ABOUT MARGOT CARTER
Margot, formerly world ranked 451 is the Founder and CEO of Spherical Yellow Inc, a company dedicated to all aspects of growing Tennis. She is a USPTA Elite Professional and PTR Professional Coach and Clinician. Margot has presented at multiple USPTA workshops, the WTCA Conference in NYC 2018, the WTCA ITA collaboration in Naples, FL 2018 and most recently the Jacksonville area USPTA RED day.
This journey in Tennis began when at the age of 18 Margot left her home in Winchester, England, to attend Tennessee Tech University afterbeing awarded a full Tennis scholarship. She competed in the top 3 of the university team, succeeded in making the record books at number 5 on the all time season victories list, while also completing a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Biology.
It is after this that she then went on to compete on the Professional Tour, travelling around the world extensively and achieving a world doubles ranking high of 451. She returned to TTU as the assistant coach, and this time qualified with a Master of Science in Environmental Biology.
However, Margot’s passion for Tennis couldn’t be stopped, and yet again, she found herself on a tennis court, this time completing various USPTA and PTR coaching qualifications, to elite professional and professional standard. This led to coaching opportunities all over the world, including a 1 month stint in the Caribbean successfully coaching two local girls to get scholarships to universities in the USA. There was just a little something missing in life though, and Margot just had to return to the world circuit for some quality competition! She re established herself with a world ranking in 2014, which peaked at 850, when a ruptured Achilles tendon slowed things up.
It was at this point that Margot formed Spherical Yellow and launched herself into the world of Coaching and Tennis business full time. Aside from coaching and speaking at conferences Margot also trains coaches as a PTR clinician, and is the voice of the WTCA podcast, “A Tennis Connection”, also on instagram here.
QUESTIONS FOR MARGOT CARTER
TCB: Margot, were you born in Winchester, England?
MC: No, I was born in Chichester, West Sussex, England
TCB: When did you start playing tennis and who got you into the sport?
MC: When I was 5 years old, I played because my parents played and I wanted to be able to
play with them. As I got older I was convinced that I was going to win Wimbledon, and so to bring my ego down a notch my Mother entered me into a tournament. Of course, I was not very successful, but instead of checking my ego, all it did was fuel my desire for more lessons!
TCB: What made you decide to take up coaching after playing on the tour and after obtaining a Master of Science in Environmental biology?
MC: Coaching was a stop gap between my degree and my desire to start "saving the world", however one day I was chatting with a player at the club who asked me about my interviews and my life plans, and he pointed out to me that when I was talking about my potential jobs, I was not very animated, but that when I started talking about my dreams to one day build a carbon neutral Tennis center, I was animated and excited about the dream.
It was this chat that made me join both the USPTA and PTR to become as certified as possible so that I could follow the energy!
TCB: What made you start Spherical yellow in 2014? Is it a for-profit corporation?
MC: I realized shortly after getting all my base level certifications that my potential for growth was far greater by starting my own company than simply working for a club. Spherical Yellow itself is indeed a for profit cooperation, but the 501C3 not for profit is in the plans for next year!
TCB: How many coaches do you employ at your host clubs? Are they full-time employees?
MC: The business has changed its pathway a lot this year and we are actually focussing on buying a club in Nashville. The club in question needs full renovation and therefore at the moment we don't have any full time employees. Next year should be a different story though!
TCB: What are your challenges at Spherical yellow?
MC: I am focussing on growing Spherical Yellow in ways that I have not done before and so I have a big learning curve that I am tackling, but I am lucky to have a great team of mentors behind me who I can turn to for all kinds of advice.
TCB: Where do you want to take Spherical Yellow in the future?
MC: It is my dream to be able to create or retrofit a Tennis Center to be carbon neutral, and to be a showcase for both tennis and sustainability.
TCB: Have you played pickleball? Are you planning on teaching it?
MC: Yes, and although I see the potential for Pickleball within a Tennis club business model, I doubt that I will be the one coaching it!
TCB: Do you still play tennis yourself?
MC: I have been known to drop into some Pro Ams and some exhibition matches, most recently in October during a GlamSlam exhibition match at The Riviera Club in L.A.
Margot Carter in action at the 2019 Riviera Country Club GlamSlam
TCB: What is your racquet of choice?
MC: Head Speed Pro
TCB: Thank you, Margot Carter.
Congratulations to Margot Carter for being our
November 2019 Female Pro of the Month.