Winnipeg, MB (Winnipeg Sun, Adam Wazny) – After the interview, Frank Dancevic comes across the hockey rink at the Winnipeg Winter Club and says something truly Canadian.

"Aww man, I should have brought my skates."

Dancevic, the top men's tennis player in the country, was in town for the Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet and Hall of Fame Dinner yesterday. Proceeds from the dinner went to the Raising a Racquet for Kids program, an initiative geared toward the development of junior tennis in this province.

It's here where Dancevic, who took part in a clinic and exhibitions with fellow ATP player Philip Bester (Canadian and 2006 French Junior Open finalist) and 2000 Australian Open doubles champion Ellis Ferreira throughout the day, really displays his true nationality.

"We're travelling so much in the year, that we don't really get a chance to do things like this," said the 24-year-old out of Niagara Falls, Ont. "Giving back to the tennis community, wherever it is, is something I enjoy very much. I remember when I was a little kid, getting to meet older players was awesome. I went to the Canadian Open a few times and watching the pros play and getting close to them, it really motivated me to keep playing."

Dancevic, currently the 130th ranked player in the world after a disappointing season marred by a back injury, is an example of why tennis will continue to move forward in this country. He recognizes the responsibility he has in advancing the sport and points to a player like Daniel Nestor as part of his motivation for getting out to moderate tennis communities like Winnipeg (when compared with Toronto or Montreal) and encouraging young players.

"He's playing at a high levels in doubles but he's always given back to the sport here," Dancevic said. "I love Canada, I love this country, and I would love one day to see some future stars come from this country. That would be great, but when I first started it was a struggle. Everything had to come together perfectly for me to play this sport professionally.

"So many things can go wrong. Hopefully, we're making it easier for kids to access the sport and then stick with it."

Dancevic shares a story of how he came into tennis He was a seven-year-old hockey phenom in the winter and a soccer star in the summer, but once he had a racquet in his hand he knew what he wanted to do. He wonders how many young kids feel the same way he did at that age, and whether they have the support to keep at it.

"I had the most goals on the team, so I don't know if that means much as a seven-year-old," he laughs. "My dad introduced me to tennis one day and for some reason, it just came really natural for me. Suddenly, hockey and soccer weren't my focus anymore."
Besides raising money for the junior program, the Tennis Manitoba dinner also honoured some athletes last night.

Rick Borland, Judy Peake and Matthew Akman were enshrined into the Hall of Fame in the player category. Longtime volunteer and coach Lloyd Borland was inducted in the builder category, while Carole Carona won the Community Champion Award.

Other award winners include Kyla McNicol (female player of the year), Lee Carter (male player of the year), Kylie Waschuk (most improved player) Muzeen Ismath (Art Foster most sportsmanlike junior), and Marc Lloyd (most sportsmanlike player). Kylie Waschuk, Evann Waschuk, and Sean Bailey picked up junior scholarship awards.

} Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet

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Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Lloyd Borland, a long-time volunteer and coach at the Wildewood Club, will be inducted into the Manitoba Tennis Hall of Fame on Wednesday, November 26th at the Winnipeg Winter Club in conjunction with the Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet.

His tremendous work at the Wildewood Club during the 1940s and 1950s quickly earned him the nickname of Mr. Tennis. His many duties included court maintenance, recruitment of junior players, tournament organization and development of high performance athletes. No less than five of the juniors that he introduced to the sport went on to capture Canadian Junior Championships. This was truly remarkable for a “club player” who learned the game of tennis from a book!

For a detailed biography of Lloyd Borland click here.

Proceeds from this year’s Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet will go to support junior tennis development in Manitoba. Funds will go towards junior competition travel expenses and training camps, as well as development programs for kids under the age of 12 years.

If you have not yet purchased your tickets for the Awards Banquet, contact Tennis Manitoba at 925-5660. The event is almost sold out with only a few available tickets remaining.

