By Ray Collins

Tennis Pro Mark Dickson looks more like the guy who does your taxes than the guy once known for his booming serve and world-class tennis game. This lanky Tampa native is like no other professional athlete you’ll ever meet. He remembers people’s names, prefers long conversations about deep subjects, and goes out of his way to be kind to everyone. Not bad for a former jock who finished one year among one of the top money earners in the sport. In 1983, he reached the quarterfinals of the US Open, before losing in a fifth-set tie breaker. He also beat Ivan Lendl when Lendl was number one in the world.
Dickson has spent the past couple decades in financial management, but now he’s found a way to give back to the game that gave him so much. He has a junior tennis academy that operates out of Payne Park, in downtown Sarasota, and Potter Park, near The Oaks. As a teacher, Mark certainly brings experience to the table. He has coached many junior players, including players ranked #1 in the world, #1 in the U.S., and #1 in Florida. But his academy is like no other tennis academy: At “Camp Dickson”, the player’s character is more important than his ground-strokes.
“It’s a tennis academy, but tennis isn’t really the main theme. Every day we talk to the kids about the importance of being a good person,” he said.
Dickson says tennis is just a way to get access to these young minds.
“We play a lot of tennis, we do a lot of fun things – but every day we talk to the kids about the importance of giving back to their community, to think about other people and the sacrifice their parents are making for them on a regular basis,” he said.
When a 16-year old boy missed a shot and mumbled something negative under his breath, Dickson stopped practice and reminded him that whatever message the young player fed his own mind would become ingrained in his psyche. When the boy understood, nodding his head in agreement and understanding, practice started again.
During a tournament, a 14-year old student began acting mouthy, so Dickson warned him that he’d have to take off the trademark orange ‘Mark Dickson Tennis Academy’ t-shirt if he didn’t start acting like a gentleman.
Understanding that wearing that orange shirt meant something special, the boy quickly buckled down and won his match.
Parents just want to have their kids around him.
“You’ve got to find coaches who see beyond just the lines on the tennis court,” said Todd Goldman who has a son in Dickson’s Academy and also publishes Tennis Life magazine. “Mark teaches the kids about making better choices on and off the court that his actions are his choice,” Goldman said.
Seventeen-year-old Kyle Mitchell is a rising star at Venice High School and goes out of his way to spend any time he can with Dickson.
“Mark cares about you off the court; he is encouraging, but is never satisfied,” Mitchell said.
Another young student, Christine Guerazzi, puts it this way: “He talks about how you should be happy, to be positive even when something goes wrong. He’s an amazing person and I haven’t met anyone else like him in my life.”
Dickson says actions between the points and off the court are more important than the final score.
“If I teach somebody to play tennis and they’re not a nice person then I have failed miserably,” he said.
This isn’t an act for Dickson, or a feel-good Tony Robbins approach he’s picked up in mid-life. Dickson comes by it honestly, growing up with a built-in mentor. His father was a former #1 singles player at Florida State University, and later coached at University of Tampa. Mark says his father made a point to build up, not criticize.
“For years, I thought he was kidding. I’d lose a match 6-1, 6-0 and he’d tell me all these great things I had done,” Dickson recalled.
“It wasn’t until I got farther down the road that I realized he was the most genuine person. He’s just an incredible person to give me that gift, to give me the opportunity to chase my dreams,” Dickson said, wiping a tear from his eye.
Now, Dickson is helping another generation chase their dreams, although he says he was never totally removed from the game.
“A top professional female player on the WTA Tour asked me to coach her full-time, but I declined (in order) to stay home and raise our children, Kristi and Kevin,” he said. Dickson’s been married to Karen, his college sweetheart for 27 years. They live in a spacious two-story home in Palmer Ranch. While most of his neighbors are going off to work in their dark suits with their briefcases, Mark is carrying a tennis racquet.
“It feels good to be back in the sport that I’ve been playing since I was a kid,” he said.
The Dicksons attended Clemson University, where Mark was later inducted into the sports hall of fame and became arguably the best tennis player ever to come from the prestigious tennis school.
Most of Mark’s protégés will never turn pro, but many of them will be vying for college scholarships and he says all of them could benefit from character development taught so consistently on Mark’s court.
His favorite expression is, “A life doesn’t have any value except for the impact it has on other people’s lives.”
“I feel I have taken what I’ve learned in all my years of experience as a coach, player and observer, and plan to put it all together in a way that is very easy to understand, incredibly fun and will more fully develop the player,” he said.
Dickson says one of his inspirations is motivational tennis coach and famous father Wayne Bryan, dad to twin sons Bob and Mike, one of the most prolific doubles teams in history. Dickson called Wayne a genius – and Wayne returns the favor – calling Mark a great student of the game.
“But what amazes me most about Mark is his creativity and enthusiasm to help his players...he is passionate about tennis and what it can do for junior and adults,” Bryan told Scene Magazine.
With praise like that, Dickson seems destined to find his niche in the competitive world of junior tennis academies.
The Mark Dickson Tennis Academy rotates between two public parks in Sarasota: Payne Park, near downtown, and Potter Park near Palmer Ranch. For more information visit markdicksontennis.com.