The Executive Director position of the Arkansas Tennis Association (ATA)is a very nice job during hard economic times. After reviewing the Federal Form 990 for Organizations Exempt From Taxes, Leslie Pfeiffer earned over $91,000 in 2008. Not a bad job considering it was an increase from over $69,000 in the previous year, and comparable salaries in neighboring state tennis associations are around $50,000.
While businesses are cutting salaries and jobs during these times, the ATA is enjoying its time lining their own pockets, attending lavish social tennis events, and supplying staff with free cell phones. Why does our executive director earn $91,000 while other state tennis associations pay $50,000? Check out page 7 on Form 990 to verify these figures!
The Form 990 is open to public view by going to the link below:
http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/237/237372183
/237372183_200812_990O.pdf
Please feel free to offer your comments!!!
115 comments:
I won't go into the financial difficulties my family has gone through this past year. Along with many others my husband lost his job in 2008. With two children whose lives revolve around tennis it's been quite a strain on my husband and me. We do all we can. I can't believe what happens without patrons being informed or consulted. How were we ever to know this? Thank you for pointing out the abuse of the funds no matter how angered it makes me. Knowledge is power! The greed is fraudulent and just plain highway robbery. Something must be done asap!
Who is in charge there? Who makes the calls and gives the ok to all this?
No wonder Leslie Pfeiffer wants to hang on to her job even though she is past retirement age and losing her memory! Leslie doesn't want a new director to replace her and find misplaced funds or preferential treatment to her cronies.
Leslie Pfeiffer has been known for giving tennis court repair work to cronies such as Woody Juels, father of Paula Juels Jones, without competitive bidding. So, Leslie nearly doubling her own salary to $91,000(in relation to other state association position)is not hard to fathom!
This recent news development about Leslie Pfeiffer is disgusting! The Georgia Tennis Association has a budget as big as 5 states and their exec. dir. earns a little more than Leslie P. Something is amiss here! The Board of Directors of the Arkansas Tennis Association must not know what other state directors earn. Guys, you are doing a great service to our tennis community by revealing this info!
Leslie Pfeiffer, aka Ms. Madoff, is making off with funds that could be used to promote this wonderful family sport whose families operate on a budget!
dudes,
so basically we have leslie pfeiffer earning over $7500/month in a position similar to an office manager position operating a small company budget. What a joke! She thought the public would never find out these facts. Read THE DISCLAIMER THAT THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAVE NOT FORMALLY REVIEWED THE FINANCIAL DOCUMANTS- Sched."O"
I noticed the expenses totaled $530,000 and Leslie P. is almost 16% of budget. I had respect for Teri Hennessy, the president of the ATA, but she signed off these documents of paying Leslie almost twice neighboring state's directors. So, Teri Hennessy is either innocent of the ignorance of exec. dir. pay in the southern section or she knows that Leslie Pfeiffer is goobling more out of the public tennis trough and not leaving some for others!
this is grossing me out! leslie is being paid $40,000 more than the director in mississippi. similar budget there, too!
Accounting fees of over $8200 for this small of revenue stream seems excessive!
So $50,000 is the going rate for an executive director of a small tennis association and Leslie Pfeiffer ends up with over $90,000.
What's the deal, board?
Below are a list of Board of Directors, Trustees, Officers:
Teri Hennessy, President
Deanna Garretson, Vice President
Joe Murphy, Secretary
Dan Pillar, Treasurer
Tom Fink, Director
Mildred Randolph, Director
Galen Havner, Director
Stephen Smith, Director
Janice Porter, Director
Larry Cornett, Director
Bob Lucky, Director
Judy Jones, Director
Leslie Pfeiffer, Executive Director
I NOTICED YOU FIXED YOUR LINK TO THE FORM 990. THANKS FOR PROVIDING THE PUBLIC WITH THIS DATA!!!
Pull up Kentucky's Tennis Association. Link is
http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/610/610916485
/610916485_200812_990EO.pdf
The executive director is Sharon Rahman. She earned $50,000.00 in 2008. Bit of a discrepancy here. This woman makes basically one-half of what Pfeiffer makes.
Something is wrong with this picture. Do we have a new Mrs. Madoff in the area?
Ann Brady is the executive dir. of Mississippi Tennis Assoc. and receives about $50,000. Check link:
http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/630/630737693/630737693_200812_990O.pdf
Elaine Francis, the executive director of Alabama Tennis Association earns a little over $50,000. Notice that the budget is much larger than Arkansas Tennis Assoc. budget. So, Leslie Pfeiffer is in charge of the books of the ATA for selfish interests instead of the benefit of others!!! Check link:
http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/630/630761000/630761000_200812_990O.pdf
Those tennis committee social events are lavish to say the least. Attended the Nat'l Public Parks meeting with Lucy Garvin and Stan Smith in attendance, they had full bar, full blown casino setup, and great food!
Going through some of the expenses I saw the phone bill stays about $10,000 and postage will be $0. Guess they never use stamps or ship anything but I'd be happy to sell them a much better plan on their phone setup. They're paying through the nose. I mean "we." I have some accountant friends who would charge far less. Or would also be happy to take the huge amount they're willing to pay.
What's up ATA? No research on salaries? I can't figure who is scared of who and who is kissing up. Maybe both? They're all kissing up to eachother and scared of their own shadow as well as everyone elses. Weird.
I say publish this information to the Arkansas Times and/or Gazette because the public has a right to know how Leslie is abusing the non profit ATA for her personal profit at the expense of tennis players of all ages in this state. Plus boycotting league tennis would be a good idea too because this is another example of lack of corporate oversight and greedy executive compensation.
