992, he led the Hilton Head High School Boys tennis team to the South Carolina Region 6-AAA championship and was assistant coach of the girls team which won the SC Region 8-AAA title. He is a certified member of the Professional Tennis Registry with a Professional rating and has served on the Boards of Directors of Hilton Head’s tennis association and tennis professionals association, and the Lawrence (KS) Tennis Association and Roswell (GA) Community Tennis Association.
An active member of his tennis community, Mr. Milano has donated his time to the following organizations and events:
Publications Committee, Southern Tennis Association (USTA)
Board of Directors, Roswell Community Tennis Association
Board of Directors, Lawrence Tennis Association
Board of Directors, Tennis Association of Hilton Head Island
Board of Directors, Hilton Head Island Tennis Professionals Association
Founder/Director, Hilton Head Island Youth Tennis Program
Head Coach, Hilton Head High School Boys Tennis Team; 1992 SC Region 6-AAA Champions
Assistant Coach, Hilton Head High Girls Tennis Team; SC 1992 Region 8-AAA Champions
Organizer, New Balance “Yes to Tennis, No to Drugs” clinic featuring Tracy Austin
Organizer, Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraisers
Organizer, Hilton Head Boys & Girls Club tennis program
Clinician, Muscular Dystrophy Association summer tennis clinics
Clinician, Week of Champions chidlren’s tennis clinics
Clinician, Northside (Atlanta) Hospital Breast Cancer fundraisers
Golf Background
Steve was a motor learning consultant to the U.S. Golf Teachers Federation, a leading, international educational and certification organization for golf instructors. Steve was a speaker at the USGTF’s 1999 International Convention in Florida.
He has written for Golf Pro magazine and has produced the video, Teaching Golf Lessons That Last©, a companion to an instructional booklet of the same name, in conjunction with the USGTF. Steve has written Practice Like You Play©, a booklet for recreational, scholastic and competitive golfers.
He has written many golf articles for consumers for websites such as Golfsmith, LIVESTRONG, Youthletic and the Arizona Republic‘s Healthy Living website.
Professional Journalist
Steve has published more than 8,0000 pieces of content (articles, blog posts, infographics) in newspapers, magazines, newsletters and websites throughout the world. He is one of the world’s leading tennis sport science journalists (because no one else wants to do it!) and keeps busy writing for major media companies, content brokers and brands.
He has a Master of Science Degree in Journalism/Magazine Publishing from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism/Advertising from Northern Illinois University, with a minor in English, and Associate of Arts from the College of DuPage, which he finished in one year.
Steve has been a magazine doctor and association manager. More information about his corporate career is available on his LinkedIn page.
