A Division of the USPTA
March 2019
2019 Southwest Conference Grand Canyon University Phoenix, Arizona May 17-19, 2019
Inside: Presidents Message - Page 2 Southwest Conference Information - Pages 3-5 USTA Accreditation - Page 8 Area News - Pages 9-14 USTA News Pages 18-20
President’s Message Jonathan Davis - USPTA Southwest President
Dear Southwest USPTA Pros, What an eventful and busy year it is going to be. As everyone knows, we are required to have 12 hours (6 credits) of continuing education every three years. The third year of our continuing education cycle for the majority of our members ends in 2019. This means that a lot of our Southwest Pros will be needing to complete their 12 hours to keep their membership active in 2020. Coupled with the new certification standards coming in 2020 with the USTA accreditation, we are expecting to see a lot of activity with our certification exams, upgrades, and continuing education programs. The easiest way to get all your continuing education credits is to attend either the Southwest Divisional Conference in Phoenix (May 17-19) or the World Conference in Las Vegas (September 23-27). By attending a conference you will automatically obtain your 12 hours of education and have the opportunity to upgrade your membership or add a new certification before the end of the year. During the Southwest Conference you will have the opportunity to complete your certification, or upgrade your membership, with Sid Newcomb, the USPTA National Head Tester. Joining Sid will be Southwest Head Tester Greg Prudhomme, Dick Johnson, Larry Lineberry, Bryan Dirk, and myself as we complete our certification to become Divisional Testers. I believe the Southwest Division will soon have the most testers per capita out of the entire USPTA. We have strategically selected testers from each region of our division so that we can offer more certification exams, in more cities, throughout the year.
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In Las Vegas you will have the options of becoming RacquetFIT certified, completing or upgrading your USPTA certification, or becoming pickleball certified through the ITPTA. Along with the certification opportunities there will be great on court and classroom seminars to attend. All of this plus the buzz of Las Vegas will surely make this a very popular conference to attend and Las Vegas is close by. Another avenue to obtain your credits is through tennisresources.com videos. You can search and watch hundreds of videos on various topics from great pros around the country. Each video you watch will earn you credits towards your continuing education. We will be sending out emails to all our members needing credits with links to informative videos. Lastly, many of our members might be acquiring continuing education credits without even knowing it. If you have taken a CPR or AED class, CMAA course, or almost any professional development class you can earn credits towards your USPTA continuing education. If you send proof of completion to the National Office they will be able to issue you credits for your courses. There is probably a very good chance that some of our members already have their 12 hours completed! I hope that by the end of 2019 we will be able to have 100% compliance with our Southwest members. If you have any questions about your education credits or suggestions for different education platforms please email me at jdavis@desertmt.com. I would love to hear everyone’s suggestions. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at our conference and at the World Conference in September. I hope you can make it!
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Save the Date 2019 USPTA/USTA Southwest Conference May 17-19, 2019 at Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, AZ The 2019 Southwest Conference is a little over three months away but not too early to mark your calendars to attend. This year’s conference will once again be full of great speakers, networking opportunities and fun! The conference will once again be held in Phoenix, Arizona at a brand new location, Grand Canyon University. The goal every year is to have a conference that has something for everyone. Whether you are an assistant professional, a director of tennis or work with the USTA, there will be opportunities to gain valuable education at the Southwest Conference. We will again be partnering with the USTA and will have a fun social planned for Friday night. We have many new speakers confirmed. We will have the brochure shortly but registration information is on pages 4 and 5 of this publication. The conference will once again start with a specialty course on Friday morning and end with another specialty course on Sunday morning. There will be a mix of on court and classroom presentations, a general membership meeting, and a national board update. This year’s list of speakers include Tracy Singian, Stan Oley, Greg Prudhomme, Vicki Foster, Kim Bastable and Steve Keller to name a few. I hope you will plan to be at this year’s conference. It really is worth the weekend to learn and grow as a tennis professional. Plus if you need educations credits before the end of the year this is a great way to earn them.