I would email the below Southern League tennis official with these links and information, it is time to get this abuser out of Ark League Tennis:
Holly Goddard, USTA Southern Director of Adult Tennis: Goddard@sta.usta.com
The next thing we need to do is request the grant/program forms from the ATA. That is the main revenue for the ATA and finding out who gets these monies ranging from tennis court repair companies, other tennis programs, etc.
Randy Jackson, an attorney in Ft. Smith and past president of the Arkansas tennis Association, would be the best choice in ridding the ATA of Leslie Pfeiffer and her board cronies. He ought to be notified about all this mess! During his tenure, the ATA seemed to be responsible and he still sits on Southern Sectional committees.
So the rumors about Leslie P. sitting in her backroom office with a cigarette in one hand and a phone in the other as she is wheeling and dealing with patron funds are true! Things will only continue to get worse at the ATA when the bunch down there obtains their medical marijuana cards! Can you imagine the quality of work at the ATA when they can smoke their reefers instead of cigarettes?
I was looking over the numbers of ATA in relation to Alabama. They are better managed with almost $1 mil in securities. Arkansas has -0- and what they do have in the bank is cash/savings. Their director is paid annually just over $50,000. Let's hire someone like Alabama's ex.dir., both responsible, thrifty, and evidently not greedy one bit!!!!
Randy Jackson's son is Sam Jackson and Sam works for the ATA. Nice guy but we don't know if we can trust them in ridding the ATA of Leslie just yet. Let's review all the documents for the two years that he signed off as president. I believe it was '04 & '05. The reason why Leslie has gotten by with her greedy behavior as long as she has is because a president sits for a 2 year term and then another person serves. Leslie has always had control of the books and the presidents usually never knew what was going on. She never really had any oversight.
Leslie is a crook. She goes to the Year End Award's Banquet that the public pays $50 to attend. She has these financial forms filled out and copies handed out to the B.O.D. as everyone is lit on the drinks at the party. Nothing is questioned as everyone is enjoying the event and plaques being handed out. Review page 19 of Form 990. Nothing is reviewed formally by the board!!!
Larry Cornett signed off on Leslie's pay going to $80,000 in 2007. You got to believe she has top $100,000 for 2010 and the going rate for her position elsewhere is $50,000.
Most people get a 3% pay raise but looking at the figures under Larry Cornett's watch Leslie's pay went from $72,000 to $80,000. So, Leslie has been giving herself a 10% pay raise each year. Shame! Shame! Shame! No Hall of Fame but HALL OF SHAME!!!!
Guys,
You ought to check with the Arkansas Tennis Patrons Foundation which operates in conjunction with the ATA. The same people serve in different capacity as directors on both boards. Bob Lucky, John Bailey, Marc Heflin, etc. The Federal Form 990 was signed by John Bailey in 2008.
Check link:
http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/710/710436880/710436880_200812_990.pdf
If these people don't take serious action, then it's because they are all in bed together and have brown-nosed each other!
The Arkansas Tennis Patrons Foundation has reins on the ATA. So don't let them fool you. They pull the purse strings. If they don't replace Leslie Pfeiffer, then they are another "DO NOTHING" BOARD.
The Board is listed below:
BOB LUCKY,CHAIRMAN 0 0 0
JAY ROGERS,SECRETARY 0 0 0
JOHN S. BAILEY,TREASURER 0 0 0
H.A. BAILEY, JR., M.D.TRUSTEE/EMER
STEVE DUFFLE,TRUSTEE 0 0 0
MARC HEFLIN,TRUSTEE 0 0 0
BARBARA ROGERS HOOVER,TRUSTEE 0 0 0
JUDY A. JONES,TRUSTEE 0 0 0
T. MICHAEL MEHAFFY,TRUSTEE 0 0 0
PAT RILEY,TRUSTEE 0 0 0
DOYLE ROGERS,TRUSTEE /EMER 0 0 0
i am going to KATV with this information.
I think you guys are on the right trail with the patron's foundation. Leslie P. has been around a long time and Doyle Rogers and family- Jay, Barbara Rogers Hoover, Dr. Bailey's family including John Bailey have been covering her rear-end. Call 374-5050 for the Patron Foundation and give them an ear full. The books are in care of John Bailey and I am sure his personal cellphone is in circulation out there somewhere since he continues to play tennis in the community.
I called the 374-5050 number and it went to Bailey Properties. So the Arkansas Patron Foundation is run out John Bailey's Train Station office. He probably charges the Foundation rent beside being a director/trustee. Doyle Rogers owns Metropolitan National Bank. So, I guarantee his bank holds their cash/securities and checking accounts of the foundation and the tennis association. See I told you they are in bed together!!!
I was just reading through all this information. There's definitely plenty that has to be straightened out. Why has there been so much hidden from the tennis players and why are decisions made with no input from paying players?
It dawned on me that Leslie got inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2010. With the criteria being "Selection is based upon, but not limited to, outstanding playing record, coaching achievement, volunteer service to tennis and/or exceptionally noteworthy accomplishments. Arkansas achievements will be heavily weighted" how did she even get considered? Where has she volunteered? She doesn't play tennis at all so has no player/coach record. She's never volunteered because all of her motivation has been purely financial motivation.
Along with the rest of the changes that are in order they need to change the HallofFame criteria.
There are too many asleep/texting at the wheel. I've got to process all this information. I've been trying to understand just the part of Leslie getting in the Hall of Fame. Every Hall of Fame I've ever seen lists really great players and now and then great contributors to a game. She has only caused lots of problems. Nothing more.
