Management of city’s tennis centers criticized
Coach David Sall gives instruction to Delray Beach resident Ann Pellegrino at the Boynton Beach Tennis and Pickleball Center. Sall left his work at the Delray Beach tennis centers, citing poor conditions and management there. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Brian Biggane
It was supposed to be a slam dunk, or to be more precise, an overhead smash.
When the Delray Beach City Commission met for one of its August meetings, JCD Sports Group, which has run the tennis facilities at the Delray Tennis Center and Delray Swim and Tennis Center since 1996, was poised to be awarded another 10-year contract.
Then people started complaining. And Mayor Tom Carney took notice, asking the commission to take its own look to see if the company was the best choice of all the applicants.
Then Jules Schlecker came to the microphone at the Aug. 18 meeting, with harsh criticisms, claiming that dozens of female players plus three coaches had left the city’s courts in the past year and moved to Boynton Beach’s tennis facility.
One of those coaches, David Sall, who spent two years at the club south of Linton Boulevard commonly known as “Swim,” didn’t hold back when returning a call from The Coastal Star.
“It’s a toxic atmosphere, a toxic place to work,” Sall said. “They’re running it into the ground.”
At their meeting, commissioners decided to invite the five companies that had interviewed for the contract back for another round, this time in front of the commission. The presentations are scheduled for Oct. 20, officials said.
“There’s a lot of people complaining, and they’re everyday people,” Carney said. “Before I hand out a 10-year contract, there are a lot of questions I want answered.”
The tennis management team is responsible for hiring and overseeing the work of coaches, scheduling practice times, putting together teams to represent the facility and staging matches against other facilities. It also makes sure the courts, nets and fencing around the courts are all in good shape. However, maintenance of the grounds is the responsibility of the city.
Players at Delray Swim and Tennis say this old, torn and faded windscreen is an example of neglect at the center.
A list of complaints
Sall, fellow coach Parker Evertsen and a handful of the women who have left Delray Beach programs were forthcoming about the problems and concerns they have with JCD, which has no affiliation with the Delray Beach Open held every February.
Players and coaches said JCD co-owner Sharon Painter is almost never on site (JCD also manages several golf courses), with the primary targets of their complaints being managers Jeff Bingo at the Tennis Center and Jennifer Fiedler at Swim, formerly know as Laver’s International Tennis Resort.
Among the complaints:
Verbal abuse: Players and coaches alike said both managers frequently berate everyone from players and coaches to maintenance workers.
“The way they talk to the coaches is really inexcusable,” said Kelli Evertsen of Boca Raton, who left Delray Beach tennis after five years to play in Boynton Beach. She added about Fiedler: “The way I saw her treat (Sall) is a big reason why I left. She would yell at him, curse at him in front of all the ladies. She yelled at ladies.”
Fiedler could not be reached for comment.
Player retention: While Bingo said it’s not true that the city has lost 70 players — a figure Schlecker used at the commission meeting — he said 23 players left and 24 new ones have come on board. Critics say the attitude toward player retention is all wrong.
“When you go to meetings, they say they don’t care if people leave, they’ll just replace them,” Kelli Evertsen said. “And they have.”
Bingo insisted most of the departures are women and they comprise only 3% of the business. But Parker Evertsen — Kelli’s son who is another one of the coaches who left — estimated there have been just as many men as women leaving.
“Jeff actually said to me, ‘Retention is not our goal,’” Sall said. “‘You come from a country club, where you have to take care of the people. These people are city members; we don’t have to take care of them. We don’t care if they stay or go.’”
Others said they have heard similar comments from Bingo, but he “absolutely” denied ever making such statements when asked by The Coastal Star.
“It is false and completely contrary to how I manage the city’s facilities, finances and treat our members and guests,” Bingo said. “For nearly nine years, my focus has been on serving the public, improving programming, and operating successful facilities for the city of Delray Beach.”
Kelli Evertsen said the Delray Beach program is down to five teams, less than half the number that are at Boynton Beach.
“They have courts (at Swim) that are empty on a daily basis,” Sall said. “It just amazes me.”
Poor maintenance: Bingo insists the Delray Beach courts “have never been in better condition,” but the critics say that’s not the case — and that the courts at Swim are particularly bad.
The center court at Delray Tennis Center “is in very good condition, because that’s where they do the tournament and commercials,” said Cristina Gomez, who left for Boynton Beach despite living within walking distance of the downtown courts. “Everything else is in very poor condition. There’s nothing great in terms of those courts at all.”
Kelli Evertsen said the courts are “embarrassing” at Swim.
“Half the courts, the windscreens are flopping, torn down, old, faded, with holes,” she said. “Weeds growing up. Weeds all over the courts. It’s awful.
“I don’t think any of us expected it to look like a country club. We go to St. Andrews to play, Woodfield; we’re not expecting class. But you would expect there are tables that aren’t beat up, chairs that aren’t missing backs.”
Reached by phone, City Commissioner Juli Casale defended JCD and its managers. She plays regularly on the courts and says it's up to the city to budget the money needed to maintain them properly.
Antiquated sign-up system: Gomez said Delray Beach is the only program she has been to in the past several years that doesn’t use a computer sign-up system, preferring to have clients sign in on sheets of paper torn into quarters.
“They lost my credit card number because they put it on a piece of paper,” Gomez said. “The customer service is just terrible.”
Swim “was just neglected,” Parker Evertsen said. “Wait in line, give your credit card, and now you’re running late because there’s a line out the door.”
Unprofessional behavior: Bingo and Fiedler not only manage their courts but also serve as coaches. Kelli Evertsen and Gomez said Fiedler has removed a coach, taken over a team and taken credit for its success.
Sall said Fiedler would “come on my court and chastise me in front of my clientele, that I don’t know what I’m doing. That’s after me teaching for 40 years.”
Gomez said Bingo would be constantly interrupted by other duties when giving her lessons.
“Out of the hour I would get 45 or 50 minutes,” Gomez said. “It became annoying. So instead of saying something I said, ‘I’m done.’”
Weighing the differences
FM Tennis, co-owned by Brandon Flanagan, is one of the five firms being interviewed in Delray Beach. The company won the contract for the Boynton Beach courts in 2025 and installed Felipe Puleo as manager there.
Players who have left Delray Beach said they liked that Puleo — unlike Bingo and Fiedler — gives no lessons. The three coaches who left said the computer system in use makes everything easier and they are earning a higher percentage from their lessons than they did in Delray Beach.
“I was a bit apprehensive going to work there,” Sall said, “but (Puleo) runs a very professional operation.”
Casale said the Boynton Beach program is “much more expensive” than Delray Beach’s, acknowledging Boynton Beach officials seem to put a higher priority on their program than Delray Beach does.
Kelli Evertsen said it was frustrating that despite the many complaints players have lodged with park officials about JCD, the company is still the recommended firm.
“Are you kidding me?” she asked.
At the commission meeting, City Attorney Lynn Gelin said that not only was JCD the top-scoring firm interviewed by the staff selection committee, but by a wide margin.
Not long after the August commission meeting, a flyer circulated asking the public to email the commissioners voicing support for another contract for JCD — and Casale said many have. Bingo vehemently denied involvement, but Mayor Carney sounded skeptical.
Carney said he likes Painter very much, “but this is not the way to show there’s a level playing field.”
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