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News Archives: November 2005
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Zayac and DeVriendt
Win Twice at Winnipeg Indoor Open
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Wed Nov 30'05 |
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Winnipeg, MB (TM)
– Alexa Zayac and Doug DeVriendt captured two titles
apiece at the 2005 Winnipeg Indoor Open at the Winnipeg
Winter Club. Zayac defeated Anita Paskvalin 6-3, 6-2
to take the Women’s Open Singles crown and then partnered
with Roland Burrell to win the Mixed Doubles Championship,
with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Kate McKenzie and
Geoff Kirbyson.
DeVriendt continued his domination of the local tennis
scene, winning the Men’s Open Singles Championship with
a convincing 6-1, 6-1 decision over Stephen Dubienski
and teaming up with Jared Connell to earn the Men’s
Open Doubles title with a hard fought 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2
win over Kirbyson and his partner, Jon Causon.
Jeremy Rabbitte also had a very successful weekend,
winning both the Men’s 4.5 Singles Championship and
the Men’s 4.5 Doubles Championship. He cruised through
the singles draw without dropping a set, defeating Aaron
Margolis 6-0, 6-2 in the final, before taking to the
court with Mike Lesiuk and winning the doubles title.
Final results were as follows:
Men’s Open Singles: Doug DeVriendt (1) def. Stephen
Dubienski (2) 6-1, 6-1
Men’s 4.5 Singles: Jeremy Rabbitte (5) def Aaron
Margolis (3) 6-0, 6-2
Men’s 3.5 Singles: Glen Dyck (1) def. Jake Bergen
(2) 6-1, 6-2
Women’s Open Singles: Alexa Zayac (1) def. Anita
Paskvalin (3) 6-3, 6-2
Women’s 4.5 Singles: Catherine Moses def. Clarissa
Chen 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Women’s 3.5 Singles: Karen O’Neil (1) def. Darlene
Lee 6-4, 6-0
Men’s Open Doubles: DeVriendt / Connell (1) def.
Causon / Kirbyson (2) 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2
Men’s 4.5 Doubles: Lesiuk / Rabbitte (1) def.
Brooks / Whittaker (2) 4-6, 7-5, 7-5
Women’s Doubles: Lucht / Hession def. Paskvalin
/ Chen (1) 7-6(8), 6-3
Mixed Doubles: Zayac / Burrell (1) def. McKenzie
/ Kirbyson (2) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
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Serbin Receives
Tennis Champion Award
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Jim Millican (left)
congratulates Bill Serbin for the first ever
Tennis Manitoba “Tennis Champion” award.
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Bill Serbin and Grant
Tymchuk, Arby’s Franchisee, behind aboriginal
youth on an Arby's sponsored shopping excursion.
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Tue Nov 29'05 |
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Winnipeg, MB (TM)
– Bill Serbin, a physical education teacher at John
de Graff School, was honored with Tennis Manitoba’s
first-ever “Tennis Champion” award at the recent Annual
General Meeting held at the Winnipeg Winter Club. Bill,
a competitive player, teaching pro and member of the
Wilson Tennis Advisory Board, was recognized for his
lifetime of dedication to the organization of tennis
programs in schools, introducing young people to the
game through what he calls Tennis Futures clinics and
more recent programs offering aboriginal youth an introduction
to the game of tennis.
Bill has coached tennis for more than 20 years in Manitoba,
covering the spectrum from grassroots to high performance
development. Under his leadership the Tennis Futures
program has been responsible for introducing the sport
to more than 400 children per year at the clinics held
every May. |
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2005 Scholarship
Award Winners Announced
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Some of the award
recipients are in the above picture (from L
to R, front row) Kevin Kylar, Clarissa Chen,
Anita Paskvalin, Daniella Silva (back row),
and Rick Bochinski, Tennis Manitoba Executive
Director.
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Mon Nov 28'05 |
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Winnipeg, MB (TM)
– Tennis Manitoba selected its 2005 Scholarship recipients
at the recent Annual General Meeting held at the Winnipeg
Winter Club. Anita Paskvalin, Daniella Silva, Clarissa
Chen, Sean Bailey, Mike Black and Kevin Kylar each received
a cash contribution to assist with training expenses.