Prior to the dinner and awards, ATP players Frank Dancevic, Philip Bester and Ellis Ferreira will take part in a Doubles Exhibition and Pro-Am. There are a couple places still available for those that wish to participate in the Pro-Am.

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Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Matthew Akman, a past Manitoba Open champion and one of the top junior players ever produced in this province, will be inducted into the Manitoba Tennis Hall of Fame on Wednesday, November 26th at the Winnipeg Winter Club in conjunction with the Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet.

Matthew finished 3rd at the U16 Junior Nationals in 1983 and qualified for the National Junior Team in his first year of U18s. He played #1 singles at Northwestern University and was ranked in the top 50 NCAA division #1. This past summer he won the O40 Senior National Championship, defeating last year’s world #1 in the category – Karl Hale of Ontario.

For a detailed biography of Matthew Akman click here.

Proceeds from this year’s Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet will go to support junior tennis development in Manitoba. Funds will go towards junior competition travel expenses and training camps, as well as development programs for kids under the age of 12 years.

If you have not yet purchased your tickets for the Awards Banquet, contact Tennis Manitoba at 925-5660. The event is almost sold out with only a few available tickets remaining.

Prior to the dinner and awards, ATP players Frank Dancevic, Philip Bester and Ellis Ferreira will take part in a Doubles Exhibition and Pro-Am. There are a couple places still available for those that wish to participate in the Pro-Am.

} Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet

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Winnipeg, MB (TM) – The Winnipeg Winter Club is ready to host the Manitoba tennis community on November 26th. A full day of events is planned and will culminate with the 2008 Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The day will unfold as follows:

The evening will include a silent and live auction, with celebrity host Ace Burpee of HOT 103. Many great prizes are available thanks to the tremendous generosity of the tennis community.

Contact Tennis Manitoba at 925-5659 to purchase one of the few tickets still remaining for the event.

CORRECTION: For those that have already purchased tickets please note that there will be an open DESSERT bar and a cash bar.

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Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Judy Peake, winner of five Manitoba Open Women’s Singles Championships, will be inducted into the Manitoba Tennis Hall of Fame on Wednesday, November 26th at the Winnipeg Winter Club in conjunction with the Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet.

In addition to her singles titles, Peake also captured an impressive 13 Women’s Doubles and 10 Mixed Doubles Championships at the Manitoba Open during her amazing playing career. In 1955 she won the U13 Canadian Junior Championship and two years later she won the U15 Canadian Junior Championship. Peake was selected as Manitoba’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1970.

For a detailed biography of Judy Peake click here.

If you have not yet purchased your tickets for the Awards Banquet, contact Tennis Manitoba at 925-5660. The event is almost sold out with only a few available tickets remaining.

Prior to the dinner and awards, ATP players Frank Dancevic, Philip Bester and Ellis Ferreira will take part in a Doubles Exhibition and Pro-Am. There are a couple places still available for those that wish to participate in the Pro-Am.

} Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet

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Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Carole Corona truly loved the sport of tennis and had a strong desire to help others. She put those two passions together and became heavily involved in charity tournaments to raise funds for many worthwhile causes.

After many years of travel to Toronto to participate in the Toronto Lawn Tennis Tournament for Save the Children she was approached by Save the Children to start a tournament in Winnipeg. The tournament has been a regular part of the September schedule in Manitoba for 11 years and has raised over $150,000 for Manitoba children in need. The original committee was co-chaired by Carole Corona and Marlene Collett.

The Tennis for Charity Committee changed the format of the tournament this year and it has now been named the Carole Corona Cup in memory of Carole.

Carole was a wonderful friend whose love for tennis lasted a lifetime. She is truly missed by family, friends and members of the tennis community.

Her outstanding contributions to the community will be recognized at the upcoming Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet on November 26th at the Winnipeg Winter Club. Carole will be receiving the Community Champion award, which is given to a member of the tennis community for their longstanding commitment to the development or promotion of the sport in the province as a coach, volunteer, official or organizer.

