LOIS HARRIS

New NWTO Board member Teresa Merklin has a fascinating day job. She is currently serving a 3-year term as a Fellow (that’s the official title) for Lockheed Martin in a cybersecurity test range. She literally breaks into the DoD aircraft and weapons systems developed by her company for a living.  “My superpower at work is writing about complex technical systems in a way that can be broadly understood by non-technical decision-makers.”  This superpower also applies to writing about and analyzing tennis.  Photo:  Teresa Merklin stands in for a female pilot during an F-35 ejection-seat safety system design evaluation event, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, 2009.

Teresa grew up on a tennis court and claims that her mother used to use court #5 of the local tennis center as a substitute for daycare. Her mother was an avid player who was highly involved in the USTA Section and was once recognized as volunteer of the year. The Wichita Falls Tennis Association regularly met in her family’s home.  “I think I probably could have chosen not to play tennis growing up, but it never would have occurred to me at the time that tennis might be optional.”

“My junior playing record was… good, not great.”  While she had opportunities to play in college, those chances didn’t line up with schools that had accredited engineering programs.  Of her decision not to play in college, she says “It was the right life choice. It is also one of the few decisions that I have made in life that I truly regret.”  Collegiate tennis is one of the few competitive forms of tennis that she has never experienced. Teresa is quick to jokingly point out that she still has NAIA eligibility.

She hung up her racquets after falling one match short of advancing to the Texas UIL State Tournament her senior year in high school to focus on academics, career, and family.  In the interim, she earned degrees in Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, and a Masters in Business Administration. She met and married Trophy Husband Troy while attending Oklahoma State University.

She didn’t play USTA-sanctioned tennis for 28 years, a period that she now describes as a “brief hiatus from competitive tennis.” Her return to tennis was through tournaments with senior divisions, though she also has participated in family divisions, NTRP tournaments, and USTA League play. She has even dabbled with UTR tournaments and claims that she doesn’t mind competing against teenage boys.  It was at a UTR tournament where the Trophy Husband was once asked if Teresa was his daughter. “That was the highlight of my tennis career.”

Teresa is the author of a tennis blog: Fiend At Court and has published every single day for well over two years covering a wide range of tennis-related topics. Her “engineering brain” coupled with her history of competitive tennis shines through in her writing. She has been keeping close tabs on the current USTA Adult and Family tournament implementation, and her writings on that topic are full of insight and food for thought. 

Teresa joined the NWTO as a part of the newsletter committee and has added both technical content and humor to the newsletter.  As a Board member, she will continue in that communications role and has also volunteered to be a liaison between NWTO and related organizations, such as NSMTA, USTA, and the College Tennis Alumni Network, whose purposes are also to grow and improve tennis as the sport of a lifetime.

Teresa was recently profiled in CSO Online.  This article highlights Teresa’s thought leadership on cybersecurity and engineering for resiliency where there are no quick fixes, and the solution is to focus on the fundamentals.  In fact, Teresa believes that much of her cybersecurity insight is directly rooted in her experiences on the tennis court. “In tennis, there is no substitute for focusing on the fundamentals and building a strong foundation.  As much as we all hope for a magical solution in our games, a personal investment in hard work is required.”

"I feel so fortunate to have had tennis in my life. It very much made me the person I am today in all aspects of life."