Get it together ATA before it all falls apart. People are sick and tired of all problems, conflicts of interests, bending and breaking of rules, hiding behind the covers and so much more. Maybe it's time to pull out the bike again and hang up the racquet. Tennis is supposed to be my stress reliever but with all the problems I encounter it's not been.
Is "7 on Your Side" still around? Where's Dewayne Graham when you need him??
Who is and what can the goddard person at sta do to help the situation?
I don't care where they do their banking, run their operation or anything else as long as it's all done honestly and on the up and up and with the interest of the players at heart. If someone has a bank and is on the tennis board then sure, use their bank. Whatever breaks are out there that are honest ones are fine with me. I am however totally against all the dishonesty as well as all the conflicts of interest.
Riley is a great guy but what's with him as privately owning LRAC being on the Patrons Board? Does he get some kind of kickback from the ATA or get paid for USTA members joining his club or for teams coming from LRAC? I have many questions I want answers for. When is the next board meeting for the ATA?
Doyle Rogers is a great guy. Bailey sits on several bank boards and could choose to bank elsewhere. However, I find it strange that Doyle Rogers and Pat Riley can sit on the same board such as the Arkansas Tennis Patrons Foundation. Rumor had it that Doyle Rogers thru Metropolitan Bank loaned Pat Riley on all his former nursing home properties. Riley was upside down, pocketed the refinance money, and handed the keys to Metropolitan in foreclosure. I am sure Rogers was quite a bit ticked off with Riley.
If Leslie can't manage the paperwork/seeding of a tournament(Southern 18s Boys draw and not seeding Garrett Brasseaux) then do you really think she can properly manage the finances of the ATA? Noone will ever know the full extent of all she has mismanaged.
What credentials does Leslie P. have other than following around an older brother who played tennis when she was a child?
So she doesn't play tennis herself (hmmm) but yet is passionate about it (ok, whatever.)
What about academics? Did she graduate from HS? Does she have a college degree? MBA? If so, when and where did she attain her degree? Online?
She's definitely good at cooking books so I'd not put it past her to have made it all up. Has anyone ever looked into this?
Interesting how she has never divulged much about herself. Similar to how she stays in her back room office she shies from the public and we are left to find out any and all information on our own.
The Board(s) would be smart to come clean with all this and if there are mistakes and overlooks that have been made then they need to own up to them. People will accept that far better than them continuing to attempt to make excuses for her and her behavior and now the constant salary increases she's given herself and who knows what other financial craziness.
If Bob Lucky and John Bailey want to pay Leslie Pfeiffer a $100,000 for a job work $50,000, then they ought to pay the difference out of their wallets so that the $50,000 wasted will go to promote this wonderful game of tennis!
That is an interesting story about Doyle Rogers and Pat Riley, trustees on the Arkansas Tennis Patrons Foundation. They were tennis-playing buddies for years. Pat Riley had a huge financial setback with nursing homes and the obligations of starting the Little Rock Athletic Club by reworking the old Westside Tennis Club. Doyle offered to help out his tennis buddy, Pat thru his bank Metropolitan. Pat Riley refinanced his properties at a high price, pocketed the money, gave the nursing homes to the bank to try to dispose of, and used the extra capital to float the LRAC. I think Doyle Rogers was so ticked off that he took his story to Arkansas Business or Dem-Gaz and a big story was written about Riley burning Rogers, his helpful friend and tennis buddy.
So, you are saying that basically Doyle Rogers helped start the Little Rock Athletic Club since Pat Riley used money pilfered from Doyle's company.
Yep, indirectly because the large sum of money made great working capital.
I think Leslie should be immediately removed from the ATA and should become the Executive Director of Pinnacle Tennis! LOL
I always knew that Doyle Rogers was a fine big-hearted and generous man, but this story makes Doyle out to be a saint to be able to stand in the same room with Pat Riley at a Patrons event!
This reminds me of reading about all the problems at UCA. While on a much smaller scale it's still an example of the AR good ole boy system. A small group gets together and feeling their importance gives eachother regular pats on the back, trades around awards between themselves and helps eachother build up their self esteem. Very sad.
Probably the saddest are the parents of the little group now running things. It appears for the most part they were very genuine with their beliefs and truly wanting to promote the growth of tennis. It's a shame their children who have now been put in charge don't seem too share these same values.
I agree with the previous comment. The next generation lacks the class of their parents. Take Bob Lucky for example: Carl Lucky, his dad and a great guy is not in the Hall of Fame and Bob should have accepted a posthumous award for his dad instead of for himself. Later on in life, he should then get the award.This new generation taking over in their family footsteps are lower class. If you study the original founding fathers, they originated from the Little Rock Country Club but had class, too. Service oriented, taking no credit for themselves. This next bunch are a selfish bunch. New blood on the board is a must after seeing this debaucle!
What goes around, comes around! I think Pat Riley's sister, Katherine Riley Shoulders, is the owner of the Fayetteville Athletic Club that owes maybe $10 mil in debt and the bank is foreclosing on that property!
over the last 5yrs, the ata has overpaid leslie pfeiffer maybe $160,000 on conservative estimates. i wish someone would forward the exact amount in comparison to mississippi tennis association. that is alot of money that help promote this game!
THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST INFORMATIVE TENNIS NEWS BLOG IN ARKANSAS. THE COMMENTS ARE VERY ARTICULATE AND YOUR READERS MUST BE A VERY EDUCATED GROUP OF FOLLOWERS. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR VACATION!
SIGNED,
RACKETMAN
I find a lot of flaws in the ATA and Patron Foundation. The main flaw, however, is that the Patron Foundation trustees are not spread out geographically around the state. The trustees are mainly Little Rock area like our political system USED TO BE. Western and NW Arkansas should have more representation as our political system NOW HAS. This would break up the original LR Country Club clique of our founding fathers.