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2019 USPTA/USTA SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE & BUYING SHOW GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE Thursday, May 16 9:00 am - Noon 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location USPTA Testing/PTCA 1 course review USPTA Testing on court
Classroom Tennis Courts
USPTA SW Registration Specialty Course - Don’t Forget about us! Coaching your adult players too! - Scott Mitchell USPTA Testing on court USPTA SW Awards Luncheon Tennis Drills - Greg Prudhomme Leading In A Culture Void of Leadership - Kim Bastable Singles & Doubles Attacking Drills/On Court Tennis Specific Strength Training - John Ross USPTA General Membership Meeting USPTA/ USTA Southwest Dinner Party
College of Business Lobby
Friday, May 17 7:00 am - 4:00 pm 9:00 am -Noon 9:00 am - Finish 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm 1:30 pm - 2:20 pm 2:30 pm - 3:20 pm 3:30 pm - 4:20 pm 4:30 pm - 5:20 pm 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Tennis Courts Tennis Courts Business Building Tennis Courts Classroom Tennis Courts Classroom Canyon Grill 49
Saturday, May 18 7:00 am - 4:00 pm 7:00 am - 8:00 am 8:00 am - 9:20 am
USPTA SW Registration USPTA Committee Meetings (Womens,Diversity, etc.) Solutions To Better Private, Group, And Doubles Lessons Stan Oley (courtesy of Playmate Ball Machines) 9:30 am - 10:50 am Social Media Marketing For The Tennis Professional - Tracy Singian 11:00 am - 11:50 am Insights into the Fast-paced Sport with the Crazy Name - Vicki Foster 12:00 pm - 1:20 pm Lunch/Trade Show/USPTA National Board Presentation 1:30 pm - 2:20 pm Connecting Growth & Development in The Tennis World: What is possible For Juniors-Johnny Parkes - Part 1 2:30 pm - 3:20 pm Putting It Into Action On The Court - Johnny Parkes - Part 2 3:30 pm - 4:20 pm From Red Baller to Pro Baller; How to scale your lessons to any level - Sid Newcomb 4:30 pm - 5:15 pm Net Generation presents Wheelchair Tennis - Kaitlyn Verfuerth 5:20 pm - 6:20 pm Wilson Staff Meeting
College of Business Lobby Canyon Grill 49 Tennis Courts Tennis Courts/Classroom Tennis Courts Business Building Lobby Classroom Tennis Courts Tennis Courts Classroom Classroom
Sunday, May 19 8:00 am - 12:00 pm
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Specialty Course - Net Generation Coaches Workshop - Steve Keller
Tennis Courts
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Mail - In Registration Form 2019 USPTA Southwest Division Annual Conference Registration Form Name _______________________________________________________ USPTA # __________ E-Mail ______________________________________________________ Address__________________________________________________________________ City _______________________________________________ State _____ ZIP _______ Cell Phone # _______________________ PLEASE READ ALL CHOICES CAREFULLY! Early Registration (must be post marked by, April 14, 2019) Rate $149 Advanced Registration (After April 14, 2019 but before May 17, 2019) Rate $169 Walk-in Registration Rate $199 Non USPTA Pro Rate $210 Significant Other (Non USPTA) Rate $100 Specialty Courses Only Rate $100 NEW USPTA Member (Certified in 2018) - FREE Yes, I’m attending the Friday morning Specialty Course - Included Yes, I’m attending the Friday Lunch Award’s Luncheon – Included Yes, I’m attending the Friday Night USPTA/USTA Dinner Party - Included Yes, I’m attending the Saturday Trade Show Luncheon – Included Yes, I’m attending the Sunday morning Specialty Course - Included
On-line registration
You may register for the conference on-line through Ticket Tailor at the link below. It’s easy to use so please give it a try. Just click on the link below to register for the conference. http://buytickets.at/usptasouthwestprofessionaltennisasso/238437.
Southwest Featured Speakers Friday, May 17 8 am - Noon Specialty Course Don’t forget about us! Coaching your adult players too!
