Our Board of Directors

Ed Jagger--President

    Ed has been a member of the YTF since 1987. Until he was appointed in 2005 by Governor Jeb Bush to be a Pinellas County Court Judge, he served the YTF as Secretary/Treasurer for over 10 years. In 2007, he was named President of the organization. Ed attained state rankings as a junior player, played four years of college tennis at Western Carolina University, before entering law school, and has achieved many state rankings in the over 25, over 30 and over 35 age divisions, in addition to being a member and captain of the 5.5 USTA league championship team that has represented the State of Florida in national competitions for many of the last ten years. Ed had also stayed involved with tennis as a USTA - Florida volunteer member, previously serving on the Grievance Committee, and presently serving as a member of the Region 3, Recreational Tennis Council.

    Ed and his wife, Melissa, live in Seminole, Florida, with their two children, Jacob and Blake.

Pierce Kelley--Immediate Past President

    Pierce first became involved with the YTF as a junior player in the mid to late sixties. He has remained active in the YTF ever since. Pierce was one of the better players in the state and country as a junior, which earned him national rankings and a full scholarship to Tulane University. He later coached the varsity men's tennis team at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. to help defray his law school education.

    Pierce achieved a national ranking of number 46 in the United States in the men's category in 1971 and has achieved numerous national rankings in age-division play until recently when injuries have slowed his play.

    In 1991, Pierce authored a book, Introducing Children to the Game of Tennis, (Betterway Publications, 1991; F & W Publications, 1995; Hammerhead Publications, 2001; and iUniverse, 2006), which has been called THE perfect introduction and primer for parents of beginning players by the United States Tennis Association and Tennis Magazine.

    In 1995, WLRN, a PBS affiliate in Miami, produced and aired a twelve week series, which Pierce hosted and directed. The series was sponsored, in part, by Prince Sporting Goods Company. Stan Smith, Nick Bollettierri, Gary Kesl, Blaine Willenborg, Kim Sands, Paul Roettert, Bobby Curtis, Donna Fales and many other celebrities from Florida tennis circles appeared on the various shows. The program was about introducing children to the game of tennis.

    Pierce is a lawyer who currently has a private practice in Cedar Key. He is also an author and has currently published several novels, Fistfight at the L and M Saloon; A Very Fine Line; and A Plenary Indulgence, in addition to a collection of short stories, Pieces to the Puzzle, and a legal text book, Civil Litigation: A Case Study.

Tug Miller--Treasurer

    Tug has been a member of the YTF since 1987. He has been a tennis player since a young teenager. He and Pierce Kelley met each other as young teens and the two of them have competed with and against each other ever since. Tug achieved high rankings as a junior player and played collegiately at Principia College in St. Louis, MO.

    Tug lives in the Delray Beach area with his wife and children. He continues to play in the senior tournaments and in USTA league tournaments. He and Pierce were ranked number 1 in the state in the over 50 category not long ago and they represented the State of Florida at the national team championships in California a few years ago on an over 50 league team.

    Tug is presently a real estate broker. Since Pierce's injury has sidelined him, Tug now partners with past FTA president Don Cleveland in tournaments and in leagues.

Scott Harrison--First Vice President

    Scott joined the YTF Board in 2005. He is an active member and has participated in two of the Board's most significant accomplishments, those being the Cedar Key project and the Pensacola Pine Forest High School project.

    Scott is an avid player, though he took the game up a little later in life than most. He was raised in New Mexico and Alabama and it wasn't until he attended the University of Alabama on a Band scholarship that he learned how to play in his senior year in college. He has been extremely active ever since as a player and organizer. He was a 1993 USTA Florida Merit Award winner and a 1993 USTA Community Service Award winner. He currently referees and umpires at eight to ten USTA sanctioned tournaments a year incuding the ITF Pensacola Wheelchair Championships, The USTA Women's 40-50 Clay Court National Championships, the 3 time Florida Tournament of the Year Helen Drake Invitational in Destin and the USTA National Open Boys and Girls 16. His business of supplying tennis court products to clubs and facilities around the South and Florida keeps him in tune with todays players both junior and adult.

