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News Archives: February 2005
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Manitoba Prevails
Over Saskatchewan at Winter Club Junior Open
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| Photo: B Waschuk |
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Alex Minuk discusses
draw with Kevin Kylar.
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Tue Feb 22'05 |
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Winnipeg, MB (TM)
– Manitoba athletes captured 6 of the 8 singles events
at the Winnipeg Winter Club Junior Open, the second
of three qualifying tournaments for the 2005 Indoor
Junior Nationals. The host province was again led by
Sean LaCap, who won the U18 and U16 boys titles and
secured a spot at Junior Nationals in both age groups
with the victories. Kevin Kylar, a member of Glendale
Golf and Country Club, defeated fellow Manitoban Alex
Minuk to win the U12 boys championship. Manitoba also
won three titles on the girls side, as Evann Waschuk
won the U12 category, Jade Kirstein won the U14 event
and Joanna Woo captured the U18 championship.
The final Indoor Junior Nationals qualifying tournament
is scheduled for March 3-6 in Saskatoon at the Advantage
Tennis Center. Each player will count their best 2 results
from the three tournaments and the top 4 boys and top
4 girls in the U14, U16 and U18 age groups will qualify
to represent the Prairie Region at the Indoor Junior
Nationals in April.
Final Results
U12 Girls Final: Evann Waschuk (Wpg.) def.
Jordan Wilding (Wpg.) 6-2, 6-4
U14 Girls Final: Jade Kirstein (Wpg.) def.
Clarissa Chen (Wpg.) 6-1, 5-7, 10-6
U16 Girls Final: Anna Nelke (Regina) def. Katherine
Melnychuk (Sask.) 6-2, 6-3
U18 Girls Final: Joanna Woo (Wpg.) def. Martyna
Nowak (Regina) 7-6, 6-4
U12 Boys Final: Kevin Kylar (Wpg.) def. Alex
Minuk (Wpg.) 6-0, 6-2
U14 Boys Final: Jordan Christiansen (Regina) def.
Ahmed Farag (Wpg.) 6-1, 6-0
U16 Boys Final: Sean LaCap (Wpg.) def. Mike
Black (Wpg.) 6-2, 6-4
U18 Boys Final: Sean LaCap (Wpg.) def. Ronan
Conlon (Sask.) 6-0, 6-1
For further information contact Rick Bochinski at
Tennis Manitoba @ 925-5660.
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Tennis romance
was quite a match – Parents produce pair of blossoming
stars
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| Photo: Joe Bryksa |
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Chad and Sean LaCap
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Fri Feb 18'05 by Winnipeg
Free Press, Chris Cariou |
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Winnipeg, MB (Winnipeg
Free Press) – A love that blossomed on the tennis
courts of Sargent Park about two decades ago has produced
two of the best young players ever in Manitoba.
Both are competing this weekend for a berth in the Junior
Indoor National Championships in April.
Homer and Romilyn LaCap met each other while playing
tennis at the Sargent Park Tennis Courts and got married
17 years ago. Now their sons Sean, 15, and 11-year-old
Chad -- coached primarily by their parents -- are among
the best in their age groups in Canada and seven-year-old
Cole is taking up the game, too.
"When one thinks LaCap, one thinks tennis -- always.
Automatic," Sean, a Grade 10 student at the sports program
at Vincent Massey Collegiate, said yesterday before
playing his second match of the Winnipeg Winter Club
Junior Open, the second of three qualifying tournaments
for the Junior Nationals.
"My friends at school, back at Sargent Park, my nickname
was Tennis Boy," Sean said. "I honestly don't know what
we'd do without tennis. Half our afternoons are spent
here at the Winter Club. After school I'll bus down
here from Vincent Massey and we'll be here until 9 o'clock."
Sean won both the Under-16 and U-18 singles titles at
the first qualifying tournament in Saskatoon earlier
this month and there's a third qualifier back in Saskatoon
March 4-6, but he's a virtual lock to represent the
Prairies at the Nationals. He shut out his first opponent
Wednesday night 6-0, 6-0, while Chad beat his opponent
6-0, 6-2. The action continues all weekend at the Winter
Club, with the finals slated for Sunday.
Jared Connell, the head pro at the Winter Club, used
to work at Sargent Park and watched Sean and Chad play
there with their parents. As provincial tennis coach,
he now tutors them at the Winter Club for play on the
provincial team and for the squad that will represent
Manitoba at the Canada Summer Games in August in Regina.
He says the two brothers are unique in Manitoba tennis
history.
Sean is the top single boys' player in Manitoba and
will play singles at the Canada Games, while Chad will
be hoping to make the doubles team. Sean lost the final
of the U-14 Nationals two years ago and he should be
seeded in the top five in Canada in the U-16 group heading
into the Nationals, Connell said.
Chad, who's two feet or more shorter than Sean's 6-foot-1
frame -- and who Connell dubbed Sean's "Mini-Me" --
should be among the top 10 or 12 in Canada in his U-12
age group. Both are members of the national team in
their respective age groups.
"Basically the strength Sean relies on is he's got a
really big serve and a big forehand," Connell said.
"And he has excellent hands. He can improvise really
well and hit a lot of angles." Sean wants to make his
living as a tennis pro and eventually compete in Davis
Cups and potentially at the Olympics for Canada. Connell
says he'll need to improve on his fitness and eventually
find better competition in Eastern Canada or the U.S.
