USPTA Midwest Connection Fall 2021

FALL 2021

MIDWEST CONNECTION Hall of Fame Day with 2020-2021 Inductees / Award Winners and Carol Anderson

This issue: President's Message Dates that Rate Slate of Officers Virtual Conference Better Athletes Make Better Tennis Players

Award Winners

HOF Inductees

Summer Symposium 2021 & USPTA Social Photos AdvantageCLE Fundraiser ACEing Autism Ohio Diversity Meet Up

Mark Ficks, Steve Klass & Greg Isserman

Serving it Up for Special Olympics

Alan Schwartz, Dan Hopkins, Gary In Memoriam Bodenmiller & Denny Shackter

Carol Anderson

Evansville Tennis Center Job Posting Award Winners WC21

Thank You for over 35 years of service to the USPTA Midwest Division!!!

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President's Message MIKE GRAFF

2021 Midwest Officers

President Mike Graff • 248-866-0508 mike@baselinetennis.net

Regional Vice President Matt Davis • 224-247-2483 tenace4@gmail.com

Greetings Pros: It was great to see those of you that were able to attend the Midwest Summer Symposium or the World Conference in Las Vegas. A small return to normal with some face to face education and a chance to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones. The Summer Symposium, Hall of Fame induction and awards ceremony this past August in Cincinnati was a great success. Many thanks to Cathy Thomas for all of her work behind the scenes to make sure we had viable sites for our education, awards and our great night of music and socializing. Midwest Pro of the Year Mark Ficks and his family provided entertainment for the evening which made for an awesome gathering for many of us attending our first in person event. See inside for full details from the weekend.

National pulled together a great event for everyone that could make it. The classrooms and social events were well attended, and everything ran smoothly. If you missed the World Conference and are looking for an educational event, check inside for all the details of our upcoming virtual event with the Middle States division in November. Two days of top-notch speakers in the comfort of your own home of office.

Looking to the future, all of our Midwest High School Coaching Associations are planning face to face events for the new year. Mark your calendars, we would love to see you there.

Wishing you the best as we move into indoor tennis and paddle season.

Regards, Mike Graff, USPTA Midwest President

Second Vice President John Frausto • 920-860-0751 johnfrausto@gmail.com Third Vice President Cathy Thomas • 513-218-0782 cthomas6@cinci.rr.com Treasurer-Secretary Matt Boughton • 715-559-3168 mboughton@ymca-cv.org Past President Scott Ansay • 262-241-4250 scottansay@hotmail.com Executive Director Greg Aten- 330-283-5837 greg.aten@uspta.org

State Presidents

Ohio Nick Bennett • 703-399-5057 nick@matchpoint10s.com Wisconsin Dan Oliver • 920-227-7005 danonhgb@aol.com Illinois Lindsay L. Geiger • 773-960-4117 lindsaygeiger@sbcglobal.net Michigan Chip Fazio • 313-670-3277 chipfazio@gmail.com Indiana Umang Chadda • 309-255-3224 umangrk@hotmail.com USPTA World Headquarters 407-634-3050 uspta@uspta.org

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Mark Your Calendars!!

DATES that RATE 2021/2022

NOVEMBER / 21

Join us on Facebook and Instagram for updated communications...

12th-13th Virtual Conference Midwest/Middle States - click to register: (https://usptams.coachesclinic.com/ )

JANUARY / 22

28th-29th Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association workshop, at Hope College

https://www.facebook.com/USPTAMidwest

FEBRUARY / 22

3rd-5th Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Convention 4th Illinois High School Tennis Coaches clinic, Vaughn Center 5th-6th Wisconsin High School Tennis Coaches Clinic 27th-28th Ohio High School Tennis Coaches, NW Marriott, Dublin, OH

https://www.instagram.com/officialusptamidwestdivision/

The USPTA Midwest nominating committee has completed the slate for the USPTA Midwest Division Executive Board of Directors and is submitting the following: President - Matt Davis Regional VP - John Frausto 2nd VP - Cathy Thomas 3rd VP - Matt Boughton Sec/Treas - Chip Fazio Immediate Past Pres - Mike Graff Wisconsin President - Dan Oliver Illinois President - Lindsay Geiger Indiana President - Umang Chadda Ohio President - Todd Wojtkowski Michigan President - To Be Determined The USPTA Midwest Division calls for further nominations from the membership.