Bob Jagger--Second Vice-President

    Bob has been a member of the YTF Board of Directors for over fifteen years. He played his high school tennis at Seminole High School in Pinellas County, and played briefly on the Florida Southern team, before transferring to the University of Florida, from which he received not only his Bachelor's degree but also his Juris Doctorate.

    ob has achieved a State Ranking of number 7 in the State in the 35 and over division not long ago and continues to compete in league play in the Jacksonville area, where he and his wife, Maureen, live and work, together with their two children, Jacqueline and Paige.

Christopher Kelley--Third Vice President

    Chris has been a member of the YTF Board for almost 20 years. He was a highly ranked junior player and received a scholarship to play tennis at Georgia Tech, which he did for four years together with Larry Turville, Chris Baxter, Bill Cantrell and many other Floridians.

    Chris is a lawyer who specializes in tax and real estate matters. He lives in Miami Shores with his wife, Stephanie, and their daughter, Sarah.

Jeff Horn--Secretary

    Jeff was born in Miami, FL and raised in Altamonte Springs, FL. He attended Lyman High School (Longwood, FL), Valencia Community College (Orlando, FL, AA Degree, Athletic Scholarship), and the University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL, Psychology).

    He has been a member of the USPTA since 1982 and awarded USPTA District V Volunteer of the Year (1996 & 1998-99), Spectrum Award for Recreation / Individual (1996 & 1997), 15 Years of Volunteer Service Award – USTA Florida Section (2003), USTA National Eve Kraft Community Service Award (2003). He has coached NCAA Div. II (Barry University, Miami Shores, FL), FHSAA (Fr. Lopez, Daytona Beach, FL), and serves as Director of the Genesis Community Program for high-risk youth (Orlando, FL).

    Jeff's volunteer service includes co-founding and serving as Associate Director of Delta Youth Alliance (1990-1998), founding and serving on numerous committees within the Orange Blossom Tennis Association (1992-Present), co-founding and serving as Director of the Genesis Community Program (1994-Present), Board Member and 8-term President of St. Francis House Homeless Shelter (1995-2006), USTA Florida Section Multi-cultural Participation Committee (1998-2002), Board Member of the Youth Tennis Foundation of Florida (2006-present).

    He currently resides in Orlando (College Park), FL, with partner Rai Liauw, since 1994 and attends St. Luke’s United Methodist Church (Windermere, FL).

Brant Bailey--Member,Board of Directors

    Brant has been a member of the YTF Board for two years. He played his junior tennis in Largo and then at the University of Georgia for four years. He also competed on the Satellite Circuit and achieved a number 60 national ranking in 1971.

    Brant is a lawyer who lives in St. Petersburg with his wife and four children.

Von Beebe--Member, Board of Directors

    Von has been a member of the YTF Board of Directors since 1987. As a younger man, he played football and rugby and didn't take up the game of tennis until his late twenties. While at Dartmouth College, where he was captain of the Rugby team, his team was the first US team to tour Ireland and play Rugby against the Irish.

    Von is a retired educator. For years, he was the principal of the Coconut Grove Elementary School. He authored a book, Bilingual Education and the Miami Experience, which assisted other educators across the country in dealing with a situation where many students did not speak English as a native language. He currently serves as an academic counsellor at the Carrollton School in South Miami.

    Von and his wife, Mary, are the proud parents of an 18 year old daughter, Aspen, who is an avid player. Von assisted Pierce Kelley in the writing of his book, Introducing Children to the Game of Tennis, by editing the earliest version of the book and by providing virtually all of the photographs found in the book.

J. Webb Horton--Member, Board of Directors

    J. Webb Horton is now in his fifth season as head coach of the Florida Gulf Coast University men’s tennis program. Horton, who also serves as head women’s tennis coach and as assistant athletic director, was named the second men’s coach in school history in August, 2001. He assumed the duties of overseeing the women's tennis program in June, 2005.

Horton has guided the FGCU men to a 77-27 dual match record during his tenure, including two NCAA tournament berths and top-10 national rankings in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. FGCU advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2005, its first season for NCAA post-season eligibility, after posting a 19-5 record for the most wins in school history. The Eagles had posted records of 13-7, 12-3 and 17-6 in his first three seasons. Including a 16-3 mark at NKU in 2001, Horton’s teams have posted a combined record of 77-24 over the past five years. Last season, Horton's Eagles finished 16-6, No. 9 in the nation, and third in the South Region. For the second season in a row, the Eagles received a NCAA Tournament bid in 2006.