The Scholarships are awarded to junior players each
fall based on ability, attitude, sportsmanship and need.
Anita Paskvalin was a member of the 2005 Canada
Summer Games team that competed in Regina. She also
represented Manitoba at the U16 Outdoor Junior Nationals
in New Brunswick. Anita finished the year as the # 1
ranked girl in Manitoba in the U16 and U18 categories
as a result of victories at the World of Water Junior
Open and the Auto Haus Fall Classic. She also won the
U16 and U18 titles at the Saskatchewan Junior Open and
was a semi-finalist at the Global Manitoba Open.
Daniella Silva participated in the U14 Indoor
Nationals before her 9th birthday and received the Outstanding
Sportsmanship Award from Tennis Canada. She also competed
in the U12 Outdoor Nationals in Quebec. Daniella won
the U12s at the Saskatchewan Indoor Junior Open, the
World of Water Junior Open at Kildonan and the Auto
Haus Fall Classic at Glendale. She also won the U14s
at the Wheat City Junior Open.
Clarissa Chen was a member of the Canada Summer
Games training team in 2005 and will likely be called
upon to be a team leader for the 2007 Western Canada
Summer Games team. She won the U14s at the World of
Water Junior Open at Kildonan.
Kevin Kylar represented Manitoba at the U12 Outdoor
Junior Nationals in Quebec. He is currently the #1 player
in the point standings for qualification to the 2006
Indoor Junior Nationals in both the U12 and U14 categories.
Kevin won the U12s at the Wheat City Junior Open in
Brandon and was a runner-up in the U12s in Grand Forks
and Duluth.
Sean Bailey was a member of the 2005 Canada Summer
Games training team and will also be called upon to
take a leadership role on the 2007 Western Canada Summer
Games team. He won the U16 and U18 titles at the World
of Water Junior Open at Kildonan and captured the U16
title in Fargo in July.
Mike Black represented Manitoba at the Junior
Nationals more times than any other player in 2005.
He competed at the U16 Indoor and Outdoor Nationals
and the U18 Indoor and Outdoor Nationals. Mike won a
couple of rounds at the U16 Nationals, finishing in
the top 20. He has begun to compete with the top players
in the open category and was the runner-up in Fargo
in the Men’s Open division in July.
Tennis Manitoba would like to congratulate each of these
juniors for their accomplishments in 2005 and wish them
the best of luck in the upcoming season.
Junior
Player Profiles
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Tennis Canada
strategy targets elite players
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Sat Nov 26'05 by Toronto
Sun, Mark Keast |
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Toronto, ON (Toronto
Sun) – Canada has been unable to produce anything
close to consistent, elite level tennis talent, on the
international singles stage anyway.
How's that for a grasp of the obvious.
Tennis Canada has embarked on a plan to change that
perception, presenting a blueprint, looking to build
Canada into a tennis half-power by 2020. A top 10 ranking
among tennis nations, that's the goal. Not exactly the
New York Yankees, but perhaps the Houston Astros or
the Oakland A's. Maybe not a bunch of World Series titles,
but a divisional title here and there. It's a substantial
plan, calling for substantial investment -- around $7
million.
Before you grow the forest you have to lay the seed.
And there's been real movement on the junior side of
the ledger. There's been an increase of professional,
entry level Futures tournaments -- three to six on the
men's side this year, two to five on the women's side
-- opportunities for those who take part to improve
their rankings on the ATP ladder.
There's a range of developmental initiatives for juniors.
A National Training Centre Program in partnership with
the Ontario Tennis Association brings together the best
young players in Ontario and Quebec in a competitive
training environment. The shiny new Rexall Centre in
Toronto hosts, with beefed up sports science technologies
and expanded training facilities.
It's an exciting time for those in the tennis world
in these parts. Still, some rather large challenges
lay ahead.
