Leading People, Not Lessons: The Real Work of a Racquets Director
Welcome to Racquet Fuel, where we launch into great conversations and share powerful tools to help you become a stronger rackets leader. Your hosts are Kim Bastable, a former all American tennis player and now the director of professional Racquets Management at the University of Florida. And Simon Gale, the USTA senior director of Racquet Sports Development. Today, we hear from Michael Pereira who spent years working to get hired as a director of Racquet Sports. Let's learn what he thought of the job when he got
Kim Bastable:there. Welcome to Racquet Fuel. Today, we are excited to have Michael Pereira, who is, for me, someone that I met through the University of Florida's director of Racquet Sports course. So he's a very special guy. He's one of the very first students that I had, and then went on to get the University of Florida Masters.
Kim Bastable:So for me, this is a really special trip down University of Florida's world of director of Racquet Sports, you know, memory lane. So, Simon, I think you have some other connections with Michael, and I'm sure you're happy to hear from him as well.
Simon Gale:Yeah. Michael, director at one of the USTA, premier facility operators. So we've met through through that program last fall. But also I think it's just interesting listening to younger pros who have gone through the process of getting their first director's job and and all that entails and the trials and tribulations of finally getting there. I always find that interesting to listen to.
Simon Gale:So looking forward to talking to you, Michael, and welcome to the podcast.
Michael Periera:Thanks, Kim. Thanks, Simon. I'm excited to be here.
Kim Bastable:So let's start kind of at the beginning. I'm sure you have a little bit of a junior tennis story and how you got into the world of coaching in the first place. But then tell us what led you to the University of Florida. I assume maybe you had your eyes on a director position, but maybe talk about how you your first, you know, years in the industry.
Michael Periera:Okay. So, yeah, I started playing tennis when I was eight, played division one at University of North Carolina Wilmington. My first meaningful position was at Sumter, South Carolina at a city facility. We hosted a lot of tournaments there. I worked under Mark Reardon, who is a good mentor of mine and who I still call today.
Michael Periera:And he let me gave me everything I needed to know about building a program from the 10 and under junior tennis aspect of growing programs. So what led me to get into the director of racket support certification course, it was a tip I had gotten from a colleague of mine, Eric Ingelsgaard, who was over at in Little Rock, Country Club of Little Rock. And he told me that they are making this new course for people that are looking to become directors. It it actually was relevant to what directors do. So I signed up for the course starting November.
Michael Periera:Five months is what I think it took me. I think I got done in March, and this was in 2021. So after that happened, I didn't feel like I was quite ready, to move on because I had a young family. I had one one child at that point, and we were planning on having a second child. I read that the course gave me six credits for a master's degree for a master's of sport management.
Michael Periera:And I started thinking, you know, what if I went back to school? Would this be the only time that ever made sense in my life to go back? It could set me up to be one of the top, you know, candidates in the country as a director that had not been a director yet.
Simon Gale:Here we are.
Michael Periera:You know, that's what happened.
Simon Gale:So you get this master's degree, which firstly, congratulations on that. How do you feel that master's in sports management has helped you or complemented achieving your goals or or you're able to apply in today's role?
Michael Periera:Reminds me of some of the best classes that I had. Well, one of them definitely was taught by Kim, athlete centered coaching and leadership. Then doctor Tavormina, she taught management and leadership in sport. And when I think about becoming a director, I knew I wanted to be in in charge of the budget and then in charge of, you know, making the decisions and then being in the room with the committees and deciding what the vision is gonna be for the programming because I knew how to build a program, and I knew what resources we were going to need. I'd learned that in my fifteen years of teaching tennis, and and I and I just wanted to apply that.
Michael Periera:But there's this big hole that needs to be filled in your skill set, and that is your ability to manage and your ability to lead. And so when I was in the classes that talked about leadership, you know, I learned about the four i's of transformational leadership, you know, individual consideration, idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, and inspirational motivation. I kinda knew these things, but it was able to kind of the class was able to put it in a box for me so that I understood what was happening to me over the last fifteen years when I was being led and what kind of strategies they were using to manage me as well as lead me towards the goals of the organization. And it helped me to pull from those and then use them and apply them in my first leadership role here at Shreveport.