Scott Mitchell March 2019
Saturday, May 18 8 am - 9:20 am Solutions To Better Private, Group, And Doubles Lessons
Stan Oley
Sunday, May 19 8 am - Noon Specialty Course Net Generation Coaches Workshop
Steve Keller
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USPTA Southwest Tester Update Gregory Prudhomme - Head Tester
I recently completed my training to become the new USPTA Southwest Head Tester. I have big shoes to fill following in Mark Frampton and Mike VanZutphen’s footsteps as previous Head Testers of the Southwest. I am grateful that Mark spent time with me to share his expertise and I was fortunate to complete one of my final training sessions under USPTA Master Pro, Mike VanZutphen, in Huntington Beach. Larry Lineberry completed his training and is now an official tester in the Southwest for the Northern Arizona area and will be conducting his first USPTA exam in Cottonwood, AZ on April 6th, 2019 at Mingus Union High School. Remember that the USPTA plan for 2020 is to increase the certification requirements so spread the word to your non-USPTA-certified colleagues and assistants that now is a great time to become certified.
2019 USPTA Southwest Certification Dates April 6; Cottonwood, AZ @ Mingus Union High School May 16-17; Phoenix, AZ @ Grand Canyon University June 7-8; Albuquerque, NM @ Tanoan Country Club June 21-22; Tucson, AZ @ Tucson Country Club August 24; Cottonwood, AZ @ Mingus Union High School September 19-10; Tucson, AZ @ Tucson Country Club October 18-19; Albuquerque, NM @ Tanoan Country Club November 30-December 1; Glendale, AZ @ Paseo Racquet Center
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USTA AWARDS USPTA FULL ACCREDITATION TO IMPROVE TENNIS DELIVERY ACROSS THE U.S. ORLANDO, Fla., February 20, 2019 – The United States Tennis Association (USTA) today announced that the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) has received full accreditation under the USTA’s new accreditation program for organizations and institutions that certify U.S. tennis teaching professionals. The goal of the new program is to improve the tennis delivery system in the U.S., by setting mandatory pre- certification standards for the development of those who seek to become a certified teaching pro and providing improved and increased coaching education for all current certified professionals who are members of the USPTA. In 2017, the USTA announced the creation of a tennis coaching accreditation program for organizations and institutions that certify U.S. tennis professionals. The USPTA applied for provisional accreditation in January 2018 and was awarded provisional accreditation in March 2018. Now, the USTA’s Accreditation Review Committee (ARC) has voted to grant the USPTA full accreditation for a period of three years. This makes USPTA the first USTA-accredited tennis-teaching organization. “The quality of tennis delivery in our country is the single most important ingredient to growing tennis participation,” said Gordon Smith, USTA CEO and Executive Director. “In order to attract and retain new and diverse generations of tennis players, we must do everything possible to ensure their on-court experience is of the highest caliber. Raising the standards for teaching professionals in the United States will positively impact players of all ages and abilities.” “We are proud to have achieved full accreditation status from the USTA,” said USPTA president, Gary Trost. “Being fully accredited from the governing body of tennis in the U.S. is a true indication that we are the leaders in tennis-teaching certification.” Moving forward, the USTA and USPTA will collaborate on a wide array of education initiatives. New certification standards will require new USPTA applicants to complete significant experiential learning. This will include on-thejob training along with pre- certification education, online course work and face-to-face workshops. With the shared goal of ensuring that tennis is a safe sport for kids, the USPTA will require all new members to complete the USTA’s SafePlay program, which includes a criminal background screening and education on prevention of misconduct in sport. Now that the USPTA is a fully-accredited teaching organization, USPTA pros will receive a host of benefits, including priority listing on the Net Generation website, as well as a wide array of online and face-to-face education and USTA marketing and promotional opportunities.