Nominations must be received by Scott Ansay, (scottansay@hotmail.com) Nominations chairman, no later than December 1, 2021 For a nominee to be added to the ballot, he/she must receive nominations from at least 10 members, only one nominee per office. The one with the most nominations will be added to those persons nominated by the Nominating Committee. Thereafter, the Executive Director will send out ballots to the membersip to be returned no later that January 10, 2022.

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2021 USPTA

MIDDLE STATES + MIDWEST DIVISION

Virtual Conference

NOV 12-13 FOR MORE INFO, PLEASE CONTACT: Anthony Santonastaso

USPTA Middle States Executive Director anthony.santonastaso@uspta.org

2021 AGENDA

USPTA Middle States / Midwest

Virtual Conference

Friday, Nov. 12 9:00-9:15 AM

2021 Year in Review

Tim Irwin

9:15-9:50 AM

USTA Middle States Update

Renee Lentz / Mike Kennedy

10:00-10:50 AM

5 Ways Great Coaches Make An Impact Allistair McCaw

11:00-11:50 AM

Reinvent Our Racquet Sports Business Marcos Del Pilar

12:00-12:50 PM

Innovation in Tennis

Panel: Rebecca Halpern, Trish Faulkner,

Delaine Mast; Moderator Tim Fitzgerald

1:00-1:50 PM

2:00-2:50 PM

Innovated Pricing & Compensation Get your Continental Grip License

Doug Cash Emma Doyle

Saturday, Nov. 13 9:50-9:50 AM

Universal Tennis

Mortada Stitou

10:00-10:40 AM

Innovation in Tennis

Ajay Pant

11:00-11:50 AM

Fireside Chat

Annie Duke

12:00-12:50 PM

USPTA National Update

Trish Faulkner

1:00-1:50 PM

Coaches and Teachers As Sherpas

Jim Loehr

2:00-2:50 PM

Innovative Teaching & Coaching

Mark Kovac

Registration and Other Details Registration URL / Link is below. Once registered, log-in details will be sent to all participants

prior to the conference.

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION (Direct Link) URL: usptams.coachesclinic.com Conference Pricing $35 [USPTA Members]

$45 [Non-members]

Jason Joseph, Better Athletes Make Better Tennis Players/ Summer Symposium 2021 Perspective from two board members: John Frausto and Chip Fazio

By John Frausto, USPTA El ite Professional , USPTA Midwest 3rd Vice President Jason Joseph did a dynamite job with his presentation at the USPTA 2021 Summer Symposi um. He has a ton of information but what real l y had an impact on me was the discrepancy in how pl ayer' s recepti ve ski l l s vary at different l evel s. For exampl e, a pl ayer at a 5. 0 l evel can pick up a bal l off hi s/her opponent' s stri ngs. A pl ayer at a 2. 5/3. 0 l evel may not pick up the bal l until the bal l bounces on their side. I must admi t, recogni ti on and percepti on dril l s were not high on my l ist. Moving forward I am going to begin to work on these ski l l s wi th my pl ayers. One such dril l woul d be this: when the bal l bounces on their opponent' s side, the pl ayer must say "bounce. " When the opponent hits the bal l , the pl ayer must say "hit. " This way the pl ayer is engaged, understands what i s happeni ng on their opponent' s side. One side note, this can al so hel p with rhythm and timing.

By Chip Fazio, USPTA El ite Professional , Michigan President Jason Joseph gave a research-based presentation to hel p teaching pros create better tenni s pl ayers by creati ng better athl etes. Kids do not have as much free pl ay as they did 20 years ago. Many of them come to our tenni s cl asses without the basic athl etic skil l s needed for tennis. Our jobs must incl ude teachi ng basi c physi cal l i teraci es.

Jason stated it takes 1500-4500 reps to l earn a new skil l . Students shoul d do up to 150 reps per day.

Reception Skil l s, Recognizing an Incoming Bal l Tennis is an open skil l sport where decisions need to be made in fractions of a second. If we can hel p our student recognize the qual ity of an incoming bal l more quickl y (reception skil l s), they wi l l be abl e to make better deci si ons.