This ATA are a bunch of hypocrites. Here you have the honorable award as a Chair Umpire Award named after a crook, Pat Riley. You have a Disciplinary/ Grievance Committee chair position in the hands of Harold Henderson who is manipulating NTRP ratings for former players and friends. The Executive Director, Leslie Pfeiffer is paying herself twice the going rate for her position in the Southern Section. The Trustees are not fairly represented statewide and in control by a few. The phone bill is astronomically high for such a puny little office that they operate out of. The League Coordinator, Maureen Dickson, who plays at Pat Riley's LRAC,is forwarding new leaguers to LRAC teams. Ugh! This mess will take time to fix! Good Luck!
Someone should explain the structure of USTA.
I had a question recently so contacted Southern. They informed me that I should ask my local league coordinator. I asked them if they meant the state league coordinator or exactly who. There was silence. The nice lady said there were only league directors for areas and not for entire states.
Noone seems to know what the other is doing. Isn't that how the mafia works?
Finances are out of line at the ATA.
http://www.muridae.com/publicaccess/
On the above site #5 states "Accordingly, the only way to determine if a salary is reasonable is to compare it with the salary of people with similar responsibilities at other tax-exempt organizations of comparable size (usually measured by total revenue)."
It then puts as a measure for 2010 salaries By Organization Budget
Less than $1,000,000 director salary should be $78,500.
Pfeiffer made over $91,000 in 2008 with a budget of $770,223. It's no wonder the CPAs are paid $8,300. Too many people are looking the other way.
Here is a listing for the 2008 Director's salary for each state in the Southern Section of USTA, the associations budget and the percentage of the budget the directors salary is. The salary amount does NOT include benefits. This information can all be found by searching http://www.eri-nonprofit-salaries.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=NPO.Search&Cobrandid=0
Director's Percentage
Salary Budget Salary is
of Total
Revenue
AR $91,391.00 $770,223.00 12%
KY $50,000.00 $611,686.00 8%
LA $54,290.00 $741,961.00 7%
SC $74,116.00 $1,015,823.00 7%
TN $50,702.00 $665,960.00 7%
MS $54,554.00 $798,555.00 6%
AL $56,141.00 $944,992.00 6%
GA $107,780.00 $2,704,875.00 4%
NC $78,569.00 $1,796,247.00 4%
There's nothing hard to figure out. The numbers speak for themselves.
Leslie's salary is extremely out of line.
I think Pat Riley defaulted recently on $11 mil note to the Arkansas Teachers Retirement Fund, somewhere around '03.
So, the Arkansas teachers have floated Pat Riley beside Doyle Rogers.
Yep, Pat Riley has a long history of obtaining a huge package loan and pocketing the $$$ and leaving the noteholder to dispose of the properties thru foreclosure.
I just checked on the Pat Riley/ Teacher's Retirement deal and Arkansas Business had an article about it. Wow! What a snake! It looks like the Riley's support themselves strictly by borrowing large sums and defaulting and keeping the proceeds. So, every teacher in Arkansas is supporting the Pat Riley family like royalty or on welfare one!
If Riley was honest, he would give any Metropolitan Bank employee and every teacher in the Arkansas Retirement System free membership for how they have floated him!
Interesting information at each site:
http://www.tennisserver.com/wildcards/wildcards_10_03.shtml
USTA 2008 Salaries: UNBELIEVABLE!
http://207.153.189.83/EINS/135459420/135459420_2008_05886AB4.PDF
http://www.eri-nonprofit-salaries.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=NPO.Form990&EIN=135459420&Year=2007&Cobrandid=0&sourceid=
Go to the above site and click on the last link and you will find the salaries for USTA in 2008. Wow!
KEEPING UP WITH THE RILEYS
The daughter, Katherine Riley Shoulders is doing the same sleazy business maneuver like her dad, Pat Riley, with the Fayetteville athletic Club. She borrowed more than it was worth, kept the money as working capital, bankrupt the business, and looks like the bank will get the keys to the operation. Like father , like daughter. There are known as a group of scumbags to their noteholders.
The Rileys are modern-day bank robbers. Instead of going to the teller with a gun and obtaining a small sum of money in a bank bag, they go to the loan officer, supply them with an inflated income statements/balance sheets, obtain several million dollars by signing a promissory note, default on the note, pocket the remaining cash, let the bank foreclose and try to get whatever they can by reselling the property!
I found an article about the "Keeping Up With The Rileys" dealing with son, Jesse-
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5248/is_25_20/ai_n29012943/
Keeping Up With The Rileys
Check out this story:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5248/is_35_20/ai_n29027523/
The Riley's transfered assets to the children to hide assets from creditors over the Arkansas Teacher's Retirement System loan.
Article link:
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Wilson%27s+Fingerprints.%28Arkansas+Teacher+Retirement+System%27s+$14...-a079982299
DEAR EDITOR,
I keep this blog bookmarked as a regular read and it is fun when it hits on a HOT TOPIC. In this mundane life of doing the boring but necessary and important tasks, you offer exciting news stories!
Also, special thanks in reporting junior results for the children!
Tennis Parent
my teammates and i have failed to perform well at state. we play our matches indoor at the lr athletic club in the air conditioning. at state we are never used to the outdoor conditions and flop each year. after reading how the riley's treat people, i am recommending that we move our matches to burns park and save money by not supporting lrac with our goal of performing better at state by playing more outdoors.
burns park need a a new roof! a entire league showed up at 6PM and was told by Burns Park to go home because THE INDOOR COURTS WERE DRENCHED. If Leslie didn't make such a disproportionate amount of the ATA's revenue then I am sure Burns would have a new roof by now. What a joke, indoor courts that are leased/managed by the ATA still has leaky roof problems.
