A New Online Tennis Magazine
Tennis Between The Lines (TBTL) was spearheaded by poet Roger Sedarat’s forthcoming book Foot Faults: Tennis Poems, to be released September 2016. TBTL brings you select poems from his book as well as essays, tips, comics, and gifts ideas from Roger Sedarat, Janette Afsharian, Rachel Martens, Rob Babboni, Brianna Turano, and guest contributors.
Tennis Between The Lines Team
Rogers Sedarat
Poet, Writer, Player & Co-Founder
It’s not about winning. It’s not about winning.
The author of two previous poetry books, Roger Sedarat decided to channel his love and frustration for tennis into his third collection: Foot Faults: Tennis Poems (David Robert Books, 2016). As an obsessed recreational player who has followed professional tennis his whole life, he wanted to create an online forum to offer entertaining insights beyond the existing publications. A professor of creative writing in the MFA Program at Queens College, City University of New York, he lives in Montclair, New Jersey with his wife, Janette, and his two sons, Milo and Theo.
Janette Afsharian
Creator, Producer & Co-Founder
We can do this! Okay, now how do I hold the racket?
Web design is Janette Afsharian’s game of choice. She doesn’t play tennis but she is surrounded by it, specifically by Roger Sedarat, her husband. After reading and unbiasedly loving his tennis poetry she began brainstorming with Roger and friends fun ideas for a tennis website. All their ideas have led to the creation of Tennis Between The Lines website to promote the first-ever book of tennis poems, Foot Fault:Tennis Poems by Roger Sedarat, and to bring a new, fun, and entertaining voice to the tennis world through poetry, essays, comics, tips, and more. Janette Afsharian is also the owner of Bluemarker LCC a 7-time Emmy nominated website development studio.
Rachel Martens
Biz Dev, Marketing & Partner
You’ve totally got this! Wait… okay, yes, yes, you do…
Rachel is an occasional tennis player, she has joined the Tennis Between The Lines team mainly because she gets Roger and Janette’s humor. Rachel was once interviewed on MSNBC where she claimed the internet was a “flash in the pan.” For the last few years she has been at home, not working. She realized after Tennis Between The Lines launched, that it definitely was not. She still has a keen sense for business, having been General Manager of RachaelRaymag.com, Director of Partnerships for Time, Inc., and a list of other innovative companies that you can see on Linked-in once she updates her profile. She also brought on-board Brianna our tennis pro intern, her kid’s (and sometimes hers, and her husband’s) tennis teacher.
Robert Babboni
Comics & Trailer Creator
Tennis? Hmm, okay I’ll draw that.
A family friend. Rob Babboni’s sons are the same age as Roger and Janette’s sons and their families have become close friends over the years. Rob’s talent for illustration can be seen in high-profile magazines like Forbes and Newsweek. He also teaches illustration at SVA in New York City and works in animation from time to time. Because he is so cool he has agreed to collaborate with Roger Sedarat on the comic series Called Out and also created a trailer for Roger’s upcoming book Foot Faults. Note: he doesn’t do the really rough drawings on the site and merchandise. He is much better than that. Janette Afsharian is responsible for that cat scratch drawing style.
Brianna Turano
Tennis Pro & Coach
I teach tennis! Reach out it you’re looking for a coach.
She is of advisor for all things tennis because she knows what she’s doing. Brianna Turano graduated from Manhattan College where she played both singles and doubles for their D1 tennis team. Brianna was the team captain for both her junior and senior year at Manhattan and volunteered as an assistant coach after graduating in 2014. Let’s just say she has played a lot of tennis. She began playing at the age of 4, and at 18 began teaching as a way to earn money to compete in USTA tournaments and kept going. Tennis is her passion and she loves sharing it with others!