"Recruiting and getting young talented athletes into
tennis has been a challenge," said Hatem McDadi, vice
president of tennis development at Tennis Canada.
Getting those with tennis talent up the ladder in a
country as large as Canada has been no easy chore either.
McDadi points out how you can drive across some of those
smaller European countries in a few hours, a stone's
throw across your neighbour's front yard compared to
Canada.
That's why the opening of the Rexall Centre as another
national training centre hub is helping to alleviate
some of those geographical migraines.
Peter Polansky, from Thornhill, is one of those at the
top of the pyramid as far as Tennis Canada is concerned,
and they're throwing a lot of resources at the 17-year-old
-- coaches, training and tournament opportunities, the
best in sports science technologies.
Polansky also left last Tuesday for the Bollettieri
Tennis Academy in Florida, renowned for having helped
produce some of the world's elite -- Andre Agassi, the
Williams sisters, Maria Sharapova, Monica Seles.
Polanksy joined his friend and fellow Canuck Philip
Bester -- the other big hope on the junior boys side
in Canada. The Bollettieri Academy is a full-time tennis
boarding school combining intense tennis instruction
with an academic curriculum.
Tennis Canada will soon announce what it says is a ground-breaking
partnership with a Florida tennis academy. According
to speculation it's with Bollettieri, now part of International
Management Group's (IMG) stable of academies.
Under the deal, Tennis Canada would get to use the academy's
infrastructure for select athletes. That would include
free training and discounted rates. Canadian tennis
players and coaches would get to access various surfaces,
athletes that train at the academy -- someone like Sharapova,
for example -- fitness and sports psychology programs.
Tennis Canada is on the lookout for long-term housing
on the site as well.
That suits people like Polansky just fine.
"I can go down there and play with better guys and have
a Canadian coach there (possibly Martin Laurendeau),"
said Polansky, who recently saw his ATP rankings jump
202 spots, to a career-high 1230th, after only a handful
of pro tournaments.
Said his coach in Toronto, Dean Coburn: "In Florida,
there's a bunch of good players, all in the same boat.
They're all really hungry."
Tennis Canada web site
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Tennis pro buys
club, plans to boost membership
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Mario and Linda Trstenjak
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Wed Nov 23'05 by Winnipeg
Free Press, Geoff Kirbyson |
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Winnipeg, MB (Winnipeg
Free Press) – WINNIPEG'S largest year-round tennis
club has been sold to a group headed up by its club
professional. Mario Trstenjak, his wife and nine private
investors have bought the Taylor Tennis for an undisclosed
sum.
"It's every tennis pro's dream to own their own tennis
club," he said in an interview yesterday.
Trstenjak said he's been working on the deal for about
10 months and arguably his biggest challenge was persuading
the previous owners, Roy and Anne Warman, to put it
on the block.
"It wasn't for sale. I went to them with an offer and
they said (they would consider selling it) for the right
price. I started getting investors, we closed the deal
on Friday and got the keys Saturday morning," he said.
Anne Warman said Trstenjak's offer got them thinking
about their future.
"He made us a good offer. After 15 years it seemed like
a good time to retire. We hadn't thought about retiring
but eventually that was the plan. We're getting old
and we figure, 'why not?'" she said in an interview.
Taylor has 10 indoor courts, a half-dozen outdoor courts,
a fitness room, licensed lounge, pro shop, tanning beds
and locker rooms with whirlpools and saunas. It has
more than 600 members, a figure Trstenjak hopes to grow.
"We want to make it the No. 1 competitive tennis club
in town again. It's become a more recreational club
in the last few years. We lost all the competitive,
advanced players to the (Winnipeg) Winter Club," he
said.
Rick Bochinski, executive director of Tennis Manitoba,
said the sale of Taylor is a positive development for
the sport in the province.
"Mario obviously has a lot of experience in tennis,"
he said in an interview yesterday. "Tennis Manitoba
is looking forward to working with (the new owners)
in growing the game and getting more people involved
in tennis."