Isn't it a great feeling to know that this wonderful, sincere, and careful board is operating in our best interests(the tennis-playing and tennis-paying public? THE BOARD IS A JOKE!!!!!
i read the article of the transfer of assets by the riley's to their children to hid them from the teacher retirement fund creditors. did you notice riley did business with sen. nick wilson, the crooked legislator! m.r. godwin of the old first federal s&l was the go between. m.r. godwin is a name that we have forgot about. he had a son named mark godwin that was a decent tennis player in his youth.
For all we know Leslie Pfeiffer could not want to repair the indoor courts at Burns Park. She could be in bed with Pat Riley so LRAC gets the indoor court business. Leslie has Maureen Dickson in her office already referring new leaguers to LRAC teams, and this story comes from several people in the tennis community with firsthand info. I am just glad people are catching on to the conflicts of interests in the tennis community and the poor representation on the board that the paying public has.
i am just glad that they got rid of the Frito Bandito tennis director at Burns Park. He was putting unauthorized charges on people's credit cards, not turning on enough lights to see indoors, etc. That was another bad hire from Leslie Pfeiffer. If we can get rid of her and straighten out the budget. maybe thay can turn on more lights indoors.
So basically tennis in ar is a mess. You play at Burns and you get the ATA wanting to rule everything, hook rules and hoard $ in their pockets and that's topped (ha...no pun intended) by no roof or one that leaks anyway. That goes for all of AR actually.
If you're a central ar player and you want to play at Lrac then you have another crook to deal with. I know people get kickbacks from USTA/Southern for each person they sign up but I wonder if the women who sign up tons of people for teams they aren't even on get a kickback from lrac as well. That would make them league directors for lrac. And one of them would be double dipping getting a kickback from lrac and southern too.
I don't agree with calling bad lines, scores or cheating in any form or fashion to win and that applies to tennis and everything else in life.
Greed does strange things to people. And as the saying goes "What's done in the dark always comes to the light."
Glad we have a forum and people who put in their knowledge on it. Thanks everyone. We all should know what's going on and now need to do something about it.
I want to know why Teresa Anderson, Kim Magee, Maureen Dickson, just to name a few, that captain so many teams? Is Pat Riley paying them to recruit team members for LRAC(Little Rock Athletic Club)? They put all this time and energy into it as if it is a job!!!
I received my 2009 USTA Southern yearbook in the mail recently and am just now glancing through it.
Leslie Pfeiffer, tournament director, definitely misses the details. Remember the mixed up seeding in June in the Southern 18s that screwed the boys over so badly? So badly that some will miss Kalamazoo and college scholarships they have worked so hard for and are deserving of. I am scratching my head over this one as I read on page 24 of the yearbook that Garrett Brasseaux was #2 in the South for the 2009 final rankings!! The kid is second in the South and also plays internationally and is NOT seeded at all in the Southern 18s tournament??! This is outrageous to say the least. Does she realize or care the effect she is having on the lives and careers of these Southern players?
Get it together AR! You are all running around with titles and being on boards but noone is doing their job! If you don't have time to do your job right, don't take a board position. At the least be able to read over your hires and ensure pay is appropriate and they are doing their job. From reading here noone else seems happy with what's going on either. When is something going to be done? This behavior is absurd and embarrassing to your state.
Teresa Williams captains a lot of teams at the LRAC not Teresa Anderson. Williams acts like its a job to captain so something might be a motivation from Riley's bunch at LRAC to keep her captaining so many teams!
The problem with these two boards- ATA and Patron Foundation is that everyone is so proud of seeing their name on the board but is to lazy to actually to do the job as a board member such as oversight of the business entity! If they don't have time to oversee operations, then don't accept the position!
yeah, teri hennessy and larry cornett like seeing their name out there as a board member, play dressup and kissup at state & southern meetings but clearly have failed at the job position as presidents! there are alot of nice people doing a lousy job in their position!
Leslie once told me that my son was an embarrassment to Arkansas and the sport of tennis. He was 12 or 13 at the time. I knew then who the real embarrassment to Arkansas tennis was and that was over 10 years ago. The Board has let her bad behavior go on for far too long. My son eventually matured very nicely but Leslie never has.
With Leslie Pfeiffer consuming over 12% of the ATA budget, more money could be appropriated to the tennis communities across the state for promoting/growing the game itself. The trend right now is to replace costly directors with more affordable ones. Look at Pleasant Valley Country Club for example, the board replaced Chip Stearns for a lower paid tennis director to get its budget in line. The only logical move for the ATA is to replace Leslie Pfeiffer for a director with a pay scale in line to other tennis assn budgets!
To KBW-
I just read your post and am speechless. Being a mother myself I simply can't imagine. I'm so sorry for what you and your son went through and am glad to hear he lived through it. Twelve-thirteen is a tough and impressionable age for all kids.
I've heard numerous stories about Leslie belittling kids and tennis or any sport should be about building them up and helping them rather than knocking them down.
Again, I'm so sorry for what you both went through. I agree with all who are writing that Leslie's time to go is way past due. Something must be done. Hopefully those who can do something about it are reading this.
Sincerely-
another mom
I play a lot of tennis in Louisana, and our state tennis association has an annual budget of around $750,000 with the executive director earning maybe %54,000. So Leslie Pfeiffer, the executive director of the ATA, earned $91,000 in '08 on a budget similar to the Louisana Tennis Association. Thus, Leslie P. is being overpaid $37,000/year. Over a 5-year period, Leslie Pfeiffer was overpaid $185,000. That is a HUGE SUM to be WASTED that could go to promoting this game!!!