If you have not yet purchased your tickets for the Awards Banquet, contact Tennis Manitoba at 925-5660. Prior to the dinner and awards, ATP players Frank Dancevic, Philip Bester and Ellis Ferreira will take part in a Doubles Exhibition and Pro-Am. Less than 20 tickets are available!

} Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet

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Winnipeg, MB (Winnipeg Free Press / Ashley Prest )

LEE Carter of Winnipeg is now a two-time national champion in both men's singles and doubles as he defended his titles at the Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships last weekend in Niagara on the Lake, Ont.

Carter, who represented Canada at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, beat his Paralympics doubles partner Yann Mathieu of Quebec in the finals of both divisions.

Carter defeated Mathieu 2-0 (6-2, 6-0) in the men's singles final. In the men's doubles final, Carter and his partner Corey Blatchford of Saskatoon defeated Mathieu and his partner Gilbert 2-0 (6-2, 6-3).

"Usually you'll see the top four in the singles and doubles so we weren't too surprised (to meet in the final)," said Carter, 33, who played in his first wheelchair tennis national championship only five years ago. "It's good being the No. 1 (singles) player in Canada. You always want to go to nationals and win it to show that you are the No. 1 player and I'm happy I was able to do it. I feel really good about it."

Carter said his final event of this season will be Nov. 27-30 in Montreal when he competes in the 2008 Tennis Canada International Championship, an event on the International Tennis Federation tour.

"That's the last one in Canada this year so that's how I'll be finishing up my year," he said. "I'm still working on what kind of a tour schedule I'll have for next year."

See also
} Top Seeds Carter and Hunter Capture Birmingham Nationals

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Those wishing to support the Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet can do so by donating gifts for the live and silent actions, or by becoming an event sponsor. Sponsors contributions will be acknowledged at the event and included in the event program, Tennis Manitoba web site and monthly newsletters. To contact Tennis Manitoba on how you can participate click here.

Tickets are priced at $80 per person with tax receipt availability for the maximum allowable amount. The Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet has attracted capacity crowds the past two years. Tickets are going fast again this year with the majority already sold. Avoid missing out on Manitoba’s tennis event of the year. Get your tickets today by calling Tennis Manitoba at (204) 925-5659 or request them online at www.tennismanitoba.com\tickets

See also
} Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet

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Winnipeg, MB (Tennis Canada) – When the Cindy Klassen Recreation Centre was set for expansion in Sargent Park, Manitoba, one of the biggest sacrifices that the city had to make was their tennis courts at the front of the property. However, thanks to Romilyn Lacap and the dedicated tennis community in the area, they were not left without courts for long and tennis is now experiencing a huge resurgence in central Winnipeg.

At the back of the complex that was to undergo renovations, there were 10 tennis courts that were 40-50 years old. So, in an effort to ensure that tennis would stay afloat, they were able to get the city to resurface six of those 10 courts.

"The beauty of those old back courts is that there were lights there but no one ever used them," said Lacap. "So we lobbied the city to resurface them and we got them put under our supervision and suddenly we had courts that were even more functional than the ones we were using before."

The project was finished late last year so this past spring was the first time that they were used and before long the tennis participation multiplied significantly.

"It was initially difficult to get membership because it's not the richest area and we can't charge people," she said. "So we got together with the core group of players who played on the old courts and we got them to volunteer and help set up programs. We let everyone know that the courts were there now and ready for the community to use."

Eventually, word got out and Lacap held a meeting to talk about the program and garner interest in the Building Tennis Communities (BTC) strategy presented by Rogers. Once things started rolling she was able to get $3000 from Tennis Manitoba to put windbreakers up on the back courts and her son Sean was hired by the provincial association to be the pro at the facility.

He immediately began to contact schools and invited students to come down with their gym classes to give them lessons. He had extremely positive responses and ended up teaching full days of tennis to tons of different kids. He continued the programs into the summer for kids who showed interest and partnered it up with a swimming camp so that there was a mix of activities for them.