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Southeastern Arizona by Bryan Dirk
We’ve experienced some cold nights here in Southern Arizona, but that hasn’t stopped us from playing the game we love. We are continuing to grow our sport from the ground up! Britt Feldhausen reports TCTP has resumed school instruction and its Pueblo High weekend program. The executive director reports stronger than normal retention of players moving from the playground class to weekend play on the full courts at the high school. Britt also had a handful of players play their first tennis matches in the Australian Slam event hosted by Tucson Country Club and Bryan Dirk on January 19th, 2019. Rita Bermudez from the Tucson Racquet Club has started a Specialty Shot Clinic on Monday Nights. Starting at 6:30PM every Monday we work on a different part of your game. Need work on your volleys, serves, slicing, lobbing or singles and doubles strategy? This is the clinic for you! Each week we focus on a specific shot or strategy on the court to make you the well-rounded player you always wanted to be. We offer a wide range of drop in weekly clinics to suit any player or level. All our tennis clinics are posted on our website at tucsonracquetclub.com <http:// tucsonracquetclub.com/> . Charlie Cutler and his Border Youth Program is the real highlight of the season! Charlie’s dedication to our youth programs is a model for all of us to follow. Please click on the links below: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tennis-programbrings-kids-from-both-sides-of-the-border-together/ ?ftag=CNM-00-10aac3a https:www.latioorebels.com/2018/12/11/nogalestennis/ ?bclid=lwAR12W6QypczC61dwx9Dqwcrxvp9g1VS7iVWzAspXogy6ZH MdmNgufOLLg
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SOUTHWEST OFFICERS President Jonathan Davis 520-360-0182 jonpricedavis@hotmail.com Regional VP Dave Moyer 480-342-7240 dmoyer@ccdranch.com Vice President Laurie Martin 480-213-2083 lmartin@ppiarizona.com Secretary Amy Badger 505-379-6728 badger3@me.com Treasurer Suk Ong 602-881-0467 suk_ong@tempe.gov Past President Britt Feldhausen 520-886-1885 brittfeldhausen@mac.comesident Pro Emeritus Mark Frampton 602-952-7234 mframpton22@gmail.com Executive Director Jack Michalko 602-740-0126 usptasw@cox.com
SOUTHWEST COORDINATORS Northern New Mexico Dick Johnson 505-507-6795 richarddjtennis@aol.com Phoenix Greg Prudhomme 602-301-1394 gmprudhomme@yahoo.com Southeastern Arizona Bryan Dirk 310-663-1185 bdirk@tucsoncountryclub.com Northern Arizona Claudette Laliberte 928-300-8702 claiberte1@aol.com Southern New Mexico & El Paso TBD Head Tester Greg Prudhomme 602-301-1394 gmprudhomme@yahoo.com The Southwest Magazine is the official Publication of the USPTA Southwest Division of the United States Professional Tennis Association.
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Phoenix, Arizona by Greg Prudhomme
Hello Southwest USPTA Pros. Happy 2019! I hope you’re all off to a great start and I hope your winter and holiday seasons were excellent. Enjoy the end of winter and best wishes for having a prosperous and enjoyable spring! High school seasons, college seasons, and hopefully all of your facilities and tennis schedules are now in full swing. I look forward to seeing you as spring ends and summer starts at the Southwest USPTA/USTA Conference in May.
USPTA Pro Captain’s Class Carol Sandvig is the well-deserved Captain’s Class honoree for this newsletter. She has been a USPTA member for 30 years and has given much to the sport of tennis in numerous capacities. Carol’s life in tennis began in South Dakota taking city lessons as a youngster. She then went on to earn junior rankings, a high school state championship, and was a member of three national championship teams at Arizona State University. As a coach, Carol was an assistant coach at ASU, she was a head coach at Grand Canyon University earning ITA National Coach of the Year, and she is currently the girls coach at Corona del Sol high school in Tempe where she has been for 20 years. Carol was just recently honored as the National Federation of High School Association Section 7 Coach of the Year, which was voted on by the National High School Sports Committee. Carol has been a very positive influence on her student-athletes for many years and is certainly in the Captain’s Class of USPTA tennis pros. Congratulations, on your award, Carol!