The patron foundation still has the pull at the ATA. Steve Duffel is a trustee and has served on southern committees with numerous southern dignitaries. You have got to think that if didn't know of the going rate for an exec. dir. that Duffel etal must feel a little embarrassed by this Leslie Pfeiffer out-of-bounds pay scale. I wonder how many of the other trustees had no idea of the average pay of exec. dirs. in other districts of the southern section in the USTA.
Who would have thought that these trustees and directors of our ark tennis Assn were totally clueless about the avg pay of other exec dir in districts of the southern section of the Usta? Duffel and others have been around ark tennis for maybe 40 years and upward. Seniority sometimes helps with these boards or can cause complacency. It looks like complacency got the best of the trustees/board members after reading this dissection of Pfeiffer's pay scale and poor oversight. The Arkansas Tennis Association's problems look similar to the Little Rock National Airport's problems. Way to go bloggers in digging up a great news story!!! Your facts and figures including Pfeiffer consuming 12 percent of the annual budget are very newsworthy to the community. More community service is what we need anyway. Keep up the good work & happy holidays to you!
I can't get my jaw off the floor. And I need a bag to throwup in. I see it with my own eyes but dont want to believe people are so crooked. My husband and I both work full time jobs -around 50+ hrs/week- and give plenty to every type of league and all else as well as contribute to lrac's and lrrc's pool of dough. I see now very clearly those funds are not being taken care if. They're abusing our hard earned money. I can't say I won't ever play again but I will sure be on top of every bill and watching ATA head dog.
I wish y'all would check out the rest of USTA-like southern national and all else. It sure won't be revealed by any other means.
Thanks for standing up for what's right and for passing on the facts. You have more nerve in your pinky than all the players put together on AR--myself included sadly. Thank you.
Great analogy. Too many greedy power-hungry lazy groups (aka committees, nonprofit orgs, clubs, etc) around here. Good ole boy system is alive and rolling it's fat butt in the mud.
The USTA Middle States has some neat ideas for reviewing docs, pay scales of exec. directors, and conflict of interests. The Schedule O of their 990 Form identifies the solutions to these problems which the ATA might want to use.
The link for this data is http://www.eri-nonprofit-salaries.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=NPO.Form990&EIN=231688212&Year=2007&Cobrandid=0&sourceid=
Click on '08 990 Form and go to Schedule "O" for their open review their finances.
Pfeiffer is overpaid by the ATA, but the Sectional executive directors have a nice gig. Check out John Callen, the executive director for the Southern Section, and see where he was paid annually $205,267 for '08. I think someone should post the sectional salaries of their exec. dir. That would make for some interesting posts!
I recently graduated from college and have been searching for a job since. The job market is tough right now. I would love to get on with a tennis association. I wasn't aware they paid so well. Where should I send my resume and information? Thanks in advance.
To: college grad
Some board of directors of the ATA regularly find jobs for their children at the ATA. Check with Joe Murphy- he recently got his daughter a job at the ATA. I don't think they have a nepotism policy at the ATA when hiring family members. Good luck in your endeavor!
Dear College Grad,
An easy way to find a job at our own Arkansas Tennis Association is to have your dad be a former president such as Randy Jackson. Randy got his son Sam Jackson a job at the ATA during this tough job environment. Call some board members that are posted here!
Hey Guys,
Pfeiffer makes more than a lot of USTA Sectional Executive Directors. A few of their '08 salaries were posted on the web.
USTA Missouri Valley- Mary Buschmann earns $85,276
USTA Middle States- Marlynn Orlando earns $93,505 + 5,480(extras)
USTA Southern Calif- Henry Talbert earns $162,666
USTA Florida- Doug Booth earns $131,287 + 59,480(extras which should be checked into)
USTA Texas- Kenneth McAllister earns $110,003 + 11,000(extras)
If anyone has additional sectional salaries, please forward for others to see.
Ratings came out today. Could y'all post some info on any hot topics out there?
I read the open review policies of the USTA Middle States section, and their board has the best procedures in place to ensure that abuses don't exist with their members. Their Schedule O lets you know that their open and transparent policies are the only fair and honest way to conduct business. I agree with other comment that the ATA could learn from them.
What does everyone think about the new rule the ATA sent out that only applies to central Ar? If a team has to forfeit a match then every player on the team has to pay 50 bucks. I don't know what to make of it but not many forfeits equals a large amount of money. I'd like to know where they plan on using the money at the least.
While everyone is talking about the conflicts of interest in the tennis associations, I wish someone would post comments about the flow of monies from the ATA to the area tennis communities. I noticed that Randy Jackson's wife, Leslie Jackson, is the executive director of the WATA ( Western Arkansas Tennis Association ). They had Creekmore Tennis Center remodeled and I would like to know if some funds were from the ATA, USTA, Southern, etc. My community is growing and needs more courts worse than Fort Smith.
dudes,
i have heard that the ata leases burns park on a 10year renewable lease. can anyone forward a copy? the ata has figured out that state league tournaments would need to rent courts to play at and if the ata controls the facilities then they could keep the court rental fees themselves. the city of north little rock might be cheated by the ata by not receiving enough from tournaments held at burns. i would like to see those documents to see how the revenue is shared.
Interesting about the Burns Park lease agreement, the ATA has 4 major junior tourneys-
(1)Ark. Jr. Qualifying(204 participants),
(2)Southern Boy's&Girl's 18s(297 participants),
(3) National B&G 14s Open(135 participants)
(4)National Boy's 12s(128 participants)
Total Revenue from these tournaments= $59,000 in entry fees only
What is the revenue split for NLR/ATA?
