Building Tennis
Communities Awarded for Excellence
Photo: B Waschuk
Rob Langan was
selected by Tennis Canada as Rookie BTC of the
Year
Tue Apr 27, 2010
Winnipeg, MB (Re-printed
from March 16, 2010
Tennis Canada)
Tennis Canada recently announced
the recipients of the 2009 Building Tennis Communities
(BTC) Excellence Awards.
These awards serve as an annual recognition of excellence
in growing the game of tennis and positioning tennis
as an important partner in the building of healthy communities.
BTCs are located across the country and have played
a valuable role in promoting the game of tennis through
the development of partnerships with community leaders
and associations.
South Winnipeg, Manitoba was bestowed with the honour
of Rookie BTC of the Year. Community Champion Rob Langan
and his team have made huge strides in growing the region’s
tennis programming and participation rates in their
first year as a BTC community.
Their primary focus has been getting tennis into schools
and increasing the activity among youth. In 2009, they
provided “School Try” programs in five different schools
with more than 200 kids, created an after-school tennis
program that runs at 11 schools with another 215 children
and developed “Junior Wednesdays” at the Winnipeg Lawn
Tennis Club with an average of 25 participants per week.
Langan, co-champion Trever Skidmore, and their four
additional assistant pros have also been influential
in implementing Progressive Tennis into the community.
They successfully advocated for Progressive Tennis programs
at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club, made presentations
to physical education teachers about the model and have
distributed over 20 mini-nets, 200 balls and 200 racquets
to the South Winnipeg tennis community.
On the communications side, Langan, who also sits on
the Board of Directors for Tennis Manitoba, created
a comprehensive web site detailing the various available
activities and has compiled a database of more than
200 people who receive frequent updates regarding tennis
in the community.
“These communities and their partners have gone above
and beyond what we could ever expect them to do,” said
Julie Staples, director of community tennis for Tennis
Canada. “They are true advocates for our sport and have
brought the joy of tennis to so many people in their
respective communities. They are very deserving of this
recognition.”
Tennis Canada will be sending all of the BTC Excellence
Award winners to attend the annual USTA Community Tennis
Development Workshop. This workshop will provide all
of the BTC Community Champions with a valuable professional
development opportunity to continue to promote and grow
the sport of tennis.
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Bailey named
second-team All-OVC
Photo courtesy
of Austin Peay Sports
Manitoba native
Sean Bailey makes second-team All-Ohio Valley
Conference recognition during his freshman year
at Austin Peay State University.
Thu Apr 15, 2010
Clarksville, TN (Austin
Peay Sports Information) – A pair of Austin Peay
State University freshmen tennis players were honored
by the Ohio Valley Conference, Thursday, as Henrique
Norbiato was named first-team All-OVC while his doubles
partner Sean Bailey received second-team recognition.
The freshman duo were a hit on the men's team, with
Norbiato playing No. 3 singles and Bailey playing at
No. 1 singles, while teaming up together to play No.
1 doubles. It was their strong play that led the Govs
to their first OVC Tournament since switching to the
six-team format in 2006.
"As soon as they won, they clicked," head coach Malik
Tabet said. "What I like about them as a team is the
time they spend studying the game. They spend time watching
videos, discussing strategy and learning about how to
adjust to one another. They understand what needs to
be in the game. Having a winning doubles record, as
freshmen, shows the potential for the careers."
Bailey, a Manitoba, Canada native, has faced a tough
challenge for a first-year freshman in having to play
No. 1 singles, where he posted an 8-8 overall record
and a 2-5 league mark. A studious player, Bailey's drive
off the court has led to his continued improvement,
which is evident in his results.
"He's a kid that didn't play much in high school and
I love the way he wants to improve," said Tabet. "He
focuses on every detail of his game and has tremendous
potential. It was pretty big to fill in the No. 1 spot
with a kid that didn't bring in a lot of experience.
I've seen the improvement in his game from the fall
to the spring."
Bailey opened the fall with a three-set loss to SIU
Edwardsville's Paulo Gonzalez, but later defeated Gonzalez
in straight sets. He also lost a fall match to Kennesaw
State's Gianni Kubin but won the rematch giving up only
one game.
"That shows his determination and the room from improvement
that he has," Tabet said. "For Sean, it all comes down
to gaining experience on the court and understanding
what he needs to do with his game. I love the fact that
he enjoys studying the game and getting into those details."
To read the complete Austin Peay Sports Information
article
click here.
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Manitoba Movers
– Tennis Manitoba elects executive and board
Mon Apr 19, 2010
Winnipeg, MB (Winnipeg
Free Press) – Tennis Manitoba
has elected its executive and board of directors for
2010: Jim Millican, president; Bob Gowenlock, vice-president;
Mohammed Ismath, treasurer; Ainsley Bishop, secretary;
Barry Bruce, Lee Carter, Sherry Cowlthorp, Rob Langan,
Lori Mann, Selvi Varapathan, Bill Rannard and Kris Robins.
