Kyle LaCroix has certified and mentored over 1,700 tennis coaches worldwide, and he did it after spending part of his early career living out of his car in South Florida waiting for his break.

He's the founder and CEO of SETS Consulting and one of roughly 150 active RSPA Master Professionals in the world, the highest designation a racquet sports professional can hold.

In this conversation, we get into the parts of the job nobody puts on a podcast:

• Living out of his car early in his career, waiting for a break
• What a Tuesday looks like inside a high-performance tennis academy
• Teaching a player who competed at Wimbledon how to coach a 10-year-old
• 17 years testing and certifying coaches, and what he saw was broken
• Why racquet sports professionals maximize their ability but not their potential

If you coach, run a program, or lead a racquet sports facility and want a real career instead of just a job, this one's for you.



ABOUT COURTSIDE
CourtSide is a podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Long-form conversations with the owners, directors, and head pros shaping tennis, pickleball, padel, and squash. Hosted by Evan Dechtman, founder of TopSpin Digital.

New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: mailto:evan@topspindigital.co

Full show notes: https://topspindigital.co/courtside TopSpin Digital: https://topspindigital.co HEARD Digital Marketing: https://heardmarketing.io

CONNECT WITH KYLE LACROIX
Website: setsconsult.org
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kyle-lacroix-8b512b1b

Still waiting on your OK for the YouTube title/description and clip captions from my last message, and Kyle's email for the guest package, before I schedule the launch crons.

Craig Bell spent 27 and a half years running the tennis program at one club in Dallas. Then in 2024, he retired, moved back to Utah, and started over, selling padel and pickleball gear across the Intermountain region.

Craig is an RSPA Master Professional, co-host of the At The Net Podcast (closing in on 700 episodes), and owner of Bell Boy Sports. Over 50 years in the industry he's been a player, coach, director, recruiter, equipment rep, live streamer, and podcaster. He's a 6th generation member of the Chickasaw Nation, and his 5th great grandfather was Chief of the tribe in the 1820s.

In this conversation, we get into:

• Starting in racquet sports in 1974 at age 10, and clocking a 131 mph serve at the Jansen Fast Serve Contest in the mid-80s
• 27.5 years running the program at Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas, and what actually kept it interesting that long
• Taking play at University Club Dallas from almost nothing to a 300% increase
• Coaching his son Chris to a 4-time Texas state championship, and watching him become Director of Athletics at Willow Fork Country Club in Houston
• Closing in on 700 episodes of the At The Net Podcast with co-host AJ Chabria
• What "Mr. Conviviality" means to him, and why he thinks it matters in this business
• Retiring from Bent Tree in 2024, moving back to Utah, and starting Bell Boy Sports from scratch
• Being a 6th generation member of the Chickasaw Nation, whose 5th great grandfather was Chief of the tribe

If you're thinking about what comes after decades in one job, or you just want to hear from someone who has done nearly every job in this industry, this one is for you.



ABOUT COURTSIDE
CourtSide is the podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Tennis, pickleball, padel, squash. If you own a facility, run programs, coach players, or operate in this industry, this show is for you. Host Evan Dechtman sits down with facility owners, directors of racquets, head pros, club managers, and operators across the country for honest conversations about what it actually takes to run a racquet sports business. No scripts. No highlight reels. Just two people talking about what they've built, what's working, what's not, and where they think this whole thing is going.

New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: mailto:evan@topspindigital.co

CONNECT WITH CRAIG BELL
Instagram (Bell Boy Sports): https://instagram.com/bellboysports Instagram (At The Net Podcast): https://instagram.com/at.the.net.podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-bell-30287911

Brandon Day graduated from Ferris State's Professional Tennis Management program in 2022. Four years later, he's the assistant director at a 31-court tri-racquet club, and he's not even 30.

He's at North Hills Club in Raleigh, North Carolina, running programming across 22 tennis courts, 6 pickleball courts, and 3 padel courts. He got there by cold-calling Jarrett Chirico for an internship, starting at the bottom at Royal Oaks Country Club, and working his way from teaching pro to director of programming in under three years.

In this conversation, we get into:

• Growing up playing summer tennis to avoid the angry babysitter, and how that turned into a career
• Cold-calling Jarrett Chirico for an internship and getting an offer letter on the spot
• Starting at Royal Oaks making zero dollars and building a lesson book from scratch
• The member who taught him what service actually means (hint: it had nothing to do with tennis instruction)
• Programming across tennis, pickleball, and padel without the three sports eating into each other
• What certifications actually do for your career vs. what's just letters after your name
• The real math of what young pros make, from $30K to $150K depending on region and contract
• Why burnout in racquet sports is a leadership problem, not a work ethic problem
• His goal to be a director by 28 in an industry where the average director is 55+

If you're early in your racquet sports career, thinking about getting into the private club world, or trying to figure out how people actually move up in this industry, this one's for you.



ABOUT COURTSIDE
CourtSide is the podcast about the business side of racquet sports. Tennis, pickleball, padel, squash. If you own a facility, run programs, coach players, or operate in this industry, this show is for you. Host Evan Dechtman sits down with facility owners, directors of racquets, head pros, club managers, and operators across the country for honest conversations about what it actually takes to run a racquet sports business. No scripts. No highlight reels. Just two people talking about what they've built, what's working, what's not, and where they think this whole thing is going.

New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

Want to be a guest? Book your spot: https://topspindigital.co/courtside/book Email Evan directly: mailto:evan@topspindigital.co

CONNECT WITH BRANDON DAY
North Hills Club: https://www.northhillsclub.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-day-dca-crse-918271183/