Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Tennis Manitoba’s Annual General Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, October 28th at the Winnipeg Winter Club at 10:00am. Club delegates are encouraged to register with Tennis Manitoba to confirm their attendance.

Year-end financial reports and committee reports will be presented and the 2006/07 Board of Directors will be elected.

Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Barry Bruce, the President and CEO of Sierra Courier, is the recipient of Tennis Manitoba’s Community Champion award for 2006. Barry was presented with the award at the inaugural Awards Banquet and Hall of Fame dinner on October 5th at the Canad Inns Polo Park.

Barry, a longtime advocate of wheelchair tennis, a teaching pro and a past member of Tennis Manitoba’s Board of Directors, is being recognized for more than 20 years of involvement in tennis in Manitoba. He began as a Director for Tennis Manitoba in 1985 and also served on the Board of the Manitoba Sports Federation and Tennis Canada’s Wheelchair Board of Directors.

Barry is best known in the tennis community for his dedication to the development of wheelchair tennis programs and for his coaching of developmental and high performance wheelchair athletes. He has been the Wheelchair Coach at the 1995, 1999 and 2003 Western Canada Summer Games and will be heading to his 4th consecutive Games in Edmonton in 2007. Barry has represented Canada as a National Coach at several World Team Cup events and in 1996 he was selected as a Coach for Canada’s team at the Paralympic Games in Atlanta.

Barry has played a very significant role in the development of Lee Carter, a Winnipeg athlete who has risen to the top 40 in the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Rankings.

He continues to coach a wheelchair tennis program at Taylor Tennis, where he has been a longtime member.

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Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Head Coach Jared Connell and Assistant Coach Peter Otto have made the selections for the 2007 Western Canada Summer Games training team. The following players will compete for a spot on the final roster in an effort to represent our province in Edmonton next August:

The final team will be comprised of 4 boys and 4 girls. There will be one singles player, a doubles team and a mixed doubles player of each gender.

The last Western Canada Summer Games were held in Selkirk, Manitoba in 2003, with the host team narrowly missing out on a Silver Medal in the team competition.

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Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Daniella Silva and Sean LaCap have been selected as the recipients of Tennis Manitoba’s 2006 Junior Scholarships. The scholarship presentations were made at the 2006 Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet presented by CIBC Wood Gundy on October 5th at the Canad Inns Polo Park.

Although she is only 10 years old, Daniella Silva represented Manitoba at 4 Junior National events in 2006. She competed at the U12 and U14 Indoor Nationals and the U12 and U14 Outdoor Nationals. Daniella finished the year in the top 20 in the U12 National Rankings and was recently named to Tennis Canada’s U12 National Squad.

Sean LaCap participated in both the U18 Indoor and Outdoor Junior Nationals in 2006. He had the best result of all Manitoba’s juniors this past year, finishing 9th at the Outdoor Nationals in August. Sean also won the Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles events at the Arby’s Manitoba Open in July.

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Winnipeg, MB (TM) – The first annual Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet was an opportunity for the members of Manitoba’s tennis community to recognize the accomplishments of players, coaches and volunteers over the past year. The response was overwhelming as the banquet was a complete sellout, with all 250 seats sold!

The highlight of the evening was the induction of Ray Daumler, Art Foster and Gerry Labies into the Manitoba Tennis Hall of Fame. Ray, pictured below with Art’s wife, Gay, and Gerry’s wife, Traudel, inspired the audience as he reflected back on past victories and gave everyone a glimpse of the mental toughness that made him so successful on the tennis court. Gay accepted the Hall of Fame award on behalf of Art, who is in a nursing home and was unable to join us for the evening. Traudel thanked the tennis community for recognizing Gerry’s commitment to tennis. Gerry passed away two years ago after a battle with cancer.

The evening included a silent auction, mini-court challenge and a 50/50 draw. The McPherson family won two prizes, earning $260 as winners of the 50/50 draw and winning a 2007 Rogers Cup ticket package, valued at $750, for holding the lucky ticket in the mini-court challenge draw. Each person who was able to win a point from a Provincial Team player had their name entered in the draw. The McPhersons will receive tickets to the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, featuring the world’s top female players.

Silent auction winners included Romilyn LaCap and Ernest Cholakis, who each won a Taylor Tennis membership, and Grant Tymchuk of Arby’s Restaurants, who won the top prize of the night, a pair of tickets to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals of the 2007 Rogers Cup in Toronto.

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Winnipeg, MB (Glen Dawkins, Winnipeg Sun) – Doug DeVriendt and Kyla McNicol were crowned the king and queen of Manitoba tennis, last night at the Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet.

The top ranked players in the province, DeVriendt and McNicol were named male and female players of the year. DeVriendt won six of seven men's singles titles this summer with his one loss being in the semifinals of the Manitoba Open. Meanwhile, McNicol swept the women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles at both the Manitoba Open and Saskatchewan Open. It marked the second year in a row that the University of Central Florida junior had swept all three events at the Manitoba Open.

In other awards, Sean LaCap and 10-year-old Daniella Silva were named top juniors and wheelchair tennis player Lee Carter was named the most improved player after having his international ranking rise from 277th to 40th. Silva was recently named to the Tennis Canada Under-12 National Team.

Tennis Manitoba also inducted the first three members of the Manitoba Tennis Hall of Fame: six-time Manitoba Open champ Art Foster and three-time Manitoba Open winner Ray Daumler as players and builder Gerry Labies.