Upcoming Events * 2019 USPTA/USTA Southwest Conference – May 17th to 19th at Grand Canyon University * Remember that local Division 1 college tennis is in full swing. Schedules for Arizona State University and Grand Canyon University can be found at: https://thesundevils.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=1473, https:// thesundevils.com/schedule.aspx?path=mten, https://gculopes.com/schedule.aspx?path=wten , and https:// gculopes.com/schedule.aspx?path=mten
Other News
Mark Pachter, a USPTA Elite Pro and the Director of Racquet Sports at the Troon Country Club, held the 9th Annual Special Olympics Tennis Fun Day in January. The event raised over $18,000 for Special Olympics Arizona and has raised over $153K since its inception. Mark was assisted by area USPTA pros as well as numerous other volunteers. Over 80 Arizona Special Olympians attended the event as well as more than 250 overall attendees. The Special Olympians received a commemorative Tshirt, a free Wilson racquet, an awards luncheon, and gold medals that were presented by Scottsdale Police and page 10
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Firefighters. Mark said “The pure love and joy on the faces of each of our Special Olympians as they stroke the ball brings not only a tear to my eye, but ringing joy in my heart along with the hearts of all of our marvelous volunteers who are the real facilitators of Tennis Fun Day.” Great job to Mark and his volunteers!
USPTA pro, Laurie Martin was recently named the USTA National High School Chairman for a 2-year term by the new USTA President, Patrick Galbraith. Congrats! Additionally, Laurie along with her ATCA team, recently presented the 2nd Annual Arizona Tennis Coaches Association conference. It was a successful event that helped many high coaches to personally and professionally grow.
USPTA pro, Kelsey Lawson, ran an amazing Kids Day with over 70 kids in attendance at a Grand Canyon University women’s tennis match in January. The men’s team and coaching staff from GCU assisted Kelsey in running 8 stations of tennis for the kids followed by pizza and poster making for the match. Remember, please feel free to contact me any time with questions, suggestions, and information for the quarterly Southwest Magazine at gmprudhomme@yahoo.com or 602-301-1394.
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Northern Arizona by Claudette Laliberte
Master Professional, Larry Lineberry, Cottenwood, AZ is now a USPTA tester. He qualified after attending three testing clinics this past fall. He will conduct the first 2019 testing clinic in the SW Division this April 6th in Cottonwood, AZ. Larry will be attending the SWPTA Conference in May and the USPTA World Conference in September. Larry was asked and he agreed to conduct a tennis clinic at his 50th High School reunion this April in Hampton, VA. He is coaching the Mingus Union HS boy’s tennis team in Cottonwood, AZ for the fourth consecutive year this spring. Larry will also be promoting and directing a major tennis event benefiting the Northern Arizona Tennis Association (NAZ) this fall. The event will feature USTA sanctioned adult and junior tournaments and an NTRP tournament all held simultaneously. He is donating his time and all net proceeds will go to growing youth tennis programs in NAZ. Along the way, Larry and wife, Elizabeth, will travel to Hawaii, Montana and Cancun, Mexico throughout 2019. Andrea Meyer, USPTA Professional, Clarkdale, AZ. The high school tennis season has begun in Arizona with practice opening Feb. 4. USPTA professional Andrea Meyer, who continues to coach the Mingus Union HS team after her retirement as an English and PE teacher at the school, is eager to see what her young team can do. “ We graduated all of our top six players last year, but I’m so encouraged by the offseason court time that some of my remaining sopho-
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mores have put in,” she said. Most attended summer clinics taught by USPTA Elite Professional Claudette Laliberte of Sedona, and Master Professional Larry Lineberry, who coaches the MUHS boys’ team. Some girls advanced their skills and met other Northern AZ players at clinics taught by USPTA Professionals David Hibbs and Zach Hackerott of Prescott. Setting up a mini tennis court at lunchtime, one day a week, and running tennis competitions on the cafeteria patio has given tennis a higher profile at Mingus. This has led to several more students coming out for the boys’ and girls’ teams. Meyer deepened her own skills at GCU coach Greg Prudhomme’s annual high school coaches’ clinic on Feb. 2 at Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale. “ Greg’s elucidation of how and what to practice mentally has already been so valuable after just one week of practice, “ Meyer explained . “ My team is so young that they may be the underdogs in every match, but as Greg