What do you do when you have given so much to the game of tennis? Lars Rosene's response would be pretty simple; you keep giving. From playing on the Texas A&M tennis team, to being a Vice President at Flowserve Corporation and a Co-Chairman with the United States Tennis Association, Lars Rosene has made quite the name for himself inside and out of the tennis industry.
Starting off at a young age, Rosene fell in love with the game of tennis. Coming from a football family, he wanted to take a different route. He had immediate success with the sport after winning a 10-and-under summer tournament that his dad signed him up for. Rosene enjoyed the individuality of the sport where you have to mentally battle yourself every point. This experience opened opportunities and doors for Lars' future. As he continued to succeed in tennis, he left home in California his sophomore year of high school and attended the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy (now known as IMG Academy) for two years. His time in Florida gave him a great platform when he started to decide which school he wanted to go to. Texas A&M was at the top of his list.
US Open Sportsmanship Selection Committee Co-Chair Lars Rosene and USTA Chairman of the Board, CEO and President Katrina Adams present the 2017 US Open Sportsmanship Award to Juan Martin del Potro.
"My dad loved Bear Bryant and A&M even though he didn't have any ties to it,' Rosene said. "I think all of that really helped me decide on A&M with the culture and sport that was there."
Rosene decided to continue on with his tennis career and played for Texas A&M Tennis Team under guidance of Texas A&M's all-time winningest coach, David Kent. During his time at A&M he won the Southwest Conference Indoors Double Championship with Dean Goldfine. Rosene and Goldfine still keep in touch with each other and much like being an Aggie, being an athlete you gain lifelong friends. After graduation, Rosene regularly returns to campus to cheer on the team.
"It is important to go back and to support the team and current players," Rosene added. "It's cool to go back and cheer them on. I love to see how the program has matured into one of the best in the country and how we get players from all over the world."
After graduation and marriage, Rosene called up the USTA to see if they had any smaller professional tournaments in Texas. In California and Florida where he grew up playing, they had smaller money tournaments for people that wanted to get started playing professional tennis. However, in Texas smaller professional tournaments had not been created yet.
Rosene wanted to play with people who had played in college or had competitive experience so he called the USTA and inquired about jumpstarting the professional tennis scene in Texas. A few days later, USTA called him back and asked if he wanted to be on a volunteer committee that helps make those decisions. Originally, he said no, but he ended up volunteering for the position. With his new position, he helped the USTA make a money tournament with a $10,000 prize to get players from college and the pros to come out. From this volunteer position, he got involved in junior team tennis and summer playoffs for team tennis for about ten years.
"I loved it a lot because you have all these kids out in a team event and it is much more exciting than just singles match play," Rosene said. "It reminds me a lot of the college format. Just a fun environment for the kids."
While he was working the junior team tennis, he became close friends with current A&M assistant coach Kevin O'Shea.
"Lars has given back way more to the game than the game has given him,' O'Shea said. "He looks to help people and it does not just have to be in the sports or tennis industry."
Rosene is the Co-Chairman, along with former top five world-ranked player Todd Martin, of the US Open Pro Player Sportsmanship Award Selection Committee which led him to the amazing opportunity to present trophies at the US Open at the prestigious USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
The McKinney, Texas resident is currently the Vice President of Corporate and Marketing Communications at Flowserve. Rosene has made a career out of public relations and marketing, but his passion lies with tennis, he worked with the Women's Pro Tennis Association and helped bring the Kansas City team of the World Team Tennis league to Irving, Texas and served as their chief marketing officer.
Outside of his job and his volunteer position with the USTA, he enjoys photography. His career has afforded him the opportunity to travel all over the world. He had these pictures on his iPhone or camera and wanted to do something with them. In turn, while his family was on vacation and watching a movie at night, he built his website while on a family vacation. He has a collection of pictures from all around the world uploaded on his page and he jokes that his kids all make fun on him but he built this website as a gift to them so they can go look at that when I am not here anymore and look at my travels.
The two things that Rosene feels made him so successful in the tennis and professional industry are hard work and commitment. Rosene still plays tennis and can thank Texas A&M Tennis for creating such a lifelong bond with his teammates. Just like Rosene puts it; Tennis is the sport of a lifetime.