High l evel tennis pl ayer can recognize the qual ity of an incoming bal l before i t i s struck by thei r opponent.

Intermediate pl ayers may recognize a bal l when it crosses the net, or when it i s struck. Begi nners wi l l not recogni ze a bal l until after it bounces on their side of the court. As teaching pros, we often forget how l ong i t took us to devel op great bal l recognition and anticipation skil l s.

There is a l ot of room for improvement in most of our students’ bal l recogni ti on ski l l s. If we can get students to recognize and track incoming bal l s faster, we can improve their pl ay without even changi ng thei r strokes! You can have students cal l out “right” or “l eft” as quickl y as they can after a bal l is struck. You can al so have them cal l out “deep” or “short”. Young kids, 7 years and younger, are better at detecting l eft and ri ght, than they are at deep and short. For vol l eys, have them cal l out “high” or “l ow”.

You can have students cal l out “bal l ” when their opponent strikes the bal l , then “bounce” and “hi t” when the bal l bounces and when they strike the bal l . Jason says it is amazing how pl ayers improve when their reception skil l s improve.

Coordination and Rhythm Skil l s Have students dribbl e a bal l to a rhythm that you cl ap out, then change the rhythm.

Catch a bal l at different l evel s, eye l evel , bel l y button or overhead.

Dissociation, Different Body Parts Moving Independentl y Especial l y for kids 6-8yrs Have them jump side-to-side as they dribbl e a bal l or tap one foot side-to-side as they dri bbl e.

Dribbl e 2 bal l s Lunge step with torso twist Skipping where the opposite arm and l eg are used, step on right foot=>swing l eft arm forward, and vi ce versa.

So, for your beginner through intermediate l evel students, consider teaching basi c physi cal l i teraci es and recepti on skil l s.

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Summer Symposium 2021 & USPTA Social Photos The Club at Harper's point

GREAT TIMES

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Programs Making a Difference

AdvantageCLE fundraiser at Cleveland Racquet Club with USPTA professionals Todd Wojkowski, Don Stevens, Greg Aten, Shaun Keenan, Walt Oden & Alex Guthrie Thankfully, I Had Tennis, Todd Wojtkowski In 2008, I had finished my Masters of Business Administration at The Citadel only to find a job market and economy that was in a major recession. The job offers that I had received were frozen, so I was left to figure things out as a young adult in a tough job market. It was in that moment that I said to myself, “Thank God for Tennis.” It wasn’t the first time, and it certainly will not be the last time that I uttered those words.

My coach growing up was Keith Vens, and if it wasn’t for Keith and his family, I would not have learned so many valuable lessons, tennis and life. One of those major life lessons he shared was to always “share the wealth.” Tragically, Keith’s life was taken on the weekend of my 18th birthday in a car accident. Much like many other times in my life, tennis helped carry me through the time of grief. When I was younger, Keith brought me downtown Youngstown to volunteer at a camp teaching tennis. As a 14-year-old, I had no idea that the camp would impact me 15 years later.

When I moved to Cleveland in 2008, to become the Head Tennis Coach at Case Western Reserve University, I was immediately asking myself the question, “how can I become more involved?”

Tennis saved me in a time when I did not know what was next. I felt a certain obligation to support the sport in any possible way with hopes that it could impact others as positively as it has impacted me. At that moment in time, I became involved with Advantage Cleveland, serving on the Board of Directors.

AdvantageCLE, is not-for-profit organization located on the east side of Cleveland. The program runs year-round and focuses on literacy, wellness, tennis, poetry slam, STEM, and fitness. During the summer we service up to 300 kids and those that are most dedicated and committed are selected to be a part of the afterschool program which takes place throughout the school year.

While it can be very challenging to balance the hours of the day, I implore teaching professionals of all ages to find the time to give back. There are many ways to contribute your time and energy such volunteering your time with an organization like AdvantageCLE and doing some on court teaching, serving on a committee within the USTA to help find ways to grow the incredible game that has given you an incredible career, and life opportunity. What you give to tennis, tennis will give back to you!

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Programs Making a Difference ACEing Autism, Akron OH, Katie Orlando, USPTA, Director of Tennis First, we want to thank the Towpath Tennis Center for hosting our program as this is the first session there.