A 1970 graduate of Edinboro State University, Horton was the head women’s tennis coach and coordinator of Diversity Outreach at Northern Kentucky University in 2000-01, where he also served as coordinator of Diversity Outreach and was named conference Coach of the Year. He was also the head coach for men’s and women’s tennis at Indiana University-Purdue at Fort Wayne from 1996-00, where he also served as an admissions counselor, and spent four seasons as the head coach for women’s tennis at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Under his direction, FGCU hosted the 2004 Intercollegiate Tennis Association national singles championships for men and women in Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior college divisions.

In addition to his coaching duties, Horton also coordinates the community relations effort of the FGCU athletic department. Through partnerships with area schools, the Eagles Math Program and Elementary Reading Program have touched the lives of over 10,000 elementary school children in the last three years.

Horton was selected as national winner of the United States Tennis Association / Intercollegiate Tennis Association Community Service Award in 2004. The award honored Horton for his significant contributions to developing community-based tennis program in Southwest Florida. He has assisted with the USTA’s First Serve Program, which benefits at-risk minority children (ages 4-14); the 2004 USA Deaf Tennis Olympic Trials; the Lee County Community Tennis Association's (LCCTA) USA Tennis Month Rally; USA School Tennis Carnivals; "Tennis on the Move" events to encourage recreational tennis participation; and a USA Team Tennis Rallyball Event for area children.

Horton, who resides in Fort Myers, serves on the Board of Directors for the Lee County Community Tennis Association and is a member of the USA Tennis Florida Diversity Task Force.

Allan Kelley--Member, Board of Directors

    Allan has been a member of the YTF for almost twenty years. He is the younger, but not the youngest brother of both Pierce and Chris Kelley. Allan played tennis in high school and played briefly on the Satellite Circuit while traveling with Pierce over a few summers, but he was and is a long distance runner. In fact, he was one of the best runners in the State in high school and had ambitions to compete in the Olympics while at Duke, but injuries sidelined him. He has run several marathons, most notably "The" Boston Marathon on several occasions.

    Allan is a lawyer, specializing in Maritime Law, and is a partner with the Miami law firm of Fowler, White. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Maritime Law Association and a past president of the Florida Admiralty Committee of the Florida Bar Association.

    Allan and his wife, Kathleen, have six children and they live in Miami Shores. He remains an excellent tennis player and continues to play in league competitions when time permits.

Nancy Morgan--Member, Board of Director

    Nancy is a recent addition to the YTF Board of Directors, becoming a member in 2006. She is a welcome adition. She is a West Virginia native. She became a Floridian in 1973. She earned BS degree from WVU and master’s at Maryland. Married to David since 1968 with three adult children, five granddaughters, and two grandsons to date.

    Nancy was a tennis instructor 19 years, PTR certified; lifetime USTA member; USTA Florida volunteer since 1983, President 2001-2002, received various state awards and national Community Service Award in 1995; involved at USTA national level since 1994; president of local CTA (Suncoast Tennis Foundation) two 2-year terms; Member USTA Florida Hall of Fame.

    In addition to her activities with the Florida Tennis Association as a Past-President, she is doing freelance writing, including Florida Tennis and Tennis View Magazines, and started an on-line tennis newsletter in partnership with Advantage Yours, a local tennis specialty shop.

    From 1986-2008, Nancy was a sports correspondent with the St. Petersburg Times and covered local tennis, youth sports and athlete updates on local high school graduates.

Bobby Curtis--Liason to the USTA-FL

    Bobby has been an integral part of the Youth Tennis Foundation of almost 40 years. He first became involved with the YTF in the early 70s while he was the director of tennis at Moore Park in Miami. He hosted the first 14 and under State Youth Team Tennis Tournament in 1977 and was one of the first Regional Directors of the YTF. In 1979 he became the state-wide co-ordinator of the YTF, which was a full-time position. The Florida Tennis Association (now USTA-FL) hired him to become the Director of Junior Tennis in the early 80s but Bobby remained active with the YTF until the late 80s, when the FTA took over operation of the Youth Team Tennis program (re-naming it Junior Team Tennis). Bobby regularly attends the YTF meetings and provides sage advice to our Board of Directors regarding our planned activities, as well as historical facts and anecdotes.