Simon Gale:How difficult. It feels like you've had a pretty established career, taught for a long time and feels like there was a bit of a struggle to get that first director's position. I'm just picking up on that a little bit. Did you has that been a challenge for you to get that first job and and get over the hurdle of becoming a director? Maybe talk about that transition and the trials and tribulations of finally landing a director's job.
Michael Periera:First time I applied was in September 2023. First time. I knew I would be graduating in May by that. So I figured that that that was probably about the time to get my feet wet and apply for my first job and throw my resume out there and get rejected 23 times. And and I and I say that jokingly.
Michael Periera:I specifically did not I limited my scope to, first off, the Southeastern United States. K? That's one thing I did to to limit myself. And then I also decided that I was not going to go be a one man show and then have to hire somebody, which was challenging. Usually, the people that get hired into management roles have management experience, And I kinda had none.
Michael Periera:I had to start pulling from not what my resume said I could do as far as man leadership, but what I had personally experienced and how I would lead my team going forward and how the the courses that I had learned would help me and aid me and guide me to a successful leadership at the next facility that I would end up at. I got better. As time goes on, my resume got better. I rewrote it, like, 10 times. I kept getting advice from everybody, which I think is kind of it's it's helpful, and then it hurts at the same time because everybody wants you to write the resume differently.
Michael Periera:And it was confusing because there was no real science to it. I mean, there was. There was a skeleton science to it, but there wasn't like all the meat on the bones was always up to the person that you were kinda talking to. And, really, it was the the purpose of it was to get you in the door and to have a conversation and sell them your personality. That was a challenging hurdle to get over.
Michael Periera:But it seemed like when I was searching for all of these positions, some were far above what I probably should have been going for, which I did fairly well and got a little bit past the first couple of rounds. And then some of them, I thought I was a shoe in. I thought this was it. We're moving we're moving to North Carolina. We're moving we're moving to Tex oh, we're moving.
Michael Periera:We're totally yeah. We got this one. This one's in the bag, and I just never a call. I was like, wow. Maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was making myself.
Michael Periera:You know? Maybe I'm not really the top candidate that hasn't been a director yet in the country. That's what I kinda aimed at trying to shape myself as. And then because I wasn't, I wasn't getting where I needed to be or where I thought I should be as quickly as I wanted it to happen. And eventually, what happened was I got tipped off, and I went to the Southern Conference for the what is formerly known as the USPTA and now as the RSPA.
Michael Periera:Bill Dop was there, and Bill Phillips was there. And Bill Phillips told me about this position over in Shreveport. And Bill Doppels, like, it's kind of a different position. The position is not as much of a director as it is a a general manager of a tennis facility in a lot of ways. I currently have five independent contractors, and I have eight part time staff that I manage and lead.
Michael Periera:I am in charge of all the finances because I own the business. I own the business that manages Corby's Tennis Center for the city of Shreve. That that's what's happened. I am a general manager of a company now that I started up myself, and I have a contract with the city that that says that for the next five years, I get to manage this facility.
Kim Bastable:It's an interesting road, and you're certainly persevering. And, we've had the discussion that you've just spent quite a bit of time top dressing the clay courts and very vitally involved in marketing the fact that you top dressed the clay courts through a time lapse video, which is quite impressive. So I would guess I would ask two questions. One, it feels like mentors and connections were what ended up ultimately helping you get the job, which I think would be something Simon and I would say is something everyone needs to cultivate from a very early age is industry connections because that is going to help. And then the second thing is, do you think your master's of sport management was an important cog in this, in the decision to get the job that to to give you the job?
Michael Periera:I think absolutely that the networking and getting out there, getting my face out there, talking with people, and going to pro ams, all of the networking was vital to getting my first director's position. And I really didn't know where it was gonna end up. That that that's the disheartening part. If you're a person like me who likes a return on their investment, you wanna see that investment and start to build, but you don't know where it's going to end up. You end up creating this web of networking or you create a web of marketing, right, that gets you to and you don't know where the fly on the web is going to end up that shakes the whole thing so you can go get it and have your meal.
Michael Periera:You just don't know where it's gonna go. That's why you just keep building the web, and and eventually something catches.
Kim Bastable:Well, maybe that's what the master's was. It was a part of your web, and you don't really know how effective it was. I would argue it's a definite part of your confidence.
