3 min read
It’s a family affair in Farmington! Brady Lee is part owner of the Ace Athletics Tennis Academy with his wife Kassia Lee and in-laws Pati and Scott Adamson. But Lee’s introduction to tennis was anything but typical. His tennis journey began 15 years ago when he first started dating Kassia, who played tennis at the University of Utah and Weber State University.
Setting Down Tennis Roots
“She comes from a tennis family, and I knew I had to get into tennis, especially after we got married,” Lee said. “I started helping back in 2010 with some coaching, strength, and conditioning training.”
At the time, his mother-in-law Pati, a former pro player from Peru, was running a tennis program out of a public park and renting out indoor court space during the colder months in Utah. Despite the fact that he started playing tennis as an adult, Lee’s transition into the tennis world was somewhat seamless since he graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor's Degree in exercise and sports science. Still, he didn’t kick things into full gear until after he got married.
Lee and his wife had plans to go back to school and get a Master's Degree in physical therapy but decided they would buy a house with an acre in Farmington, Utah, in order to build two outdoor tennis courts and join the family business instead.
“Pati was a one-man show for a long time, but then Kassia decided she wanted to quit her job and work on tennis with her mom,” Lee said. “I was just helping during the summers, but when we realized there was a lot of demand and we could grow this business, that’s when I jumped in full-time.”
Growing Quickly
Ace Athletics Tennis Academy became an official company in 2017. Lee quickly obtained his USPTA Certification, and as the popularity of their tennis academy grew, they decided it was time to add a third court to their property just 8 months in. The demand became so high that in late 2018, they started construction on an indoor facility in order to continuously run programming throughout the fall and winter months. In April of 2021, the tennis trio opened their three-court indoor facility, just 2 miles from their outdoor courts.
“Tennis is booming in Utah, which is amazing,” Lee said. “The demand is there for us to add a second building to our indoor facility. We’re currently in the process of working with the city to add three additional indoor courts.”
Utilizing Universal Tennis
Lee credits the Universal Tennis software for helping them scale their business so quickly. Once Ace Athletics Tennis Academy joined the Universal Tennis family and started running events on the platform, everything from scheduling to bookkeeping got significantly easier.
“After about a month of running events on the platform and setting the groundwork, it was just a piece of cake to publish an event, invite our digital club members, and people would sign up instantly,” Lee said. “And now we don’t have to worry about accounting because everyone pays directly on the platform.”
Along with an easy payment process, Lee praised the Universal Tennis platform for the easy auto-scheduling feature because it used to take hours, sometimes even days, to create a manual draw.
Currently, Aces Athletics Tennis Academy is focused on creating match play, and they have started to incorporate Universal Tennis programming, including Junior Circuits and Junior Team Tennis.
UTR Rating Motivates Players
Overall, Lee’s main goal is to make sure that all the juniors playing are having a good time and playing level-based matches, something the Verified UTR Rating has helped tremendously with.
“Pros can see where their players are in terms of levels because the rating is brutally honest,” Lee said. “And for players, the rating gives them something to strive for. I have a nephew who is 12 years old, and his goal is to get to a 5.00 UTR Rating by the end of the year. He’s currently at 4.70. It keeps them wanting more.”
If you’re interested in running Universal Tennis programming, including Junior Circuits, Adult Team Tennis, Junior Team Tennis, and more, contact your account manager today!