Meet Our Team

Tennisinvt is a space where USTA Vermont shares its resources with the Vermont tennis community. The USTA State Association for Vermont is represented by the following volunteers:

Board of Directors

Sandy Foster

Vice President, Chair Budget and Finance Committee
sandy@benningtonaces.org

Sandy came to USTA Vermont in the Spring of 2021 and has grown in the role to become Finances Facilitator, Court Resurfacing and Facilities Guide, and Vice President. In her professional life, she is the Executive Director of the Bennington Aces NJTL, a role that allows her to see the powerful impact tennis and educational support can have on young rural Vermonters in the southern part of the state.

While she has been passionate about tennis for the past 12 years, her tennis journey after a stage 3 cancer diagnosis. Playing tennis became a crucial part of her healing process, helping her maintain her mental health during the challenging times of surgery, treatments, chemotherapy, and radiation. Her game has improved considerably, yet she’s  still perfecting her “don’t-hit-it-into-the-net” technique. 

It is a little known fact that Sandy drives a mean tractor as well as maneuvers other large pieces of equipment on the family farm she shares with her husband Michael in North Pownall, Vermont.

Frank Costantino:

Treasurer
frankcostantino1958@gmail.com

Frank’s love affair with the sport began on a community tennis court when he was 12; it even forced him into the public library where he devoured every tennis book available. His heroes were the Aussies – Rod Laver, Ken Rosewald, and John Newcombe – and they became a part of his passion to learn. During the summer, he was often found on the tennis court behind the high school, hitting with anyone who showed up with a racquet and a can of balls. While he played for The Middlesex Blue Jays during his junior and senior years of high school, college and the early years of family life kept him off the court. It wasn’t until moving to Vermont in 2005 that he reconnected with the game, filling in with groups of older accomplished players like the Thursday Night gang and Early Birders at The Edge. He had always wanted a life partner with whom to share the game, so he convinced his wife Joanna to join him. Eventually he began to compete again, co-captaining USTA League teams for many years. His goal during his time at USTA VT is to provide financial oversight and management as the organization looks for new ways to spread inclusive tennis. Fun facts: he loves trumpet music – period and played semi-professional jazz for many years. When retirement comes, he looks forward to playing as much as he can.

Donna Ellison:

Secretary
dbellison56@gmail.com

Jen Weiss

Recreation Coordinator and USTANE Staff Member; Advisor to the SLC and BOD
weiss@newengland.usta.com

Jen is based in Burlington, VT where she has been deeply involved in the fitness world for over a decade, previously working as a personal trainer. She has also coached high school tennis, most recently with the Essex HS Girls Tennis Team. When not on the tennis court, she likes to hike, bike, and spend quality time with her dog, Bev.

Committee Chairs

Tammy Azur

JTT and Youth Tennis Coordinator, and USTA New England Coaches Commission member
tammya@edgevt.com

As Director of Tennis at The Edge, Tammy has over 30 years of teaching/coaching experience, including summer camp counselor, high school head coach, DI collegiate coach, and full-time tennis professional/tennis director. She currently teaches many adult and junior players through private lessons, clinics, camps and weekly programs at the Edge, where she also runs in-house leagues at all levels. Tammy grew up in northern Vermont, learning to play tennis from her father when she was 9. She was a multi-sport athlete playing soccer, basketball, and softball in high school. Accepted to the University of Vermont on a full academic scholarship, Tammy graduated with an Economics degree and played four years of DI Women’s Tennis for the Catamounts. Her roles within USTA New England and Vermont encourage her to bring decades of coaching expertise to competitive tennis opportunities for young players (JTT, local Grand Prix and sanctioned tournament play) and training for aspiring high school and professional coaches. She currently resides in Fairfax, VT with her wife, Nicole and their two children, Clark and Vera. As a family they love to travel, hike, and ride roller coasters.

Jerry Knickerbocker

SLC Chair and Board of Directors Member
knickerbocker.jerry@gmail.com

Joyce Doud

DEI Chair
joyceD@edgevt.com

With an older sister as her first teacher, Joyce Doud began playing tennis with her identical twin sister at age 11 on a community court in Delaware. Playing national junior tournaments and Division 1 college tennis, she began her now decades long teaching career at 17. She has taught in DE, MA for 9 years, and at The Edge for 35 years. She is a USPTA Elite Professional (scoring in the top 2% on her certification exam) and honored as Vermont Pro of the Year twice. A former US Open ball girl (where she backed up Billie Jean King), Joyce has umpired high school and college tennis and instructed generations of players, young and old alike. As DEI chair, she hopes to make tennis available to underresourced, less visible, and rural communities around the state. When not on the court, Joyce enjoys spending time with her 3 grandsons and vacationing on Delaware beaches with her family. Fun facts: Joyce has a tennis racket tattoo, played clarinet in her middle and high school bands, and harbors a lifelong sports fantasy of dunking a basketball!

Chaska Richardson

Communications Chair
chaska@gmavt.net

Chaska lives in Huntington and is active in USTA league play in Burlington. When she’s not on the court, she enjoys hiking, playing with her dog, and helping on the family Couching Lion sugar farm. In her spare time she’s a teacher in the Burlington School District. Chaska brings many years of tennis savvy, creative marketing expertise, and social connections to the BOD where she supports our marketing, social media, and community event efforts.