"Just by word of mouth we were able to start getting kids out and then seniors came out and then families came out," said Lacap. "It is a community of people who enjoy seeing their friends day in and day out so the courts are now acting as a meeting place and tennis is the reason that they are all there. It is uniting everyone."

Shortly thereafter a new tradition was born.

"On the weekends in Sargent Park, tons of families get together and bring food to the courts and have a mini pot-luck dinner and one night in the middle of the summer some people just started to play tennis and ended up staying until past 1 a.m." recalls Lacap. "It was a warm night and we have the lights on the court. People had some beer in them and it just turned into this really fun midnight tennis challenge. It wasn't a formal thing but it developed into this big weekly event. People would show up after wedding receptions dressed to the nines and in running shoes just to play tennis into the wee hours of the morning. I'm sure there is nothing like it anywhere else. It has really brought the community closer together because people started coming in from further suburbs just for the evening's activities."

Now that winter is around the corner, the midnight tennis is dying down and Lacap is focusing her attention on growing the program.

"I'm trying to get assistants to help me drop into schools and get more participants," she said. "There is also a seminar for gym teachers coming into Winnipeg so we are going to try and set up the mini-nets there and have a demonstration. It's going to be around 500 gym teachers so it will be a huge audience for us."

As a first year community champion, Lacap is overjoyed with the initial success that she has had.

"The BTC strategy is really fantastic," she said. "We are able to fund more activities and really showcase the sport. We are able to have actual events with food and we had the Everyday Champions campaign come out. It just helps so much to have that additional support. I'm really pleased with the momentum we have and I really see us being able to grow the sport here in the next few years."

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See also
} Carter Captures National Championship

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Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Tennis Manitoba is pleased to announce that the Birchwood Automotive Group has signed on as the presenting sponsor of the 2008 Awards Banquet and Hall of Fame Dinner on November 26th. The Birchwood Automotive Group Team is made up of 500+ team members with 11 retail facilities representing 15 manufacturers in the City of Winnipeg.

The tremendous support of the Birchwood Automotive Group solidifies what promises to be a great evening of celebration by the tennis community as we gather to recognize the achievements of the province’s top players and volunteers. In addition, the induction ceremony for the Manitoba Tennis Hall of Fame will take place in conjunction with the Awards Banquet to honor longtime contributors to the sport in Manitoba.

Proceeds from this year’s Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet will go to support junior tennis development in Manitoba. Funds will go towards junior competition travel expenses and training camps, as well as development programs for kids under the age of 12 years.

Those wishing to support the Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet can do so by donating gifts for the live and silent actions, or by becoming an event sponsor. Sponsors contributions will be acknowledged at the event and included in the event program, Tennis Manitoba web site and monthly newsletters. To contact Tennis Manitoba on how you can participate click here.

Tickets are priced at $80 per person with tax receipt availability for the maximum allowable amount. The Tennis Manitoba Awards Banquet has attracted capacity crowds the past two years. Tickets are going fast again this year with the majority already sold. Avoid missing out on Manitoba’s tennis event of the year. Get your tickets today by calling Tennis Manitoba at (204) 925-5659 or request them online at www.tennismanitoba.com\tickets

About the Birchwood Automotive Group
The Birchwood Automotive Group is Winnipeg’s largest network of Automotive retailers. With 15 franchised operations, including Birchwood Pontiac Buick GMC, Birchwood Honda on Regent, Birchwood Infiniti, Birchwood Nissan, Birchwood BMW, MINI Winnipeg, Land Rover Winnipeg, Jaguar Winnipeg, Volvo Winnipeg, Saturn Saab of Pointe West, Birchwood Honda West, Woodhaven Lexus Toyota and our most recent acquisition Birchwood Kia, no other Automotive Group can offer the choices you get from Birchwood.

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