Michael Periera:Hugely, effect. When I was doing my master's degree, what I learned was how through the writing and all the papers that I wrote, the 23 pages, the the the 19 page paper, all these things, was how to organize my thoughts. Right? And to actually say what I meant.
Simon Gale:I just pick up on something you said early and and Kim, you talked about the networking and and the question I would ask someone always is, if you will let go tomorrow, who do you know? Who have you developed relationships with that's gonna help you get your next job versus because you talked to it quite a bit there in in one of your answers around my resume looked impressive. But a resume, as you say, just gets you in the door. Who do you know who's who's endorsing you? Who's talking you up?
Simon Gale:Who are your references that someone says, oh, that name is a name in the industry and they talk highly of this person. Those things are critical and the networking of whether it's a conference or because I remember, I had an hour commute for fifteen years back and forth to work and I would just call people, significant people in the industry and say, I'm travelling home between six and seven Monday through Friday. If you don't mind, could I spend an hour with you? I'd love to pick your brain and and most of us are all commuting at that time and we coordinate a call and and those started relationships with key people in the industry. At the time, I was just curious.
Simon Gale:I was interested. I wanted to pick their brain. Little did I know that those people were the ones who would help me get the job I have today. So that was a long time ago, but it's paid off down the line but it wasn't immediate. But it was part of that networking.
Simon Gale:So who do you know? It's not just name dropping, it's actually developing some sort of relationship with those people. So I think there's a message here in, yes, you have a degree, you have a master's, I've coached for a long time but so is just about everybody who's applying and and what separates you sometimes is who you know and how are you strategically going about that?
Kim Bastable:I actually would argue that the education gives you that confidence to be able to enter into those conversations when you're young with a high level of clarity of a of a good question. You know? What are some things you can ask? And I I bet you had so many things from your masters that just made you curious how to apply those to the rackets industry. Would that be true, Michael?
Michael Periera:Oh, absolutely. Like I said, one of your my favorite courses was athlete centered coaching and leadership. And I remember the most fascinating part. I still I still actually use it. The psychological characteristics of performance.
Michael Periera:And I read those words, and I was like, sold. This is what I wanted.
Kim Bastable:You're speaking my language, Michael. That's my course. I mean, I maybe we need to do a podcast just on that course.
Michael Periera:That's the one that I I was like, oh, this is so good. You know? Like, where where has this been all my life? I've been teaching for fourteen years, fifteen years. Hadn't seen this one yet.
Michael Periera:And then it's backed by, you know, research, and and it was detailed enough, and it had enough things to where you could cater some of the characteristics to certain kinds of personalities and then fitting them in. Because you're focused on the athlete then, and you're focused on leading the athlete to whatever success looked like for them. Right? Because it was always different. Like you said, intrigued is just totally defined.
Kim Bastable:Yeah. Well, and that's what one of the reasons I find that course so important is that if you're leading an athlete to be the best performer, that is very similar to leading an employee to be the best performer. It looks a little different, but you're caring about the individual. You're helping motivate them. You're inspiring them.
Kim Bastable:So that's a challenge that you said you you had. You went from teaching lessons, teaching athletes how to hit a ball to building staff culture.
Michael Periera:Mhmm.
Kim Bastable:How's that leadership transition going in your first eight months on the job, nine months?
Michael Periera:I found good people, and I tried to describe different ways in which they could increase their value to what we were doing and and to serve a purpose in our vision. For example, there is a Scouts of America over across the street from us. I went straight over there and because I am an Eagle Scout. And I went in, and I said, I'm the new director at Corby's Tennis Center, and I need a stringer. And I know scouts are great with knots.
Michael Periera:Can you post something on Facebook saying that I'm looking for a stringer apprentice? And they said, sure. And then they posted something. And then I got a call and said, my son would be interested in stringing, and he's going to be here for one more year as a high school student and then two years as a community college student. And I'm like, great.
Michael Periera:Come on in. And he's perfect. He's, like, the absolute guy you want stringing your rackets. Just the right personality. You know?
Michael Periera:Management and leadership in sport. Athlete centered coaching and leadership. I'm using all of that to lead the team that I have. So it's like you said, it's like coaching a student, but it's also you're just doing it with employees and they just want different things.
Simon Gale:So you haven't mentioned the word forehand, backhand, serve, doubles tactics, technique at all in any of your leadership descriptions. Right? My point is, you're managing people now, right, as as a leader.
