SCF Names Betsy Nagelsen McCormack New Women's Tennis Coach
(Bradenton, Fla., Dec. 10, 2009) — State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) has tapped former Grand Slam
and Wimbledon doubles champion and Bradenton resident, Betsy Nagelsen McCormack, to
coach SCF’s new women’s tennis team.
McCormack’s stellar professional tennis background and longstanding commitment to mentoring young athletes is the ideal coach to build a strong women’s tennis program at SCF, said SCF President Dr. Lars A. Hafner.
“As a longtime admirer of Betsy’s tennis accomplishments, I am very excited that she
has agreed to come to SCF as our first women’s tennis coach. There is no doubt in
my mind that she will lead SCF to national prominence,” Hafner said.
Early in her career, McCormack succeeded in becoming the world’s top-ranked female
junior tennis player in 1973. For the next 20 years, she competed on Women’s Tennis
Association and Virginia Slims circuits, winning 25 world doubles titles, including
two Grand Slams. She competed in the main draw at Wimbledon for 23 consecutive years,
winning the over-35 doubles championship in 1993. McCormack also was winner of U.S.
Open Senior women’s doubles title for two consecutive years.
In 1997, McCormack retired from competitive tennis after the birth of her daughter.
She continued using her expertise in tennis, working as an analyst for ABC Sports,
ESPN, and Australia’s Channel 9. McCormack is also coauthor of two books, “In His
Court” and “Fit Over Forty for Dummies.”
Her late husband, Mark H. McCormack, was founder and chairman of International Management
Group (IMG) and widely recognized as the inventor of sports marketing.
Following his passing in 2003, the company was sold a long time family friend, Ted
Forstmann, founder of Forstmann Little and the financier of recognized brands, Gulfstream
and Dr. Pepper.
McCormack is active in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women’s Hall of Fame
at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center at the College of William & Mary. She also
serves on the boards of the First Serve Foundation, the International Sports Coalition
and Leadership Foundations of America. In 1997, she was honored as the recipient of
the House of Hope Humanitarian Award for her service to House of Hope, an Orlando
ministry for troubled teens.
SCF’s tennis program, starting Fall 2010, will compete in Division I National Junior
College Athletic Association. McCormack will begin her new position at SCF in January.
