FOUNDATION TENNIS
Build on a Solid Foundation
Whether you run a large academy, a country club or a local community tennis center, our platform enables you to better run your business, connect with your membership, and optimize your operations.
FOUNDATION TENNIS
Build on a Solid Foundation
FROM TENNIS LOVERS TO TENNIS LOVERS
Our Story
I built the first SaaS tennis management system out of necessity: my home club wanted one place to keep track of all member information and activity. At that time most of my work was related to helping Fortune 500 companies optimize their internal business processes via software. So given my limited time to manage tennis club software, I knew the goal for my club would be to build a self-sufficient platform, capable of allowing everyone — board members, office personnel, coaches, etc. — access to everything they needed from one secure login on the club website.
The functionality was offered throught the club's own website and branding, unlike most SaaS services which build their own hub and then have different customers leave their facility's environment to log in. This unique advantage from a club's branding standpoint got the attention of the Tennis Industry Association (TIA), which contracted with me to provide them with the very first industry standard system to help grow the game through customer self-service: TennisConnect.
After 15 years spent optimizing TIA's needs with TennisConnect, I reached out to Jaana Gilbert and George Kustas to build the system. Jaana Gilbert had been engeneering those very TIA solutions with me from the very beginning. George Kustas had been a customer of mine for 10 years and also a software engineer by trade, and a passionate tennis player and club board member. On those initial meetings with Jaana and George, the Foundation Tennis idea was born: a self-sufficient, 360° solution for each and every club which runs within their own digital branding. Foundation Tennis was born. Jaana developed the server-based core and web interface of Foundation Tennis, and George built the mobile app framework.
As we started to perfect the Foundation Tennis platform, it never occurred to us to cut corners and force all the members of all the clubs to go to our website/online destination. It would have been a lot easier to so, but tennis facilities and tennis pros are in business for themselves — and our vision was to build our business to help them build theirs - not the other way around.
Our success is based on our customers' success and our ultimate goal is to build value for your business to run smoothly and maximize its potential, while fully maintaining its own brand identity. I am excited to show you how we have been doing just that for hundreds of tennis clubs and facilities around the world.
Charlie Ruddy
CEO and Founder
Meet Our Team
The Great People Behind Our Solutions-
Charlie RuddyCharlie developed his first Tennis application in 2001 to keep track of his kids tennis schedule and secure court time from his neighborhood tennis club 24/7 while travelling coast to coast.
A veteran of the software industry, Charlie applied rigorous standards for reliability and ease of use, and was awarded the contract with the Tennis Industry Association in 2004 to launch the TennisConnect business.
In 2017, Charlie pulled the team together to rebuild 'from the Foundation up' to leverage mobile, smartphones, HTTPS throughout, and modern responsive technology to help customers build a first-class presence that works. -
Jaana GilbertJaana teamed up with Charlie back in 2002, taking over the technical design and coding for the product that was to become TennisConnect.
An accomplished designer, technical editor, and sought-after full stack independent developer, Jaana developed all the business to business systems for the Tennis Industry Association from 2004 to 2017 including for the Tennis Welcome Center campaign, launch of Cardio Tennis, and PlayTennis.com.
