Rebel Good of Elkin, NC began his officiating career in 1985. He has officiated at virtually every major tournament in the United States, and in Spain, Canada, Bermuda, and New Zealand. Good worked his first US Open in 1989 and first US Open final in 1991. He has worked multiple US Open finals as both line umpire and chair umpire. He was the first to chair a US Open final using electronic line calling. His most recent final worked was 2019. Rebel retired from professional officiating in 2020 but continues to work at the highest ITA levels as a referee and chair umpire. He has many other officiating accomplishments along with being the Executive Director of the NC Professional Umpires Association (NCPTUA) which is the largest tennis officials’ associations in the country. NCPTUA assigns officials to more than 500 collegiate matches in the southeast. Good also currently serves on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) Officials and Rules Committees. He has also served USTA North Carolina well as a longtime member of the Officials committee and chair. Additionally, Rebel Good is the longtime author of “Court of Appeals”, Tennis Magazine’s column on the rules of tennis.

Lots of people have held positions and served on committees in our tennis world. Jeff Joyce of Asheville has been doing that for many years. What distinguishes Jeff from others is how he has been willing to take the toughest situations head on and resolve them forthrightly. When he has done so, very few people, other than NCTA Presidents, Management Committee members and Nominating Committee members, know the sensitivity and difficulty of these “behind the scenes” situations. Jeff is a leader at the national, section, state, and local levels of tennis. To name just a few of the projects Joyce has taken on in the last decade are: Leading NC in the background check world for JTT coaches and officials. USTA North Carolina piloted, along with partner USTA New England the process that would eventually lead to the USTA adopting the policy. Jeff Joyce has played a long-time role on the USTA North Carolina Nominating Committee. He was part of the decision and then the hiring of the first NC Tennis Foundation employee. He has played a leadership role in the further development of our Community Tennis Associations with many new initiatives. And most recently, Jeff has led the volunteers for the Fed Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup) in Asheville. The successful event has been held in 2018, 2019 and again in 2022. He truly has gone above the call of duty many times as he is never one to turn down an opportunity to help tennis! How did the longtime (45+ years) Parks and Recreation guy get into tennis? In the 1990’s he joined fellow Hall of Fame member, Buster Brown working with kids offering free clinics. What a stroke of luck for tennis. This started a relationship with the formerly known WNCTA (now Asheville Tennis Association) and Asheville P&R that has led to many great endeavors for tennis.

Sam Paul enters the 2022-23 season, his 34th at the University of North Carolina and 30th as its head coach, as the winningest active coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He has an overall record of 541-223, including more ACC wins (202) than any coach in history. Highlights of Paul’s career include two ITA indoor national championships (2016, 2021), two NCAA Final Fours (2017, 2019) and the 2017 NCAA final. His teams have earned NCAA Tournament bids in 26 of the last 28 years and have made eight consecutive appearances in the NCAA Round of 16. Paul has earned many coaching accolades, including the 2017 ITA National Coach of the Year award, six ACC Coach of the Year awards and four ITA regional coach of the year awards. During his tenure as an assistant and head coach at Carolina, the Tar Heels have won seven ACC championships, including three tournament titles and four regular season championships. Paul has guided a host of Tar Heel players to conference, regional and national accolades. UNC players have earned All-ACC accolades 74 times since 1994. Since he became an assistant coach at UNC in 1989, the Tar Heels have had players earn first-team All-America honors 41 times. In both 2016 and 2020, UNC led the nation with five All-America selections. In 2020, Blumberg won the ITA Senior Player of the Year award and was named an All American a record 10 times. Paul has also seen his players achieve top honors in the classroom, highlighted by 2022 ACC Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year Brian Cernoch. Paul’s players have gone on to achieve professional success in a wide variety of careers. During his tenure, a number of Tar Heel players have earned international success on the ATP Tour, most notably Don Johnson (Wimbledon doubles champion, 2001), Tripp Phillips (US Open doubles semifinalist, 2006), Nicholas Monroe (US Open doubles quarterfinalist, 2018, and French Open doubles quarterfinalist, 2020) and William Blumberg (US Open mixed doubles semifinalist, 2022).

Cliff Skakle, currently of Hamden, Connecticut, makes history with his selection as an inductee for the NC Tennis Hall of Fame. He joins his father, Don Skakle as the first father-son duo to be in the Hall of Fame. Cliff Skakle comes by his tennis talents naturally. He was groomed by his dad to win over 50 USTA North Carolina junior titles in both singles and doubles. He was the 1973 NCHSAA Singles Champion, and Finalist in his sophomore and senior years, helping Chapel Hill High School achieve the team title in 1972. Cliff then realized a dream of representing the University of North Carolina, where his dad coached the Tarheels, winning 4 individual ACC championships and leading his team to 4 ACC team titles. After a successful college career, Skakle went on to compete on the ITF & ATP tours. In 1981, he competed in 3 of the Grand Slams and, captured the Dutch Circuit titles in Singles/Doubles, while achieving a career high world ranking in the top ATP 250 in both. After an injury ended his tour aspirations, he later went on to compete internationally on the ITF Senior Circuit, attaining a #3 world ranking in 1999, while also representing the USA in Potter Cup, Gordon Trophy and IC team events in years that followed. He has won a total 13 USTA Balls, (2) gold, (7) silver and (4) bronze; and several USTA Intersectional national championships as a member of TeamSouthern. In North Carolina, he has won a multitude of USTA State Championships, and brought home championships as a member of TeamNC in the Southern Cup. Cliff’s tennis career has spanned 6 decades, including being a Past President of the North Carolina chapter of the USPTA. Presently, he is engaged in the momentum of full access to the sport of tennis and strives to make a difference with others with his InFLOW® coaching philosophy.

The North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame now includes 111 members with the addition of Rebel Good, Jeff Joyce, Sam Paul and Cliff Skakle. The inaugural class was inducted in 1975. The North Carolina Tennis Foundation selects four members each year to add to the Hall of Fame during Tennis Weekend. Currently, this class will be inducted on Saturday January 28, 2023 at the Pinehurst Resort and Country Club. For up-to-date information, visit www.nctennisfoundation.com.

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About the North Carolina Tennis Foundation

The North Carolina Tennis Foundation was organized in 1961 for the purpose of promoting tennis and serves tennis players in North Carolina with its sister organization, the North Carolina Tennis Association. The Foundation provides financial support to many worthwhile tennis programs across the state. These programs include the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) Network, the NC State High School Championships, Adaptive Tennis, and numerous grants. The NCTF is also responsible for maintaining the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame. https://www.nctennisfoundation.com/hall-of-fame