"From there, it comes down to breaks, luck and determination.
But definitely there's talent there... it's those X
factors, that desire and commitment to the work ethic.
If that's there, I think the potential for him can be
limitless."
Connell said the LaCaps are rare in Manitoba because
they've both achieved so much at such a young age. But
he saw them all the time at Sargent Park, so it's not
so surprising.
"They played tennis there all the time, all day long,
and when these boys were young kids, that's what they
did," he said. "That was their social life. They'd go
to school and then they'd go and hang out at Sargent
Park and play tennis all day, all night. It's like that's
their culture."
chris.cariou@freepress.mb.ca |
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Officials Needed
for Summer Tournaments
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Thu Feb 17'05 |
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Winnipeg, MB (TM)
– Tennis Manitoba will be hosting an Introduction to
Officiating clinic in an effort to introduce more tennis
enthusiasts to officiating. The clinic will be held
on Saturday, March 19th and Sunday, March 20th from
9:00am-5:00pm each day. The clinic will include the
following:
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classroom sessions at
Sport Manitoba, 200 Main Street
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Rules of Tennis
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Line Umpiring
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Chair Umpiring
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Role of a Roving
Umpire
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on-court sessions at
Taylor Tennis, 1500 Taylor Avenue.
For further information contact Rick Bochinski at
Tennis Manitoba @ 925-5660.
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Tennis Community
Rallies to Help Tsunami Relief Effort
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Wed Feb 16'05 by Robert
Kennedy |
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Winnipeg, MB (TM)
– On January 13 Constable Finney School held a fundraiser
for the victims of the tsunami. Our school wanted to
do something unique so we designed tennis balls to sell.
We decided that the design should represent Canada and
the concept of caring. Our original design was to color
half of a tennis ball like a Canadian flag. One student
suggested we change the Maple Leaf to a heart to show
we care. Thus the final design was created. To procure
the balls we asked Jared Connell at the Winnipeg Winter
Club who generously gave us a box of used balls. We
had planned on selling 100 balls (secretly we hoped
to sell 200). Three classes went about coloring the
balls. We set up a table in each area of our school
and had classes come out and buy the balls for $1 each.
The response was overwhelming as we sold 340 balls.
We were caught short on balls and had to raid the Phys.
Ed. storage room. By the end of the day there wasn’t
a tennis ball in the school that wasn’t covered in red,
as well as every student working on coloring the extra
balls. We went back to Jared and explained our situation
and he said we could have as many as we needed. We set
up the next day and in the end had sold over 500 Canada
Cares tennis balls.
Everyone that has purchased a ball has been put in
a draw for a Tennis Manitoba toque, Wilson tennis racquet,
a can of U.S. Open tennis balls and Wilson wristbands.
The prizes were donated by Tennis Manitoba and Wilson.
To extend the fundraiser further we designed t-shirts
and Howard Wiebe at Big Sand gave us an incredible price
to produce them. The shirts have the heart flag in the
shape of a tennis ball with Canada above it and Cares
below it. We have sold 60 shirts to date not only at
our school, but also in the tennis community. There
are still shirts available for $10, so if you wish to
purchase one or donate any used balls contact Robert
Kennedy at (204) 832-9901.
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LaCap Top Manitoban
at First Junior National Selection Event
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Tue Feb 8'05 |
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Winnipeg, MB (TM)
– The Advantage Tennis Club in Saskatoon played host
to the first of three selection tournaments to qualify
4 participants in each age category of each gender to
represent the Prairie Team at the U14, U16 and U18 Canadian
Junior Nationals, to be held in April. This event was
part of a prairie circuit which consists of events in
both Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Manitoba players competed
very well in the first selection tournament, capturing
3 out of 7 events. Leading the way was Sean LaCap, who
won the boys U16 and U18 singles titles. Alexa Zayac
was victorious in the girls U18 singles category.
Special thanks go to all of the parents who made
the trip to Saskatchewan, especially Marg and Kurt Kirstein
who helped the Provincial Coach, Jared Connell, with
transportation of the players from Winnipeg to Saskatoon
and home again.
The Winnipeg Winter Club looks forward to hosting
the Junior Open next week, the second event on the indoor
prairie circuit.
Final Results
U12 Girls Final: Lily Wiebe (Saskatchewan) def. Evann
Waschuk (Manitoba) 6-2, 6-2
U14 Girls Final: Lily Wiebe (Saskatchewan) def. Jade
Kirstein (Manitoba) 6-2, 7-6
U16 Girls Final: Anna Nelke (Saskatchewan) def. Katherine
Melnychuk (Saskatchewan) 6-2, 6-1
U18 Girls Final: Alexa Zayac (Manitoba) def. Teo Costin
(Saskatchewan) 6-2, 6-1
U14 Boys Final: Jordan Christiansen (Saskatchewan) def.
Eric Yee (Saskatchewan) 6-4, 7-5
U16 Boys Final: Sean LaCap (Manitoba) def. Michael Black
(Manitoba) 6-0, 6-3
U18 Boys Final: Sean LaCap (Manitoba) def. Ronan Conlon
(Saskatchewan) 6-2, 7-6
For further information contact Rick Bochinski at
Tennis Manitoba @ 925-5660.
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