Today on the show, we have Darren Potkey! Darren is the Executive Director for USTA Georgia and is involved in many different areas throughout the tennis industry (See Full Bio below). We talk about his tennis story, his thoughts on current topics such as local play, USTA 2021Junior Tournament Structure, and his new web series called "Catching Up" with both the Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame and ITA Alumni Atlanta. We also discuss his passions for spending time with his family and watching professional darts!
Check Out Darren's YouTube Video Series/Catching Up:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoP5zbOudo4W_BYKG0J0QlA 
FULL BIO:  Darren started playing tennis when he was 12 years old. Before that, he was on the national club soccer championship team out of New Hampshire, then moved to California and switched sports. He ended up in the top 75 of USTA national rankings in 16’s & 18’s playing in Southern California. Darren is the only CIF individual champion in his high school’s history (Ventura High School). He started his freshmen year at University of San Diego (under legendary coach Ed Collins) and then played final 3 years at UC Santa Barbara.  During his senior year, the team made the NCAA finals site (last 16) and is the only UCSB team to do so. After that, Darren worked one year at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (CMS) assisting Dr. Henry Krieger in his final year at the helm.  Dr. Krieger won over 400 matches at CMS. Darren then worked at the Southern California Tennis Association (USTA Southern California) for 14 years, the first four years as a Junior Competition Assistant under John Lansville and last ten years as Director of Junior Competition.  He had a lot of different projects going on while he was there, but most notably, he was the Tournament Director of the largest junior tournament in the United States at the time (Junior Sectionals, plus/minus 2,000 players).   In December of 2013, Darren started his current position as Executive Director of USTA Georgia. On the officiating side, his first tournament officiating was when he was 17 years old.  He has done many tournaments over the years mostly as a Referee/Supervisor: 23 NCAA Championships (mostly Division III), over 50 USTA National Championships, Easter Bowl, Orange Bowl, International Spring Championships, etc. He is also the Referee for the Pac-12 Championships and normally one of the Assistants for the ACC Championships. Darren is an international official (as a Referee). He is married to Courtney, who was a professional line umpire (worked 3 US Open finals) and she is now the ITA Officiating Department Administrator. He currently serves as a national trainer for USTA Roving & Referee, is a member of the ITA Officials Committee, and teaches continuing education workshops. Most importantly, Darren is a twin Dad to two 6 year old girls (Charlotte & Delaney) and his 4 year old son, Nolan.