US Sports Camps (USSC), the official provider of Nike Sports Camps, announced the addition of Mike Nakajima as the new senior VP of tennis/pickleball. In his new role, Nakajima will oversee USSC’s portfolio of over 120 tennis and pickleball camps across the United States, with plans to add 100 more camps over the next few years.
From 1987 until 2017, Nakajima spent 30 years at Nike, mostly as the brand’s Tennis Sports Marketing Director, managing brand experiences for top athletes like Serena Williams, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal, as well as identifying, signing and managing top up-and-coming talent, many of them currently playing on the ATP and the WTA Tours.
In recent years, he was an instructor of Sports Management graduate course at the University of Oregon, consulted for the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and Wilson Sporting Goods, and served as International College Tennis Recruiting Director for PrepStar, the oldest college recruiting company in the US. He still coached a local high school tennis team before joining the US Sports Camps team.
Nakajima has known US Sports Camps staff members since the organization became affiliated with Nike in 1994.
“I know that this company is the best at what they do—and I believe that I can make a difference!” said Nakajima.
“Nak has been a longtime friend of USSC and we could not be more excited to have him take the reins in tennis and pickleball,” said Justin Hoeveler, CEO of Youth Enrichment Brands. “He is respected as much as anyone in the tennis world and is deeply passionate about player development. Passion for tennis is the foundation, my dad, Charlie Hoeveler, built USSC on—and I have no doubt that Nak will extend and expand that legacy for many years to come.”
USSC has deep roots in tennis. Started in 1975 by Charles Hoeveler, a 52-time national tennis champion, with financial support from tennis legend Billie Jean King, US Sports Camps has expanded its offerings to 22 sports over 2,000 camps, and more than 150,000 players each year. In 2021, US Sports Camps added pickleball as one of its newest offerings.