Owning a tennis club in Winnipeg was never part of Trstenjak's
master plan. The Australian native didn't intend to
spend more than the winter of 1988-89 in town. He had
come here from the U.S. because his visa had expired
and his intention was to return once the paperwork was
completed. Then he met his future wife and his plans
changed.
"I didn't want to go back to Australia so I came to
Winnipeg while my visa got reprocessed," he said, noting
their three children have further cemented him in the
Manitoba capital.
Linda Trstenjak will share the management duties as
well as do the accounting work. Her husband, meanwhile,
will juggle managing and teaching for the time being.
"I'm going to start to wind down, that's my goal in
the next five years, to totally stop teaching. I'd certainly
like to bring some of the old pros back, people who
started with me when I first came here."
Trstenjak said he wants to add junior tennis tournaments
to Taylor's schedule this year as well resurrect the
club's adult clay court tournament.
"We really want to focus on junior development in conjunction
with Tennis Manitoba. We want to have more tournaments
for the in-between kids. You have to build your confidence
and learn how to play the game before you can go to
advanced tournament tennis. Otherwise, they quit," he
said. "The juniors are my future members."
geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca
New management
announcement [PDF
format]
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Manitoba Juniors
Double Up in Fargo
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Erika Fridrik and
Evann Waschuk
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Sean Bailey and Brendan
Corrigan
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Mon Nov 14'05 |
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Fargo, ND (TM) – Manitoba
juniors captured the Girls' 14 Doubles and Boys' 14
Doubles titles at the Coca-Cola Challenger in Fargo,
North Dakota, November 11-13. Erika Fridrik and Evann
Waschuk defeated three teams from Minnesota and North
Dakota en route to the Girls Doubles Championship. Sean
Bailey and Brendan Corrigan knocked off the top seeded
duo from Grand Forks to earn the Boys Doubles Championship.
Bailey also took home top honors in the Boys' 14 Singles
event with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over the # 1 seed from
Grand Forks in the final. Erika Fridrik was the finalist
in the Girls' 14 Singles event.
Many of Manitoba’s competitive junior players will be
competing in tournaments hosted by the USTA Northern
Section this winter. For a partial list of upcoming
events,
click
here. |
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Tennis Manitoba
Acclaims 2005-2006 Board of Directors at Annual General
Meeting
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Jim Millican (left)
congratulates Bill Serbin for the first ever
Tennis Manitoba “Tennis Champion” award.
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Thu Nov 10'05 |
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Winnipeg, MB (TM)
– The election of a new Board of Directors for 2005-2006
was one of the highlights when Tennis Manitoba held
its Annual General Meeting at The Winnipeg Winter Club
on Saturday, October 29th.
The official nominating committee, chaired by out-going
President Jim Millican with Robert Kennedy and Mario
Trstenjak, presented a slate of candidates that included
both new nominees and some past directors seeking re-election.
New nominees Ryan Rolston and Geoff Kirbyson and 2004
directors Hart Pollack, Jamie Mercury, Bruce Waschuk,
Lev Zentner, Chris Yard, Roy Warman were acclaimed to
the new board at the meeting.
Five current Directors have one year remaining in their
term as Directors of Tennis Manitoba. They are Richard
Whitfield, Michele Sen, Kris Robins, Dave McNicol and
Romilyn LaCap.
Outgoing President Jim Millican highlighted a number
of successes from the past twelve months including the
establishment of a provincial tennis coach (Jared Connell)
and a provincial tennis team program that equaled Manitoba’s
best-ever finish at The Canada Games last summer, the
success of the 100th Annual Manitoba Open Tennis Tournament
at Kildonan Tennis Club in August, improved communication
and more meaningful partnerships with member clubs and
growing schools programs that are leading increasing
numbers of new young players to take up the game and
absorb its values.
Millican applauded the return of Taylor Tennis Club,
Manitoba’s largest year-round indoor tennis facility,
to Tennis Manitoba membership and regretted the loss
of the Dunkirk Tennis Club (formerly the Winnipeg Canoe
Club) and its ten outdoor clay courts. The courts were
forced to close when the City of Winnipeg sold the Dunkirk
Tennis Club property as part of a parcel of land that
will be developed as a private retirement home.
