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SPORTIME/JMTA to Host Fifth Annual College Recruiting Combine
SPORTIME/John McEnroe Tennis Academy to H Rising high school sophomores, juniors and seniors invited to pa
With dozens of John McEnroe Tennis Academy (JMTA) students currently competing at top colleges across the country, the Academy announced the 2020 John McEnroe Tennis Academy College Recruiting Combine, scheduled for Friday, June 20 and Saturday, June 21, to be held at SPORTIME Randall's Island, the New York City home of JMTA.
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The Combine will again give select rising high school sophomores, juniors and seniors, from around the country and beyond, JMTA students and non-JMTA students, the opportunity to showcase their technical and tactical tennis skills, and their athletic abilities, in front of coaches from top colleges and universities.
“One of the driving forces at JMTA is our commitment to preparing our players for college tennis, and helping them to find their best college fit,” said John McEnroe. “After an amazing first four years of the JMTA Combine, we are excited to be expanding the JMTA Combine in 2020 to include more coaches and more students, and we are confident that it will be a great resource for both.”
Just as in the past four summers, coaches representing all three NCAA Divisions are expected to attend. The commitments for 2020 have been more impressive than ever, including coaches from Brown, Baylor, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn State, William & Mary, Wake Forest, and many other top programs, with many more coaches expected to confirm their attendance before the Combine. Representatives from prestigious leagues, including the Ivy League, ACC, Big East, SEC, Big 10, Patriot League and NESCAC attended last year, and are expected again this year.
Interested players can get more information and apply to participate in the Combine at www.SportimeNY.com/JMTACombine.
Combine applications will be accepted until Monday, June 1 for the 120 Combine spots available, 60 boys and 60 girls. The Combine Selection Committee will evaluate each application based upon objective criteria, and applicants will be informed of their status as “admitted” or “waitlisted”. Those who are wait-listed will be contacted if they are, subsequently, admitted.
Player check-in will begin at 8:00 a.m. for all players on both Combine days. Participants will compete in singles and doubles match play with tracked results. Players will also receive athletic performance assessments, and will be
invited to participate in Sports Vision Testing and in a College Coaches’ Panel Discussion. Combine partner Tennis Analytics will be video-recording all matches and will offer participant packages, including match videos with detailed analytics, which videos will be available for participants to send directly to college coaches. Included for each Combine participant is an integrated recruiting package, available, digitally, to both participants and coaches, at the touch of a button on their personal Player Portals.
For further details, visit www.SportimeNY.com/JMTACombine or email jmtacombine@sportimeny.com.
o Host Fifth Annual College Recruiting Combine participate in recruiting combine at SPORTIME Randall’s Island
Q&A with JMTA Combine Director Jay Harris
NYTM: What can a sophomore, junior or senior in high school expect when attending the Combine?
Harris: The first thing that any prospect gaining entry into the JMTA College Recruiting Combine will experience is a professional atmosphere. We have built the Combine, and continued to evolve it each year, with the mindset that it will become the top recruiting opportunity for not only the McEnroe Academy’s top players, but also for players all around the nation and even worldwide. We are lucky to have a team of incredibly talented individuals helping to form a recruiting experience that will give the players face-to-face exposure to college coaches from all Divisions, but also one that will truly teach them HOW to navigate the challenges that the college search produces. The Combine serves as an incredible networking opportunity for all of our competitors while also creating an invaluable learning atmosphere.
NYTM: What has the feedback been from the college coaches in terms of how the event has helped them r ecruit and connect with players?
Harris: Having over 100 talented prospective student-athletes in one setting is a great start for attracting college coaches, but the JMTA Combine provides so much more than just that. College coaches have enjoyed being greatly valued for their role in making the Combine great. The College Coaches panel that takes place during Combine weekend is an opportunity for them to be integrally involved in the education for these 100 athletes. Being involved in this sort of learning process helps the coaches to create the first steps towards forming relationships with the players, and the building of relationships between prospects and coaches is what recruiting is all about.
NYTM: How has the Coronavirus pandemic affected college r ecruiting?
Harris: Just like every day living, the pandemic has caused an exorbitant amount of uncertainty in college recruiting. With the NCAA announcing that curr ent college players will retain this past year of eligibility, college programs in all sports are preparing for having a “double class” of freshmen next fall, and will have to figure out how that affects their recruiting during the next four years. My belief is that one of the first major effects will be a bit of a delay in when commitments are made. College coaches will need extra time to figure out what their roster needs will be a year from now, while also fighting to catch up for lost evaluation time due to the junior tournaments being put on hold.
NYTM: Does that make this year’s Combine more important than ever?
Harris: Every opportunity college coaches and prospective student-athletes have to evaluate each other is extr emely valuable, and because so much time for that has been lost, the importance of any tennis played this summer will be intensified. The JMTA College Recruiting Combine may very well be the perfect solution to make up for lost time, and we are excited to produce the best Combine yet!
NYTM: Now in its fifth year, how does the JMTA College Recruiting Combine continue to gr ow each year?
Harris: Like the namesake of our event, we simply aren’ t satisfied with being second best. Each year, at the conclusion of the Combine, our team aggressively looks for any shortcomings and then makes plans to tackle those. In just the past couple of years, we have added some incredible additions like our Sports Vision component and last year’s John McEnroe exhibition with Combine players. The Combine is still a young event, but our recruiting for players and coaches brings bigger dividends each year and that is possibly the biggest reason for the year to year improvement of the JMTA Combine.