Kim Bastable:Yeah.
Simon Gale:You're not teaching
Michael Periera:I love it.
Simon Gale:Forehands and backhands is the easy part. You can do that with your eyes closed, how to run a good lesson and how to teach a forehand and backhand. Now you're dealing with people. What's the number one thing you've learned in this eight or nine months about leading people?
Michael Periera:Letting some go is necessary and hurts.
Simon Gale:Okay. Short and simple. I asked for one thing. He gave it to me.
Michael Periera:I thought that I would be based on my personality. Let me let me let me say that. Yeah. Based on my personality before I got into this position, I was like, man, if they're not doing their job, they're out. Right?
Michael Periera:Like, it's easy. Just cut them. Right? That's that's inexperience. Right?
Michael Periera:Then you get into it, and then you're like, I might have to cut this guy, and I might have to let him go. And, oh, also, is it my fault? Is it my fault that he's not performing well? Because you have to look in before you do that. You can and you need to know that.
Michael Periera:That's the for all the the aspiring head pros that wanna be directors, you need to know that you have to look in before you just cut off some. You have to look at yourself, and you have to say, did I do everything that I could to help this person become a great asset to the team? And if I did and he's still not performing, then I have to do the uncomfortable thing, which is I have to let him go.
Simon Gale:And that stuff you can't learn being a full time teaching pro and you only learn on the job Mhmm. Once you get to these positions. They're not things you're taught. It's easy to watch from a distance but until you have to do it yourself, it's a completely different and how you handle that and how you react and it's not easy and you don't learn that in a course. You don't learn that teaching tennis.
Simon Gale:You learn that being in a leadership role. So it's a great observation in a short term as a leader. Think it's a great observation. My follow-up to that is, it kind of ties in a little bit is, what I hear a lot from young pros is, oh, I don't want to be a teacher for too long. I want to be a leader.
Simon Gale:I want to get off the court because it's easier. And based on what you just said, clearly, it can present some real challenges. But what is your thought around that that, hey, the natural path is I want to get off the court and not teach so much because being a leader is easier because I don't have to teach so much. Just I get off the court and I I still get paid. What's your reaction to that kind of comment?
Michael Periera:You have to have so many more skills if you wanna get off than just being able to teach. Your teaching alone is not giving you the skills you need to be the leader. You you have to go searching for the skills. You have to go develop yourself. You have to you can be inspired to be a director, but the first thing you need to do is you need to go educate yourself.
Michael Periera:It is still work. It's a lot of work. You know? And your schedule changes drastically. You know?
Michael Periera:You're ten, fifteen hours, probably about a month as much as I teach now. And a lot of people, they they think, hey. You know? I'm gonna go be a director. Now I'm gonna teach twenty five, thirty hours.
Michael Periera:And it's like and you'll burn out. You'll and you'll burn out in a year. And then it would all be for nothing because that's not enough to live off of the rest of your life. You know? That's not gonna work.
Michael Periera:You have to do something sustainable. Right? Ten, fifteen hours, maybe, depending on the demands of the job. I work sixty, seventy hours a week, and I'm trying to get a rocket ship off the ground right now. And what do they say?
Michael Periera:90% of the rocket fuel is used up trying to get out of the atmosphere. Right? And then the rest is used in flight to your destination. When you're starting out and you got a lot of bottlenecks you gotta fix, you're gonna be working all the time. And if you wanna do it right, your list should never end.
Michael Periera:You should have a list of things that you should keep doing because it makes you a little bit better. It makes you a little bit better over here. You're cleaning up this, and then, oops, emergency. You have to take care of this. Now after I top dressed the clay courts, that Sunday, there was a it was a Saturday night windstorm came.
Michael Periera:I learned something. A bench fell down and then hit one of these sprinklers, and it busted underneath the ground. So I had to get up there Sunday because you can't have one sprinkler down, then you got a whole section of the court that's dry. Right? Gotta go dig it up, you know, on my day off after I just worked seventy hours that week top dressing the clay.
Michael Periera:My office is a mess. There's clay everywhere. Gotta go back.
Kim Bastable:Well, it's a this is a great story of someone who really wanted to be in the position. You got in the position. You you see your sixty, seventy hours a week. What's your future? Where are you looking?
