Today we’d like to introduce you to Corey Bowlin.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started playing tennis at the age of 16. After college, I moved to Maui where I picked up playing tennis again. While living there, I was hired by a tennis management company(Peter Burwash International). I had the opportunity to work in California, Oregon, Puerto Rico and Anguilla as a head tennis professional and director of tennis. I ended up living in the Caribbean for 11 years and for 5 of those years I was the director of tennis at Palmas del Mar Country Club which is the largest tennis facility in the Caribbean. While there, I was the director of a pro level tournament, a men’s $50,000 challenger tournament. We hosted players from all over the world.
After coaching in Florida for two years, I moved to Harleysville and worked at Frog Hollow Racquet Club in Lansdale. During the ten years I worked there, I was a teaching professional, director of tennis and managed the pro shop. Four years ago an opportunity came up to be the Executive Director at a nonprofit organization; Greater Pottstown Tennis & Learning(GPTL). GPTL serves under-resourced youth in the Pottstown area with our tennis and education programs. Our mission is to mentor life skills, healthy behaviors and learning through tennis.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have always worked in the for profit side of the tennis business. It has been a challenge to learn all of the ins and outs of the nonprofit world. We were still in Covid protocols when I began and that was challenging to rebuild programs that had gone dormant. In some ways it was like starting over with creating all new contacts, building relationships and finding coaches to help run programs.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am the executive director at Greater Pottstown Tennis & Learning a nonprofit in Pottstown, PA. We focus on impacting children’s lives in the Greater Pottstown area through our tennis and education programs. I have been a tennis teaching professional for almost 30 years now. We give opportunities to students to experience tennis when they normally wouldn’t be able to. We also have a large special needs tennis program that welcomes all abilities. The growth of that program which was only two participants when I restarted it four years ago to over 30 awesome human beings is what I’m most proud of. We are the only tennis and education nonprofit in the Pottstown area and with our tennis and STEAM program we serve all four elementary schools throughout the school year. We also run an after school program at the middle school, offer free tennis camps during the summer for Pottstown School District students; as well as scholarships to participate in our paid programming.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I see us expanding into neighboring communities and growing our reach to more school districts. It comes down to connecting with the community, getting more volunteers involved and training up new coaches to help with growing our programs.
Pricing:
- Our programs are free to Pottstown School District Students
- We have various paid tennis clinics and camps that are open to the public.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://greaterpottstowntennis.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greaterpottstowntennis/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greaterpottstowntennis/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greater-pottstown-tennis-and-learning-corey-bowlin-executive-director-339757113
