HighFIVE: Ron Steege

The following HighFIVE profile appears in the 2017 Fall/Winter issue of Colorado Tennis newspaper.

Running successful tennis programs isn’t the only thing that makes Ron Steege, Director of Tennis at Greenwood Athletic and Tennis Club, stand out among those making an invaluable impact on Colorado tennis. It’s the fact that he’s willing to challenge a highly successful program to see if it can be rebuilt into something even stronger.

Now 59, Ron’s been in the industry since 1983, getting his professional start with the John Gardiner organization working at various locations including Arizona, California, and Florida. But it was his own entrance into tennis that is the true foundation of his passion for improving the way that tennis is both taught and learned.

Growing up in Cheyenne, Ron describes his entrée to tennis at 15 as almost an accident. “Our high school was all about intramural programs,” he said, “and we’d get points for participating.” With a huge trophy on the line, he jokes that, “I did everything I could to win it and ended up getting hooked on tennis.”

In an era when young athletes had opportunities to play many sports and weren’t under pressure to specialize in one, he appreciates what developing as an athlete before becoming a strong tennis player did for him. Ron knows that tennis can lose young players to other competitive opportunities, and how the continued evolution of the sport is critical to its survival in Colorado.

A prominent proponent of ROGY (the progression for youth tennis), Ron is adamant that all of Greenwood’s teaching professionals are training to the latest method/strategies for kids, which adapts equipment and courts to make sure young people have a more enjoyable experience and are able to play with proper technique. Some recent program changes he and his team made challenged an already thriving club.

“I literally walked in and said we’re going to shake it up,” he said about encouraging his staff to consider what a new program would look like if you could build it from the ground up.”

That commitment to not getting into a rut is one of the driving forces behind Ron’s success. He served on the USPTA Intermountain Board, is currently on the USTA Colorado Board and is the Colorado District Representative on the USTA Intermountain Board. Ron has been recognized as the Intermountain Tester of the Year (four times), Intermountain Pro of the year in 2001 and Facility Manager of the Year (2006, 2008).

Ron’s commitment to progressing tennis through modern techniques and programs that attract young athletes and keeping them engaged will have an impact for many years to come. He said that he also wants young players to understand that tennis can provide a professional life for people just like it did for him.

“I don’t think many young people look at the sport of tennis and realize that it can be your profession,” he said, adding that, “it’s a great lifestyle and I’m so blessed to have found it.”

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