said, training your players to expect and even welcome adversity turns the whole dynamic around on court. If you train for windy weather, if you train players how to behave when they get bad line calls or are down 1-5, they can find a way out.” Since September Meyer has taught Tennis in the Schools, funded by Northern AZ USTA, at ClarkdaleJerome Elementary. At year’s end, all of their middleschoolers will have been introduced to tennis in their PE classes. She expects to begin teaming with Cottonwood Community School and Dr. Daniel Bright PE teachers as well, this spring, to introduce mini tennis to the students Nicole Williams, USPTA Elite Professional, Flagstaff, AZ Though the winter weather has most Flagstaff tennis players either playing indoor pickleball or hitting the slopes, there are still several passionate tennis players doing their best to keep their racquets swinging. The High School season has just begun, with the first week of practice cancelled due to the snow. USPTA
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professional, Nicole Chambers will be conducting weekly high level coaching sessions to keep some of the area high school students, on top form as they prepared for the start of the tennis season. Northern Arizona University has new staff for its 2019 season with Maciejk and Eva Boguz heading up the men’s and women’s program. They will be holding summer tennis camps for juniors of all ages and levels. All information is available on their NAU website. The Flagstaff Tennis Association volunteered their services to Marshall Elementary’s Family Fitness Night. This was an opportunity for the USTA and local teaching professionals, to showcase their programming for the upcoming spring and summer season. This event took place on Wednesday, February 27th. Claudette Laliberte, USPTA Elite Professional, Sedona, AZ. The beginning of 2019 has been rather slow due to inclement weather and colder temperatures, but, the diehard local Sedona Tennis Community still managed to play a few of their regular sets here and there while dodging the rain snow! The Super Bowl Mixed Doubles Tennis Classic on Feb.1st directed by Claudette was well attended and everyone had a great time on the Poco Diablo Resort tennis courts. Every participant wore their favorite NFL Jersey to compete! Claudette will be hosting a number of these special events during the year to encourage players to have a great time competing at a low key level, and making new friends! Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Az., will once again be having their Nike Adult Tennis Camps. This years’ camps will be held the weekends of May 17-19th, and October 25-27th. These camps include 10 hours of tennis, 2 daily lunches, and a world class wine pairing dinner with the Resorts’ Head Chef and Sommelier, and many more offerings. The cost is $595.00 per person, and does not include accommodations.
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Northern New Mexico by Dick Johnson
We have all survived a very cold winter and for most of us pros, warm weather cannot come quickly enough. I was very encouraged with the big turnout we had at the Net Generation elementary school workshop (40 +) and the high school coaches workshop (35+). It has been exciting to meet with the elementary school teachers that are on board with Net Generation. A huge thank you to David Pitts, Director of Tennis, at Tanoan Country Club who is allowing both my varsity and junior varsity teams to use his beautiful facility. I am looking forward to testing some new USPTA applicants on June 8-9. Please pass the word on to any of your assistants who are ready to test. Thank you everyone. Let’s hope 2019 is spectacular. I am looking forward to our conference in May at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. Amy Badger reported that she started the year off in Phoenix as a Net Generation Early Development Camp Coach for our Southwest selected range ball players. She is very excited to begin her 20th season as Albuquerque Academy Girls Varsity Head Coach. Recently Amy was appointed to the USTA Local Play and Competition National Committee. She had one conference call already and she said it was fantastic to hear from some of the country’s most ardor and passionate supporters of grassroots tennis. Amy was Invited to Orlando for the Net Generation Symposium being held at the USTA National Campus. It’s USPTA Awards nomination time. We have so many fantastic teaching professionals that are active and deserving of nomination. Please take a moment and complete a nomination form and email to Amy. Warren Fulgenzi of Las Vegas, NM has four RHS grads playing college tennis. Jenese Fulgenzi at continued on page 14