Tennis Manitoba is a non-profit amateur sport association
committed to stimulating participation and advancement
in tennis by all Manitobans.
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New guy’s a Player
– Tennis Manitoba nets director
Sat Apr 17, 2010
Winnipeg, MB (Sean
Grassie, for
The Winnipeg Sun) – The ball is now in his court.
South African Jeff Player, who has gone around the globe
as a tennis player, coach and administrator, has landed
in Winnipeg as the new executive director of Tennis
Manitoba.
“I can see lots of things happening here (with tennis)
and hopefully I can make a difference once I know what
it’s all about,” said Player on Friday when he was welcomed
by the tennis community at the Winnipeg Winter Club.
Tennis Manitoba was on the search for an executive director
when Rick Bochinski left after 10 years at the helm
in November to take the job as general manager of Mooseplex.
Player, 52, says he went right to work when he arrived
in Winnipeg on Wednesday, his first day ever in the
city.
It’s the latest stop for the tennis traveller.
After growing up in South Africa — he was on the court
often with former Wimbledon finalist Kevin Curren —
Player took his tennis to Central Texas College and
Virginia Polytechnical Institute. He played one year
on the professional circuit in the mid-1980s before
a back problem cut his career short. Player then got
into coaching, which took him to such spots as Switzerland,
Austria, Italy and England.
He also coached and served as Director of Tennis Development
for Tennis B.C. during his time in Vancouver from 1998-2005.
That’s where he developed a school program that had
about 25,000 kids going through it by the time he left
to return to South Africa.
“It took a lot to get that going,” Player said of the
school program. “It’s very nice that it’s still going
on. Lots of people are going through the program today.”
After taking some time away from tennis, it wasn’t long
before Player was back coaching at schools in South
Africa. Then he got word of the job posting in Winnipeg.
“I think once it’s in your blood, it’s always in your
blood, and it draws you back at some point,” he said.
He may be new to the tennis community, but Player says
his time in Vancouver will serve him well here.
“Fortunately I know the system well having been here
(in Canada),” said Player. “Tennis Manitoba follows
the Tennis Canada strategy, and I’m very familiar with
that so it’s matter of just picking it up a little bit.”
One early impression Player has of tennis here is that
Winnipeg may need another indoor facility.
“We have 13 indoor courts, and for people getting into
the game, they got to play somewhere,” said Player.
“For them to put their racquets away in the cupboard
for the winter and then bring them up again in the summer
is very tough to inspire people.”
Player suggested exploring the idea of a public indoor
facility, like the Grant Connell Tennis Centre in Vancouver.
“So we have a model,” he said. “Is it possible to copy
that? I don’t know. But it’s worthwhile having a look
at.”
Winnipeg, MB (TM) – Tennis Manitoba
is offering a Tennis Instructor Course based on Tennis
Canada's Coaching Certification Program.
The highly structured system ensures
that instructors, coaches and teaching pros receive
the best training and guidance, which in turn, can be
exemplified onto the athletes they train. The program
has a variety of key components that are essential in
the development of coaches.
The course takes place over two weekends,
May 7-9 and June 4-6. Course participants are given
both a practical and playing/demonstration evaluation.
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Getting the Juump
on tennis in Manitoba
Wed Apr 7, 2010
Winnipeg,
MB (TM) – Tennis Manitoba has partnered with Juump Sports
Interactive Inc. in an effort to help tennis players
in Manitoba find court locations and people to play.
Although initially launched for the Vancouver area in
2009, participation on the
Juump.com
web site has rapidly spread across North America and
is now used by thousands of tennis enthusiasts.
The beauty of Juump is that it allows you to quickly
find tennis players of similar level and age at your
favorite court locations with the assistance of Google's
map technology. Its as easy as heading over to
www.juump.com
and typing in "Winnipeg" (or your postal code) in the
"Find Tennis in" search box.
People, places, groups and events can be associated
with both private clubs as well as public court locations.
The free Juump registration allows you to create a profile,
select your preferred playing facilities and form or
join a group of players to connect with. Juump provides
a confidential message system to request playing arrangements
with new partners.
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Jake Suderman
Video Profile
Photo: Sean
Grassie
Jake Suderman
shows his stuff at the Winnipeg Winter Club.
Tue Apr 6, 2010
Winnipeg, MB (TM - Sean Grassie) – Jake Suderman is
a model for how tennis should be played. He's a former
top five player in the 60 plus category in Canada who
hasn't lost any zest for the game at the age of 80.
Anyone who has been on the court with Jake can tell
you about his enthusiasm and energy. And he's just as
active off the court.
Sean Grassie spent an afternoon with Jake and produced
this video for his sports journalism class at Red River
College.
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