Kim Bastable:Because I hope you are going to be able to manage. We you're a capable guy, and I I love your story, but I don't want you burning out. Do you see a pathway that you can make this a long term?
Michael Periera:Oh, yeah. No. This is this has been a lot don't don't get me wrong. Sixty, seventy hours a week. This has been a lot of fun.
Michael Periera:Okay? This has been fun. This has been a blast. All the responsibilities they got particularly in this position has been a a lot of fun. Now it's I feel like in the last two months, actually, two months ago, I had my hands around Quirby's.
Michael Periera:It was I had complete control. I know what to do in almost every situation. I know how to act quickly to each emergency that happens. And and now it's just focused on the growth of the program, the extent of our reach. Right?
Michael Periera:And then, hey. Fill out some grants for the USTA, knock down a few buildings, add some more courts, keep building. You know, I am staffed at this facility almost every hour. So, technically technically, I don't have to be here except for the things that I'm doing on court. Right?
Michael Periera:So the reason that I'm here is because I'm hungry, and I'm excited, and I know what to do. And the list never ends, and I'm just trying to constantly get better.
Kim Bastable:I would argue that's one of the things that will motivate anybody is the feeling that they have systems, they have ideas, they have capability that can manage the challenge. Mhmm. Stress and anxiety come from looking at a challenge and feeling that you don't have the package of skills Mhmm. And you're just basically panicked over the reality that the challenge before you, you're not suited for. So I love what you're saying.
Kim Bastable:You're saying it's a big challenge, but you have systems, you have people, you have direction, you've put steps in place, You're you're you're rising to that challenge and excited about it. That's that's what I hear you saying.
Michael Periera:Yeah. If you're not excited, you're gonna be overwhelmed pretty quickly. You better be excited if you get into a director's position because overwhelming is not that's the negative part of it. Excited is, yes. Finally, I get to do these things.
Michael Periera:I get to spend $200 of my own money to go figure out how to make a time lapse video of us topdressing Because I thought it was cool, not because anybody else told me to do it. Right? I thought this would be really interesting if we did this. And then, oh, also, nobody's done it before. And, oh, also, we could kind of educate a few people that think that they can't do it, but then if they saw our video, they might think otherwise.
Michael Periera:They might think, oh, maybe that's not as complicated as I thought. Maybe I could call out to Michael Pereira and ask him a question or two. Maybe he'd answer them. And I would.
Kim Bastable:And you would. Of course. Excellent. That's great. Any other takeaways, Simon?
Kim Bastable:I think it's been a great conversation.
Simon Gale:Look, think it it just continues to show there's not one way to a leadership role. Everybody's got their unique journey and you learn along the way and I I think back to when I was at GM at at a at a facility and the lights would go out and you have electrical issues and flooding and things like that have nothing to do with tennis. But the skills learned along the way help you for the next job. So whatever is next, you're going to be better prepared for it through all these experiences and you bring that knowledge to whatever that next leadership role is. But everyone's journey is unique.
Simon Gale:Everybody has a different path. Some get there quickly, some get there. It takes longer but once you're there, it's setting you up for whatever the next leadership job is because now you've got it on your resume and it says director. It doesn't matter how big a job, you can sell that to the next opportunity but congratulations on getting there and you've learned a lot in eight months. You can hear it in your answers.
Simon Gale:So appreciate your reflective abilities there and and have enjoyed listening to your story.
Michael Periera:Thanks a lot, Simon. Thank you, Kim. Thanks for inviting me on.
Kim Bastable:Thank you so much for being on, Michael. We are inspired by what you've done. That's what we have for you today on Racquet Fuel. We'll speak to you next time. Have a great day.
Kim Bastable:That's all
Episode Narration:for today, but we're not out of fuel. You can find more information and resources in our show notes and by visiting racketfuelpodcast.com. If you like what you just heard, please subscribe. And also leave a review, which helps other people join the mission to become stronger Racquets leaders.
Conclusion:This podcast is a production of Athlete Plus, the people, stories, and science behind elite athletes and teams. Athlete Plus is the official podcast network of the Institute for Coaching Excellence, a research, education and outreach center in the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida. The Institute for Coaching Excellence offers various online certificate programs and degrees in partnership with the Department of Sport Management. Learn more today at coaching.hhp.ufl.edu.
