A 40-year veteran of the fitness industry and proven successful developer of fitness industry associations, Leve has been involved in the creation and development of some of the most successful trade associations in the history of the fitness industry.
Leve was the founding employee of the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), the pre-eminent non-profit trade association serving the for-profit, health club community, where he held virtually all executive level sales and marketing positions from 1981-2008.
Prior to his 27 years at IHRSA, Leve was the first full-time executive director of the National Court Clubs Association (1979-1981), the non-profit racquetball club trade association that eventually merged with the National Tennis Association to form IHRSA.
From 1970 to 1979 Leve was executive director of the US Racquetball Association (USRA), now USA Racquetball. At USRA he organized 50 state affiliates to stimulate membership, host events, and develop competitions, while growing membership to over 50,000 players. He created and sold sponsorships to Racquetball’s first pro tour (still in existence today) where he also served as chief referee. He created, wrote, edited, and published two start-up Racquetball magazines and co-authored two books on the sport.
Leve was elected to the Racquetball Hall of Fame in 1997.
More recently Leve created and developed AFIRM, the Association of Fitness Industry Retailers & Manufacturers, the first manufacturer-based trade association in the history of the fitness industry, which has been absorbed into the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA).