A leader in the formation of scholastic girls' sports in New York State, Geraldine M. DiCamillo ’58 went on to coach at the collegiate level and serve as administrator with the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA), the world’s oldest and largest association of tennis-teaching professionals.
A native of Niagara Falls, N.Y., DiCamillo graduated from Niagara Falls High. She competed with the SUNY Cortland aquatic, tennis and badminton clubs available to women students in the 1950's. She was active with the Officials Club, Arethusa Sorority, the House of Delegates, the Women’s Athletic Council and the Cortland Dance Group. She co-edited the Cortland yearbook and was a member of the Winter Carnival Queen’s Court.
DiCamillo earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Cortland and a Master of Science in Physical Education from Ithaca College.
Between 1958-67, she taught at Sleepy Hollow High in North Tarrytown, N.Y., Marymount College in Tarrytown, N.Y. and Poughkeepsie Junior/Senior High School.
From 1967-76, she taught at Byram Hills High School in Armonk, N.Y., where, in 1971, she had a significant impact on the evolution of girls’ sports in New York State. With the entry of Title IX, she was elected to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s Section I Executive Athletic Council. She established the Women’s Sectional Athletic Council, which then created and coordinated the first leagues and tournaments for girls in that region.
DiCamillo joined the University of Rhode Island faculty in 1976. She taught physical education courses and was the head coach for women’s tennis and women’s gymnastics teams. She served in the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW) Committees in both sports.
In 1980, DiCamillo, desiring a career change, went to work as an engineer’s aide for Hardon, Inc., a Newport, R.I., company that supported IBM in its work with the building of Trident submarines at the Naval Underwater System Center there. She kept active in collegiate sports, though, as the head coach of the men’s and women’s tennis teams for seven seasons at Salve Regina University in Newport. DiCamillo, who studied at the Rhode Island School of Design, also helped as a publication designer in the Salve Regina Sports Information Office.
Since 1992, she has been executive administrator of the New England Division of the USTPA, which strives to raise the standards of the tennis profession worldwide while promoting greater awareness of the sport. In 1995, she received the National Newsletter of the Year Award at the USTPA World Conference on Tennis in LaQuinta, Calif.
A lifelong tennis enthusiast, DiCamillo has been ranked nationally in USTPA Championships among the top doubles players in her age group during the past decade. She continues to offer her talents as the junior varsity boys tennis coach at South Kingstown High and as the assistant tennis pro at Point Judith Country Club. For 15 years, she has worked ticket sales at the International Tennis Hall of Fame Grass Court Tennis Championships.
She serves on the social committee for Christ the King Church on the University of Rhode Island campus, assists with the Courthouse Center for the Arts in West Kingston, R.I., helps direct the Annual Randall Realty Boys High School Tennis Tournament, and works on the Annual Charlie Swanson Memorial Tennis Tournament in Narragansett, R.I., to benefit Home and Hospice Care of Rhode Island.
