NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — For Katie Dellich, it’s the ultimate honor.

For Peter Burwash International, it’s the ultimate thank you.

Dellich, a 2000 Butler graduate and a four-year No. 1 tennis singles player for the Golden Tornado, recently received PBI’s Professional of the Year Award.

She has been with PBI for 11 years, working at the company’s tennis facilities in the Maldives, Virginia, Maui and Palm Desert, Calif. She is currently PBI’s tennis director for the Silverado Resort in Napa Valley, Calif.

“This is the biggest award the company presents,” PBI Director John Reade said. “We have 110 professionals working at facilities in 25 different countries.

“It’s a global award and Katie is very, very deserving of it.”

Burwash, company president, said the award is based on two things: How the professional is handling his or her site and how the pro is helping to grow the company.

“Katie excels in both areas,” Burwash said. “She spearheaded our World Tennis Camp program, which has become extremely popular. She works with charities and the local high school tennis team, on her own time.

“Katie Dellich is an exemplary person. We emphasize accountability and responsibility and we reward people internally for that,” Burwash added.

Last year, Dellich oversaw expansion of weekend camps and increased tennis activities at Silverado. She organized tennis fundraisers and other charitable events.

During her tenure at Silverado, the facility has become recognized as a Top 50 tennis resort worldwide.

“It was overwhelming, this honor,” Dellich said. “I’m just doing what I love to do, promote tennis and help other people.”

The PBI World Tennis Camps take place 10 times a year and are held at signature resorts in California, Florida, the Virgin Islands, Austria, Dubai and Thailand, among other places.

“It’s amazing how that’s taken off,” Dellich said. “We bring pros in to help out ... The camp has almost become like a concert tour. People get excited when it comes to their town.”

Dellich is in her fifth year at the Silverado Resort in Napa Valley. She has been able to develop relationships with the local high school tennis team and promotes the sport through other avenues.

“I like our employees to devote three or four hours every week where they work for nothing, just to give something back,” Burwash said. “Katie simply excels in that area. She’s done wheelchair tennis at Silverado, tennis for the deaf, tennis in prisons.

“It is true that work you don’t get paid for shows who you really are.”

Dellich even spent two weeks in India last year on her own initiative.

“She asked us if she could go there and serve, to provide money and guidance to people who needed it,” Burwash said.

Dellich headed a fund-raiser that netted $3,500 for needy people in India. She brought over donated items such as books, medical supplies and clothing.

“That was a life-changing trip,” Dellich admitted. “Seeing how some young girls were living over there, so different from us. We showed them how to wash their hair ... Some didn’t know what a toothbrush was.

“We helped them with homework, did some mentoring. It was a rewarding trip and an eye-opener at the same time.”

As the tennis pro at Silverado, Dellich says she relishes time playing tennis with women enjoying vacation time there, along with her teaching the sport.

She looks forward to going to work every day.

“It’s just fun being around the sport I love all the time,” she said.

And PBI loves having her around the company.

“She is such an outgoing person, very energetic, always with vision,” Burwash said. “Katie is simply a delight. Her efforts and work with us have been extraordinary.”