And what is state league tournament revenue( and # participants)?
The ATA won't have the revenue from Southern Closed 18s. Lost it to Mobile,AL. Interesting 2c what ATA will try 2 replace revenue with.
The ATA is due an overhaul. It is out of control when board members and the executive director act like little children and nominate each other for awards- Hall of Fame, Family of the Year, etc. The men on the board join in with the women on the board and act like a bunch of little girls having a pretend tea party. They turn to each other, giggle, and tell each other that I will make you princess if you will make me a prince.
i agree that current board members and active executive directors should not be allowed to nominate themselves or others serving with them for awards. they should only be eligible after a period of time between when they actively served. the intl natl hall of fame has a time frame between when a player retires and when they are eligible for nomination. bob lucky, leslie pfeiffer, and others were nominated while they were actively serving on the board. they have made themselves look like children needing special attention that they did not receive in school. the board's actions remind me of the story of the 30+ yr old women who changed her birth certificate to re-enroll in high school so that she could try out for a cheerleader in desperate need of attention.
The executive director Pfeiffer and board members Bob Lucky and Joe Murphy should not be allowed to be nominated for awards during their term of service on the board of the Arkansas Tennis Association. If Peter Doohan was a board member, then he would already be in the Hall of Fame instead of Lucky. Who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, Lucky or Doohan? Doohan- NCAA All-American and Wimbledon star or Lucky-McGehee, Arkansas's best tennis player. Board, you choose? The board has voted with their preferential ignorance to board member Bob Lucky!
Our board member, Joe Murphy is nominated to the Family of the Year Award. Which family is more deserving Bill Campbell and family, Will, William, Elizabeth including at least three generations of quality players or a family of basically one individual who has steadily supported tennis but is a board member? The board voted again with preferential ignorance to board member Joe Murphy!
ATA Board
2010 Officers of the Arkansas Tennis Association
Executive Committee
Teri Hennessy
6504 Stonelake Drive
Rogers, AR 72758
479-418-7444 (w)
479-418-0444 (fax)
Deanna Garretson
306 S. College
Mountain Home, AR 72653
870-481-5405 (h)
870-425-4222 (w)
870-425-4223 (fax)
Gary Liles
13540 Rivercrest Drive
Little Rock, AR 72212
501-225-9265 (h)
Joseph Murphy, M.D.
48 Hickory Hills Circle
Little Rock, AR 72212
501-224-6873 (h)
Board of Directors
Tom Fink
23 Alhaja Way
Hot Springs Village, AR 71901
501-922-9622 (h)
501-922-9255 (fax)
Galen Havner
311 NE 2nd
Bentonville, AR
479-273-2647 (h)
479-696-3210 (w)
Janice Porter
2616 Duckswater Street
Jonesboro, AR 72404
870-935-0691 (h)
Mildred Randolph
221 N. Beechwood
Little Rock, AR 72205
501-686-5257 (h)
Stephen Smith
3109 Royal Scots Way
Ft. Smith, AR 72908
479-462-9808 (h)
Ex-Officios
Larry Cornett
14411 Charwick Drive
Little Rock, AR 72212
501-868-1739 (h)
501-686-5441 (w)
501-296-1469 (fax)
Bob Lucky
105 Moss
McGehee, AR 71654
870-222-6368 (h)
870-222-3345 (w)
870-222-3375 (fax)
Judy Jones
4 Hillandale
Little Rock, AR 72227
501-227-8958 (h)
501-782-9460 (fax)
2010 ATA Committees & Chairpersons
Committee Chairperson(s)
Executive Teri Hennessy
Nominating Larry Cornett
Disciplinary Harold Henderson
Legal Counsel Bill Rea
Officials Linda Duke
Arkansas Tennis Pros Relations Chip Stearns
USTA League Tennis Deanna Garretson
Southern Junior Cup Endorsers Galen Havner
Rosemary Cornett
Junior Tennis Council Margie Miller
Awards Joseph Murphy, M.D.
Arkansas Tennis Association Staff
Leslie Pfeiffer Executive Director
Cindy Curtis Assistant to the Director
Maureen Dickson State League Coordinator
Paula Aultz League Administrative Assistant
Eden Raines Director of Community Development
Brittany Murphy Director of Marketing
Jeff Brack Director of Tennis - Burns Park Tennis Center
Carmon Hayes Administrative Assistant
Laura Bichlmeier Junior Team Tennis Coordinator
Arkansas Tennis Patrons Foundation
Trustees
Bob Lucky, Chairman
Jay W. Rogers, Secretary/Treasurer
John S. Bailey
Marc Heflin
Judy Jones
T. Michael Mehaffy
Joseph Murphy, M.D.
Randy Jackson
H.A. Ted Bailey, Jr., M.D., Chairman Emeritus
Doyle W. Rogers, Trustee Emeritus
Pat M. Riley, Trustee Emeritus
Arkansas Tennis Patrons Foundation
Founders Advisory Board
Myrna Adams
Sharon Adkins
Andrew Adkins
Richard Akel
Patricia S. Bailey
Virginia M. Bailey*
Bruce Bartley
Jim Blair
Sam W. Boellner, M.D.
Buddy Bowman
Barbara Brewer
Neil Bryant
Charles Cella
Al Dockery
Henry Doyle *
Stephen G. Duffel
George Dunklin **
George H. Dunklin, Jr.
Elizabeth B. Dunklin*
James H. Faulkner
Greg Fess
Curtis Finch, Jr.
Joel Foster, D.D.S.
Beth Friday
Herschel H. Friday **
J. Randolph Gregson ***
Charles H. Harper
Jay Heflin
John L. Heflin, Jr. **
Lynn Heflin
Sharon K. Heflin
Barbara Rogers Hoover
Kevin Huchingson
Harry Huchingson
Nancy P. Jeffett ***
Jerral W. Jones
Laura Juels
Paula Juels Jones
G. Larry Kelley*
Mary Jane Koch *
W. Sexton Lewis, M.D. *
Alesia Lucky
Herbert H. McAdams II*
Hayes McClerkin
Thomas McLarty III
Pat Mehaffy
Sonya Mendelsohn
Frederick J. Menz*
Patsy Menz
Joseph Mullen *
E. Sheffield Nelson
Susie Pugh
Lisenne Rockefeller
Lee O. Rogers *
Michael R. Smith
Charles L. Steel*
Larry C. Wallace
Helen Walton*
Jim Walton
Lynne Walton
Sam M. Walton *
Craig Ward
C. Randolph Warner, Jr.*
Patti Womble
Little Old Ladies Lunch Club
* Deceased
** Deceased Founder & Trustee
*** Honorary Founder
Brenda Witt is the executive director of the Tennessee Tennis Association. She earned $50,000 in 2008 vs Pfeiffer's $91,000, Brenda serves over 13,000 Usta Tennessee members vs Pfeiffer's Usta Arkansas membership of over 7,000 members. Usta Tennessee even increased their membership by over 2% and Usta Arkansas lost about 8% of their membership. I read your Hall of Fame article about Pfeiffer and how she doesn't have any great accomplishments with her Usta results, but very poor Usta results on her record. The board of your state tennis association evidently sees her poor results similar to schools overlookIng poor student test scores.
Diana Beauregard is the executive director of the Louisiana Tennis Association and earned around $52,000 for '08. During the same period Leslie Pfeiffer paid herself $91,000. Diana Beauregard deals with a Usta membership of 14,800 and Pfeiffer hates dealing with her 7,500 group. A little disparity in Pfeiffer's pay scale to say the least!
Finally she is gone. Not without some extra benefits mind you. Tis lady irritated and abused me and all of AR for too many years. I'm now retired from my part in the game. I wish this had all come out sooner but at least it is finally out there. The truth will come to light and your sins will find you out. Just ask Leslie.
Thanks for all your work in showing the truth pinnacle tennis.
I know i am spot on when I say all tennis players, parents, umpires and anyone who had or has anything to do with tennis is more than grateful Leslie Pfeiffer is gone. She has done so much harm to the tennis community while embarrassing herself and AR all the while.
Now we still have to deal with the likes of Maureen Dickson. I wish someone would research her crooked ways and get her out of there. She is only out for herself and has proven that time and time again by things like getting D1&D2 college players rated at a 3.0 or 3.5 so they could play on her team. It's all about Maureen and getting Maureen to sectionals. A sad life she lives yes but it's also wrong. There are too many crooked things to list but anyone who plays league tennis is very familiar with her and her cheating ways. Tennis is supposed to be a game of fairness and honesty. To have anyone in a position with any possible authority who is anything less than honest and reputable is a black eye to the sport and to AR. We have had enough embarrassment. Lets try to prevent any in the future. Maureen has already shown her lack of character and integrity. Past time for her to go. Why is she still there? She has to be covering something up as I am sure someone with morals would be willing to take her position. It's wrong. All wrong. WHY would the ATA continue to keep someone on board who all know has done so many unethical things? Something is fishy.
Here is a link to that friend of Pfeiffer, Harold Henderson, that coaches at Hendrix. Funny comments by former players posting about Henderson's lack of knowledge about the game.... http://www.coachgrader.com/coach-harold-henderson.8223. Quotes- "Henderson comes across as a nice guy but look closer and the truth comes through. No character and a blowhard. The big problem is he has no knowledge of tennis. He was a recreational doubles player who started playing as an adult. He will tell students things they want to hear but has no idea how to instruct them properly and has zero knowledge of the modern game. At 70yrs old I doubt he will learn.Hendrix is a school all attend for academics which is why I was there. I was also a decent junior tennis payer so played on the team. Play for fun but that's all. I'd not advice anyone to take lessons from him either. It's a joke." - 8/29/2013
"He enjoys the game but doesn't know anything about tennis. Play here if just for fun." - 4/5/2012
This is Leslie Pfeiffer or leslie Capwell's son. She is an awful person who will have to think about all the terrible things she has done in her life, she cheated on Gary Capwell for YEARS right in front of his face and her two kids face me and Tamara Brown Adkins. All our friends would come over and see Gary sitting watching TV and Mom and Jim over at the dinner table laughing and drinking drinks together for years that happened...I didnt want to believe it. She was never home and then got Jim Pfeiffer her alcholic husband to try and beat me up and throw me up against at door at 13 years old because Mom told him I was mean to her...Shes selfish, ugly on the inside and bad excuse for a Mother by far. I have never known a Mom to disown there children and she Sent me a letter in mail years ago doing that. Saying that it hurt her to bad to see me, that I would purposely try and hurt her for the pain of years of abuse by her. She lies and cheats and now she will have to live all the rest of her life thinking of her terrible ways. She never fixed meals for kids...we truly had to fend for ourselves. I was grouned in my room alone from the age 5 till almost 17 with No Tv and always told im dumb and stay in my room. She should be recognized for the person she truly is. And that daughter of hers Tamara, well shes a drug addict too. They are a team. Jim Pfeiffer trys to keep Mother Druged up so she stays with him and cant be level headed. No telling what kind of pills hes perscribing her. Shes a true Sons nitemare. If you look in her eyes you will see the pain that shes dealing with, cause if shes human, shes hurting for what she has done to her son. Thats a fact.
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