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DANN BATTISTONE JOINS USTA-NEVADA

USTA-Nevada is proud to introduce to you our new Community Tennis and Diversity Coordinator Dann Battistone. Dann will replace Jerry Johnson who spent over 3 years working for USTA-Nevada.

"Jerry Johnson had a great opportunity to work full tim e at the YMCA and we are very grateful for all he has accomplished," said Ryan Wolfington USTA-Nevada's Executive Director. "We are very lucky to have found such a high quality applicant in Dann Battstone to continue Jerry's work."

Dann Battistone was born in Santa Barbara, CA, and is the second youngest of six children. Raised in a sports-oriented family he had the opportunity to spend a lot of time around professional athletes. One of his favorite sports was basketball, as his father was the founder and owner of the Utah Jazz in the National Basketball Association.

Battistone picked up the game of tennis at the age of six. After high school he traveled, trained and played in tournaments around the world. He then took time off to spend two years in Brazil as a missionary for his church. He worked in the streets and favelas of Rio de Janeiro. It was an experience that taught him how to work with people of diverse backgrounds and upbringings. He now speak Portuguese fluently, which has been an asset everywhere he goes, as it is very similar to Spanish.

After his mission Dann attended Brigham Young University (BYU), where he was hired as the manager and assistant coach of the men's tennis team under famed coach Brad Pierce. BYU was nationally ranked every year that he was assistant coach, and he helped orchestrate BYU's first win ever over NCAA powerhouse Stanford.
Dann met his wife, Angie, at BYU. They were married in 2003 and has 2 children, Sam and Lily, and a third child on the way in April of 2009.

Dann was also fo rtunate enough to be accepted into BYU's Marriott Management and Accounting Schools, where he continued his studies while coaching the tennis team. He earned both an undergraduate and master's degree in Accounting with a 3.69 cumulative grade point average.
In late 2007, Dann decided to return to the ATP tour with a focus on doubles with his younger brother, Brian. They started with no ranking in October of 2007, and have since risen to the 100's in the world, rising faster than any other team in the world. They have wins over players ranked as high as the top 10 in the world, including many US stars such as Donald Young, John Isner, Kevin Kim, Sam Warburg, Brendan Evans, Rajeev Ram, and others.

In addition to his travels on tour, he created Natural Tennis, Inc. in 2007 with three other partners. Natural Tennis, Inc., focuses on innovation in the tennis and health industry with an ultimate goal of getting more people involved in the game of tennis. They have been able to raise approximately $80,000 towards their goals since inception.
"Finally, I am ready and excited to be able to contribute my enthusiasm, experience, and talents to the USTA-Nevada in my new role as Community Tennis and Diversity Coordinator."