Two Tennis Manitoba members were singled out for special
recognition. Bill Serbin, a physical education teacher
at John de Graff School, was honoured with the association’s
first-ever “Tennis Champion” award. Bill, a competitive
player, teaching pro and member of the Wilson Tennis
Advisory Board was recognized for his lifetime of dedication
to the organization of tennis programs in schools, introducing
young people to the game though what he calls “tennis
futures” clinics and more recent programs offering aboriginal
youth an introduction to the game of tennis.Barry
Bruce, the President and CEO of Sierra Courier, received
the Tennis Canada Distinguished Service Award for his
extraordinary work as coach and mentor of Manitoba’s
Wheelchair Tennis program. Barry, who is also working
toward his Level 3 Tennis Canada Coaching certification
at this time, has devoted himself to the advancement
of wheelchair tennis in Manitoba for more than fifteen
years.
Tennis Manitoba Executive Director Rick Bochinski recognized
the growing accomplishments of a number of the province’s
junior elite tennis players with this year’s Tennis
Manitoba Scholarship Awards. Sean Bailey, Michael Black,
Clarissa Chen, Kevin Kylar, Anita Paskvalin and Daniella
Silva received a cash contribution toward their tennis
development expenses.
Founded in 1974, Tennis Manitoba is the not-for-profit
sport body responsible for the development of tennis
in the province from grassroots recreational players
to high performance nationally competitive athletes.
Tennis Manitoba receives principal funding and support
from Sport Manitoba and Tennis Canada. Tennis Manitoba
currently has fourteen member clubs - nine in the city
of Winnipeg and five in Portage La Prairie, Brandon,
Clear Lake, Victoria Beach and Birtle.
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2006 Provincial
Team Tryouts
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Thu Nov 10'05,
Updated Nov 18'05 |
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Winnipeg, MB (TM)
– Tryouts for the 2006 Provincial Team will be held
as follows:
Please note that the tryouts are for both the U14
team (players born in 1992 or later) and the U18 team
(players born in 1988 or later).
Complete details of the Provincial Team program will
be sent by e-mail and snail mail to all parents and
coaches. This will include the times of the tryouts,
the tournament travel schedule, on-court training schedule
and fundraising plans.
Contact Rick at 925-5660 for further information.
Go to Provincial
Team section
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Manitobans Officiate
at Canada Games
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Manitoba Tennis officials
that took part in the 2005 Canada Summer Games
in Regina, SK were Tom Molinski (L to R), Steve
Peers, Kieron Kennedy, Cindy Gilmour, and
Grant Wuckert. Missing from the photo is Dave
Scrapneck.
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Tue Nov 1'05 |
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Winnipeg, MB (TM)
– Tennis Manitoba referees and officials are making
their mark and enjoying prominence on the national tennis
scene for the calibre of their work. This summer six
Manitoba Tennis officials took part as Head Referees
at the Canada Summer Games in Regina while another group
called lines at the prestigious Rogers Cup Men’s Tournament
in Montreal. The Canada Games presented an opportunity
for most of this group to experience a national level
tournament as chair umpires for the fist time.
“It was great tennis and an unbelievable experience
for all of us on and off the court,” Keiron Kennedy
said, recalling the Summer Games. “Everyone was impressed
with the work and calibre of the Manitoba officials.
We were all glad that we were able to volunteer our
time for the athletes and proud to say that we’re bringing
back this higher level of experience of officiating
to Manitoba.”
There was a surge in the ranks of tennis referees
and officials in the province as a result of training
and preparation for the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg.
Although the core of that group has remained dedicated
to officiating, Tennis Manitoba and Tennis Canada make
training available for much needed new recruits every
year.
Anyone with a desire to join the ranks of Manitoba’s
tennis officials can contact Steven Peers, Tennis Manitoba’s
Officials Coordinator, through the
Tennis Manitoba office
(925-5660) for more information.
Tennis
Manitoba Officiating
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