After a training session by the USTA/Midwest Section to familiarize our volunteers to the program, the program was off and running. “Our first Fall session has been a huge success!

Our athletes are having fun and becoming better tennis players” stated Tammy Simone, Program director. “We keep the same schedule & format every week, but we build progression into the tennis drills. We had a huge win last week, our players rallied with their partners across the small nets!! The record was 11!!

Akron is a unique program as it includes both youth & adults. “We’re really excited about how well it has turned out. Sometimes as we are doing our drills, one of the athletes will start cheering for the player hitting the ball and all of our athletes jump in and cheer” Volunteers are a huge part of the successful return and “they are genuinely happy to spend time with our athletes and they do their best to ensure our athletes are having fun and progressing appropriately” Tammy said.

Ohio Diversity Meet Up, Rebecca Hancart, USTA TSR, Northeastern OH Mount Vernon was the site of the USTA/ Midwest Section Diversity Meet Up on July 17th. There were 10 teams and over 40 participants from the Cincinnati Inner City Tennis Project, AdvantageCLE, Mount Vernon, Watkins Memorial and Zanesville. This program was designed for players ages 12- 17 who could serve, rally and score but who are not tournament players. It was a chance for diverse (racial and socio-economic) programs to meet and play other programs in the state.

Participants were provided with a Subway lunch, USTA Just Play Cinch bag and a Meet Up t-shirt. Lovelle Crenshaw, USPTA Professional, was our featured speaker. Lovelle grew up in the NJTL of Indianapolis. He was able to share all his experiences on and off the court that tennis has provided, including his career opportunities. It was a great chance for the participants to see and hear from someone with their same background.

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Programs Making a Difference

Serving it Up for Special Olympics, Cathy Thomas, USPTA Elite Professional June 5, 2021 we held the 9th annual “Serving It Up For Special Olympics” Due to covid rules we still held the event with limited athlete participation/volunteers per court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, OH. The day consists of tennis clinic for all the Olympians and then food and drinks were given along with a goodie bag.

The afternoon social then followed with 72 players and they played till evening and then enjoyed a socially distant food and cocktails outside under the big tents. 50 Non players attended as well. Auction items and raffles were the big hit We raised $40,441 and making our total approx. $271,000 in the nine years of running it with the 2020 year off due to strict covid rules.

I’m very proud of my volunteers, some who have been with us from the onset of this event. Helping the Olympians and teaching them the sport of a lifetime. Exercising with them has put a lot of insight in the need for every population to get out and MOVE!

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August 21-27, 2022

I n Me mo r i am

Listed below are USPTA professionals and friends of our tennis community that we have lost recently. Our warmest condolences go out to their families and friends. They will be missed. Rest in Peace!

Leigh Cherveny, USPTA Sheboygan Falls, WI. Date of passing: April 8th, 2021

Lawrence Harte, USPTA, Warren, MI. Date of passing: August 27, 2021

Kevin Williamson, USPTA, Toledo, OH. Date of passing: September 7, 2021

Dwayne “Tiger” Teusink, Holland, MI. Date of passing: September 6, 2021

Evansville Tennis Center USPTA Job Posting - Director The Evansville Community Tennis Association is a 501-c3 non-profit organization whose mission is to serve the community, provide and grow the game of tennis. We have 6 indoor and 12 outdoor courts, offer adult tennis and pickleball, and junior programs from ages 4 and up. Our facility partners with the local area schools, YMCA and other organizations to help grow the game of tennis. We are looking for an individual that is willing to work with our full-time staff as a director, to continue to develop champions on and off the court.

Junior tennis and player development is a major focus for our facility and staff. Our junior program continues to grow year after year and have produced more than 15 college players in the past 5 years. We hope to find an individual who is knowledgeable and experienced in developing high performance juniors from an early start.

Please contact Ryan McDaniel at rmcdaniel@evansvilletennis.com or (317)213-7697 for more information. Please email application and resume to rmcdaniel@evansvilletennis.com

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MICHAEL FRIEDMAN with MW Regional VP Matt Davis

CAROL ANDERSON President's Paul Waldman Award

National Top Education Earner for 2nd year in a row

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