Rob Manter, owner and manager of Maine Pines Racquet & Fitness in Brunswick, was recently awarded the national 2024 Manager of the Year for Small Racquet Facilities by the United States Professional Tennis Association, Inc. (USPTA).
Rob Manter, owner and manager of Maine Pines Racquet & Fitness in Brunswick. Courtesy of Rob Manter
Manter, who has owned the club since 1998, was one of three pros to start USPTA League Programs in Maine and has coached both boys’ and girls’ teams at Brunswick High School to multiple state titles. Under his leadership, Maine Pines has diversified from a tennis-only destination with six indoor courts to include five pickleball courts; dedicated spaces for yoga, aerobics and cycling; cardio and strength training; as well as physical therapy offered on-site to patients of the Mid Coast Therapy Center.
“We have an amazing community of racquet and fitness enthusiasts,” Manter said in a prepared release. “This achievement is a credit to the dedication of our members and staff and what they bring to Maine Pines every day.”
Manter picked up tennis as a teen and played tennis for the University of Maine and graduated with a degree in business, which led to brief stints in banking and sports management in Boston and Washington, D.C. He returned to Maine in 1987 as director of tennis for Merrymeeting Health & Fitness, the tennis club that later became Maine Pines.
Manter has partnered over the last two decades with Efficiency Maine and, more recently, ReVision Energy to reduce costs and improve the carbon footprint by installing innovative ceiling systems, LED lighting, a solar hot water system and, in 2023, 406 rooftop solar panels, completing Maine Pines’ transition to renewable energy sources.