Dawn Bugbee

Board Member at Large
ddbugbee21@gmail.com

Dawn grew up at the Jersey Shore near Asbury Park and is a big Bruce Sprigsteen fan. Love of skiing brought her to Vermont for college and there where she played Varsity Tennis and Softball. Tennis has since become her life-long sport, and her competitive nature has been challenged through USTA League play since 2000. As a mother of 4, she encouraged her children to have fun playing tennis and is grateful that they encountered Chittenden County’s wonderful local junior coaches who encouraged teamwork over individual success; as a result three played high school tennis and competed in USTA Youth Tournaments.
Dawn is now retired from her various roles as CFO at the community hospital and an electric utility, so she has more time for recreational and competitive tennis with fellow tennis enthusiasts. She treasures time spent on the lake with her husband of 43 years where she loves to teach their grandchildren to ski, swim, and eventually excel at the game she loves so much!

Sumner Williams

Board Member at Large
sumner.williams@gmail.com

Sumner grew up in Richmond, Vermont and currently resides in Hinesburg. After playing 2 seasons of high school Tennis at MMU, he took a decade long hiatus from the sport and moved to NYC to pursue a career in the Fashion Industry. Life changes brought him back to Vermont in 2019, and while he is a passionate snowboarder, he searched for he began looking for other ways to stay active in the winter. This led to an absolute obsession with tennis that keeps him both playing and watching a lot. He plays in USTA Leagues and aspires to coach and train new players at the community tennis and high school levels.

Jeanne Hulsen

Board Member at Large; Community and Events Advisor
jeannehulsen1@gmail.com

As an accomplished athlete, teaching professional, and program director, Jeanne Hulsen is passionate about building innovative instructional, recreational, competitive and social programming in the racquet/paddle sports arena. Her extensive experience as a multi-sport coach is a great asset in the dynamic landscape of tennis and pickleball in Vermont. Jeanne continues to excel competitively in both tennis and pickleball, where she is active on New England’s Tennis Women’s Intersectional teams, the Addie Cup and Friendship Cup. In 2022, she won a gold medal in Pickleball at the Women’s 60+ National Senior Games. Jeanne coached collegiate women and men’s tennis, and women’s volleyball in both New York and Vermont, where she coached high school varsity boy and girl’s tennis and volleyball. She has also organized and coached youth development tennis programs, led numerous camps and clinics, and coached USTA adult league teams and their players. Professionally she has served as University of Vermont Campus Recreation Director, Burlington Tennis Club Tennis Director, Burlington High School Athletics Director, and most recently Pickleball Director at the Sports and Fitness Edge in South Burlington. A certified tennis and pickleball instructor, she has served on the USTA New England Board of Directors, and continues in her role with USTA Vermont, where her dedication to building unique events and strong tennis communities is highly valued.

Advisory members of the State League Committee

Heidi Willoughby

State League Committee
shwillo@me.com

Although born in New England, Heidi’s family moved to Florida, where she began playing tennis at the age of 12. She eventually became a nationally ranked junior tennis player and went on to play NCAA Division I college tennis at Clemson University. As an adult, she has played League Tennis in 3 USTA Sections (Northern, Missouri Valley and New England). She has helped coach the CVU Girls Tennis Team for 5 years and has Co-Captained the New England Friendship Cup (New England vs. Quebec) for 6 years. In addition to her work on the Vermont State League Committee, Heidi recently joined the Board of the New England Senior Tennis Foundation.

Will Dodge

State League Committee
wdodge@drm.com

Will played casual, sporadic tennis after high school with friends and family but took the game more seriously during the pandemic as a way to exercise and find social interaction. Along the way he discovered several kindred spirits with the same passion for the game. He now plays at least three times a week year round and has participated in USTA league for the past three years, occasionally as captain. As a volunteer, he hopes to bring others into the game, especially other ‘casual, sporadic’ players. Apart from tennis, his other passion is playing keyboards and backup vocals in a Montreal-based Radiohead cover band.

Edye Graning

State League Committee
edyeg33@hotmail.com 

Edye learned to play tennis as an adult and has fully embraced the tennis community, playing 2-3 times a week year round.  She joined the Vt State League Committee to make competitive tennis available to more adults and to make tennis more inclusive.  She and her husband Mike both volunteer coach the Mount Mansfield High School Girls Tennis Team where teaching the love for the sport is the priority.  She also loves to hike, ski, read and above all else eat dark chocolate.

Tom Twitchell

State League Committee
twiitchanator@gmail.com

Tom grew up in a tennis family in Burlington, Vermont where his love of the sport began at age 8. His uncle Coleman Twitchell was one of the founders of the Burlington Tennis Club. Tom has decades of teaching & coaching experience including as a high school and the Women’s Tennis Team at Saint Michael’s College. A Certified Racquet Technician and Member of the U.S. Racquet Stringers Association, Tom owns a successful racquet and paddle sports shop in So. Burlington where he offers a full range of clothing, equipment, and professional stringing services. He loves competition and plays tennis 4 – 5 times a week and on multiple USTA League Teams. He is on a mission to do whatever he can to keep people active and playing!

Mission Statement and Shared Goals

The mission of USTA Vermont is to promote the growth of tennis to inspire healthy people and communities in Vermont, throughout New England, and across America. Our goal is to do the following: :

• Support programs, people, facilities, and initiatives that bring tennis to people of all ages and abilities through state, regional, and national grants and scholarship programs 
• Make tennis opportunities visible and accessible through our newsletter, website, and social media sites
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• Facilitate training for coaches at the recreational, high school, and professional levels
• Help preserve and maintain places to play tennis
• Promote youth training and competition – within schools and other public and private facilities 
• Recognize people and organizations that make a difference in their tennis communities
• Support USTA league, tournament, and friendly competitive play