In 2017, Jaana joined Charlie as a co-founder of Foundation Tennis where she continues to extend and manage the Foundation Core and consumer facing web sites and functions. -
Elise O'ReganElise joins Foundation Tennis as the Operations Manager with a wealth of Administrative and Business Analyst skills. Specializing in project management, communication, problem solving and planning; she is putting systems in place that help us better service our customer needs. A native of Massachusetts, she resides on Cape Cod. -
Kathleen CurrieKathleen joins Foundation Tennis as the Product Manager of Financial Applications, focusing on how tennis facilities can leverage Tennis Collect to invoice and receive payments from their players. Kathleen holds an MBA with a specialization in accounting and gained experience across many areas in business throughout her career including accounting, reporting, sales operations, and business analytics. A former collegiate athlete, Foundation Tennis was the perfect fit combining her love of sports with her business acumen. -
Laureen FavreLaureen joins FT as a Product Manager focusing on Court Reservations, Events and Enrolments. She has extensive experience in sales, marketing, client service and training as well as experience as the Chair of her club's tennis program for the past two years. With end user perspective not only in managing courts, programs, tournaments and promoting membership through socials, she also brings an understanding of the various stakeholders within various structures. While a recreational player, she and her family have a strong passion for the sport and are active members of the local tennis community. -
Connor EckenrodConnor joins Foundation Tennis as a UX Implementation & Consultant, focusing on the customer user experience. Connor has background as a sales and marketing specialist with experience in managing websites, executing digital marketing campaigns, and developing sales support processes to drive growth. Experience working directly with clients, implementing process improvements, and executing data analytics. As a former collegiate hockey player, joining a company in the sports industry was a desired goal. -
Lucas MackinLucas joins Foundation Tennis as an App Implementation Specialist. He is a client outreach representative and product development specialist, with a focus in mobile app-implementation and integration among partnered Tennis centers. With a background in the sports-technology sector, Lucas interned at the sports-centric video streaming and data analytics company PlaySight in 2018, and the sports technology consulting startup SmartSports LLC in 2020. At Foundation Tennis, Lucas strives to improve the client experience and assist with any product difficulties. -
Rubén HerreraRubén joins Foundation Tennis as the Director of Customer Success focusing on bringing all the resources of the company to bear on implementing and staffing every customer satisfaction goals and need. Rubén is a former NCAA D-1 Student-Athlete, Tennis Club Manager, technology enthusiast, and loves growing the sport of tennis.
Meet Our Team
The Great People Behind Our Solutions-
Charlie developed his first Tennis application in 2001 to keep track of his kids tennis schedule and secure court time from his neighborhood tennis club 24/7 while travelling coast to coast.
A veteran of the software industry, Charlie applied rigorous standards for reliability and ease of use, and was awarded the contract with the Tennis Industry Association in 2004 to launch the TennisConnect business.
In 2017, Charlie pulled the team together to rebuild 'from the Foundation up' to leverage mobile, smartphones, HTTPS throughout, and modern responsive technology to help customers build a first-class presence that works. -
Jaana teamed up with Charlie back in 2002, taking over the technical design and coding for the product that was to become TennisConnect.
An accomplished designer, technical editor, and sought-after full stack independent developer, Jaana developed all the business to business systems for the Tennis Industry Association from 2004 to 2017 including for the Tennis Welcome Center campaign, launch of Cardio Tennis, and PlayTennis.com.
In 2017, Jaana joined Charlie as a co-founder of Foundation Tennis where she continues to extend and manage the Foundation Core and consumer facing web sites and functions. -
Elise joins Foundation Tennis as the Operations Manager with a wealth of Administrative and Business Analyst skills. Specializing in project management, communication, problem solving and planning; she is putting systems in place that help us better service our customer needs. A native of Massachusetts, she resides on Cape Cod.
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Kathleen joins Foundation Tennis as the Product Manager of Financial Applications, focusing on how tennis facilities can leverage Tennis Collect to invoice and receive payments from their players. Kathleen holds an MBA with a specialization in accounting and gained experience across many areas in business throughout her career including accounting, reporting, sales operations, and business analytics. A former collegiate athlete, Foundation Tennis was the perfect fit combining her love of sports with her business acumen.
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Laureen joins FT as a Product Manager focusing on Court Reservations, Events and Enrolments. She has extensive experience in sales, marketing, client service and training as well as experience as the Chair of her club's tennis program for the past two years. With end user perspective not only in managing courts, programs, tournaments and promoting membership through socials, she also brings an understanding of the various stakeholders within various structures. While a recreational player, she and her family have a strong passion for the sport and are active members of the local tennis community.
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Connor joins Foundation Tennis as a UX Implementation & Consultant, focusing on the customer user experience. Connor has background as a sales and marketing specialist with experience in managing websites, executing digital marketing campaigns, and developing sales support processes to drive growth. Experience working directly with clients, implementing process improvements, and executing data analytics. As a former collegiate hockey player, joining a company in the sports industry was a desired goal.
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Lucas joins Foundation Tennis as an App Implementation Specialist. He is a client outreach representative and product development specialist, with a focus in mobile app-implementation and integration among partnered tennis centers. With a background in the sports-technology sector, Lucas interned at the sports-centric video streaming and data analytics company PlaySight in 2018, and the sports technology consulting startup SmartSports LLC in 2020. At Foundation Tennis, Lucas strives to improve the client experience and assist with any product difficulties.
