CARTER--Profile-of-the-Moment

The Boston Lobsters, New England's professional tennis team within World

team tennis, is looking forward to bringing some well known tennis greats to

their home base of Ferncroft Country Club in Middleton, Massachusetts, this

season. Owner Bahar Uttam purchased the team after selling his engineering

company, Synetics Corporation.

"Talk about a dichotomy going from being an engineer to a sportsnut""

laughed Uttamwho now serves on the Board of the USTA Tennis & Education

Foundation. "Tennis has always been my passionand I was fortunate enough

to sellmy business in 2002. I knew I didn't want to be a consultant so I turned

to Jesus and asked what I should do and got the anser to follow my passion

so I asked myself What can I do with tennis!"

BAHAR UTTAM & THE BOSTON LOBSTERS

The Boston Lobsters made their debut in 1974 and has had several owners since its inception. "Bob Kraft owned the

franchise at one point, so I asked him why he gave it up," he said. "There were several owners at that time and they were

going in different directions so that's how it all started. I looked into the team and got in touch with Billie Jean King and told

her I wanted to bring it to Boston. I met with her and thought it would be a fun thing to do so she told me I just needed to

find sponsors and a venue."

Before the team made its home at Ferncroft, they first started playing at Harvard. "I live in Cambridge so I was looking at

the Cambridge environs so I could get to the matches easily," Uttam said. "New Englanders want to be outdoors in the

good weather so that was an impetus for me to look for an outdoor venue. The North Shore is a hot bed of tennis, so I

searched there for a venue and found Ferncroft. It's going to be our third season there this year."

Uttam credits the founding efforts of Billie Jean King for bringing such female greats to play with the team. "Everyone looks

up to Billie Jean King," he said, "If it wasn't for her, tennis wouldn't be what it is today. The players really appreciate her for

what she has done for them. Tennis has gone to a new level nationally. It's the fastest growing sports in the U.S., as

reported by the Sports Industry Association. I believe we have ridden the wave in bullet fashion and created a buzz in the

community. I think our product is outstanding as we provide value and entertainment to our fans."

What is the team's reaction playing against such big names in tennis? "The lesser experienced players are in awe playing

with an icon but we are one big happy family." Tam said. "If yo go to a tennis opening, you can't even get close to someone

like Venus or Serena Williams. Here, they sign autographs for kids and spend about 45 minutes with them. I also take

them to each sponsor and spend about 15 or 20 minutes each of them."

What does the future hold for the team? "There are two things I would love for the Boston Lobsters; one is to see the team

make it to the finals," he said."We play for the King Trophy and I would love to bring that to Boston. The other is to fill the

stands every night with families."

If the past few seasons are any prediction of Tam's continued success, the future certainly looks very bright for the

BostonLobsters.

Profile of the Moment