Winnipeg, MB (TM) – The final point standings for the past year have been determined in the Junior events. The leaders in each of the singles categories will receive special recognition at the 2006 Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet presented by CIBC Wood Gundy on Thursday, October 5th at the Canad Inns Polo Park.

Clarissa Chen is the lone junior player to capture titles in two age groups, coming out on top of the standings in the U16 and U18 Girls Singles categories. Chen won the Tuxedo Open, the Taylor Tennis Junior Classic and the World of Water Junior Championships to earn top spot in the U16s. Her first place finish in the U18s was earned based on victories at Deer Lodge and Taylor.

Evann Waschuk takes home the U14 Girls Singles title on the strength of tournament wins at the Winter Club, Deer Lodge, Tuxedo and Glendale. Daniella Silva cruised to victory in the U12 Girls Singles race, winning 5 of the 6 tournaments that she entered. Katherine Trstenjak earned the U10 Singles title on the strength of her victory at the Tuxedo Junior Open and her runner-up finishes at the Big Sand Junior Classic and Auto Haus Volkswagen Junior Classic.

Alex Lesiuk defeated Mike Black at the Auto Haus Fall Classic to earn the U18 Boys Singles crown. Eric Pollard was also able to use his victory at Glendale’s Auto Haus Fall Classic to vault into first place in the U16 Boys Singles category. Will McPherson was the runaway winner in the U14 Boys Singles category, winning two tournaments and finishing as the runner-up at two others. JJ Gerstein put together wins at the Winter Club, Tuxedo and Taylor to garner enough points for the U12 Boys Singles title.

The points leaders were determined by tallying the points earned at sanctioned tournaments held over the past 12 months. The results from the following tournaments were used to determine the winners:

   2006 Winnipeg Winter Club Junior Open
   2006 Big Sand Junior Classic
   2006 Auto Haus Volkswagen Junior Classic
   2006 Tuxedo Junior Open
   2006 Deer Lodge Junior Girls Classic
   2006 Auto Haus Junior Boys Junior Open
   2006 Taylor Tennis Junior Classic
   2006 World of Water Junior Open
   2006 Wheat City Junior Open
   2006 Auto Haus Volkswagen Fall Junior Classic

Come celebrate the accomplishments of these fine players, as they are recognized on October 5th at the 2006 Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet presented by CIBC Wood Gundy. Individual tickets are available from the Tennis Manitoba office for $40 or tables of 10 for $350.

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Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Ray Daumler, who captured 3 Manitoba Open Men’s Singles titles in the 1980s, will be inducted into the Manitoba Tennis Hall of Fame on Thursday, October 5th at the Canad Inns Polo Park. The inaugural induction ceremony will take place in conjunction with the 2006 Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet presented by CIBC Wood Gundy.

Daumler was a dominant player during the 1980s and into the 1990s, winning countless tournament titles. His Manitoba Open wins came in 1986, 1987 and 1989. Ray was very tough mentally and will always be remembered as a player with an incredible will to win. To read a detailed biography of Ray Daumler click here.

The Hall of Fame inductions will be the highlight of the 2006 Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet. Individual tickets can be purchased for $40 or a table of 10 for $350 by contacting Tennis Manitoba at 925-5660.

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Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Evann Waschuk capped off a great summer of tennis by winning both the U14 and U16 Girls Singles events at the Auto Haus Volkswagen Fall Junior Classic. It was business as usual in the U14s, as Waschuk defeated Jessica Silva 6-2, 6-1 for her third tournament victory of the summer. The win at the Glendale Golf & Country Club was added to previous titles at Deer Lodge and Tuxedo.

There was plenty of excitement in the U16 final, as Waschuk got the best of Clarissa Chen, with a nail-biting 6-7, 7-5, 11-9 victory. It marked her first tournament win in the U16s and the first time that she had defeated Chen.

The complete list of winners included the following:

U18 Girls Singles: Theresa Gockeln def. Anita Paskvalin 6-3, 6-0

U16 Girls Singles: Evann Waschuk def. Clarissa Chen 6-7, 7-5, 11-9

U14 Girls Singles: Evann Waschuk def. Jessica Silva 6-2, 6-1

U12 Girls Singles: Daniella Silva def. Alexia Cholakis 6-3, 6-4

U18 Boys Singles: Alex Lesiuk def. Michael Black 6-3, 3-6, 10-7

U16 Boys Singles: Eric Pollard def. Matthew Cheung 6-0, 6-1

U14 Boys Singles: Alex Minuk def. Will McPherson 6-3, 3-6, 10-6

For complete match results click here.

Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Art Foster, winner of a record 6 Manitoba Open Men’s Singles titles, will be inducted into the Manitoba Tennis Hall of Fame on Thursday, October 5th at the Canad Inns Polo Park in conjunction with the 2006 Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet presented by CIBC Wood Gundy.

Foster did not pick up a tennis racquet until the age of 17, but used his natural athletic ability to quickly become a top notch player in the province. In addition to his prowess at a Provincial level, Foster also achieved success at the National level, winning the 60+ Singles and the 55+ and 60+ Doubles at the Senior Nationals in 1988. To read a detailed biography of Art Foster click here.

The Hall of Fame inductions will be the highlight of the 2006 Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet. Individual tickets can be purchased for $40 or a table of 10 for $350 by contacting Tennis Manitoba at 925-5660. Corporate tables, which include advertising on Tennis Manitoba’s website and in the banquet program, are available for $500.

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