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NMMI- JC, Jaci Fulgenzi at Western New Mexico- D2, Brandelyn Fulgenzi at University of the Incarnate WordD1 and Warren Fulgenzi atUniversity of the Incarnate Word- D1. Wow that is some accomplishment! Warren reports that the Robertson Lady Cardinals will be looking to secure their sixth consecutive team state title this year. They will have a fairly young team returning and led by junior, Lauren Fulgenzi, 3-time girl’s state doubles champion. The roster also includes: senior Taylor Jackson, senior Marissa Sent, senior Cailyn Marrujo, junior Bailey Duran, freshman Mickey Sent, and freshman Carli Marrujo. They hope to compete in the new classification. The Robertson boys team return its full lineup from last year state runner-up squad: Nico Fulgenzi, freshman, returning state double champion Gabe Gregory, senior, returning doubles state champion Andres Garcia, senior, returning state single runner-up Dylan Moore, junior, state singles quarter finalist Mike Yara, and junior, second year Pecos Jackson, sophomore, newcomer this year. They will be competing in a new classification this year with New Mexico powerhouse, Albuquerque Academy. It should be a great experience. John Damgaard in Santa Fe oversees fourteen NTRP teams and is starting his pre-season High School tryouts at Desert Academy. Thank you John and best of luck in the spring. In the last newsletter, Doug MacCurdy mentioned that he was headed to Kep City, Cambodia for the first Trans Asia Pacific Tennis Summit in early December, organized by the GPTCA, the coaching organization of the ATP Tour. It ended up being a great experience. Doug had not been to Cambodia previously and found the country and its people fascinating. Kep is on the Southeast tip of Cambodia on a shallow bay. Once the beach getaway for rich colonials, it is now a pretty laid back place with crab shacks, small hotels and bungalows. At low tide you could probably walk over to Vietnam. American coach/ writer Robert Davis directed the Summit. The reason he chose Kep is that he lives on a farm in Kep when he is not coaching on the tour. It had always been a dream of his to develop the game in Kep. The Summit helped. Plans have now been drawn up for a six-court facility for both top player training and grass roots development, under the auspices of the Cambodian Tennis Federation. It was an unlikely spot for a tennis Trans Asia Summit, but those that made the journey to get there, from as far
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away as New Jersey, will not soon forget the experience. A number of professional players have come to Kep for off-season training in previous years- all of it done on one court. The new facility should usher in a whole new era for tennis in Cambodia. The second edition of the summit is in the planning stages. Doug will be returning to Cambodia; Pat Cash and MacCurdy will also be conducting a second edition of the summit in China. Dave Shambach of Rio Rancho, New Mexico considers himself a grateful coach, recreational and private tennis instructor. He is grateful to USPTA’s Dick Johnson for helping him to land a position as the Boys’ Varsity Tennis Coach at Rio Rancho High School in 2017. He is also grateful to his mom, Julia, who passed away in January under Hospice care. She and his late dad Art started the four Shambach brothers playing tennis in the Western Region of the eastern division back in the 1960’s. Those who remember her speak fondly of how she was a large part of making tennis a vibrant entity in Lockport, New York and how Dave’s parents were a part of leagues in suburban Buffalo for many years. She played tennis until her late 80’s. Dave continues their tradition by also teaching and working with the staff of the City of Rio Rancho Parks and Recreation Program in its spring, summer, and fall instruction seasons. He also played in his second USTA league, a 40 and over men’s double league, in the fall. Finally, he is grateful to the leadership of the Northern New Mexico USTA organization, for their active leadership in supporting high school, middle school, and recreational tennis in the Albuquerque area.
www.facebook.com/USPTASouthwest
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Drawing of a Lawn Tennis court as originally designed by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield in 1874.
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The origins of tennis by Gary Belsky and Neil Fine
“‘Stick and ball’ begat ‘racket and ball.’ First, though, the sport we know as tennis had to wend its way through ‘hand and ball.’ Hints of a game in which the palm was used as the means of knocking a projectile back and forth date to the second century BC. More specific evidence suggests a germ of tennis emerged around the year AD 1000. European monks played a courtyard game called jeu de paume (game of the hand) behind the walls of their medieval monasteries. It is thought that the good brothers were apt to warn opponents of an imminent serve by yelling, ‘Tenez,’which means ‘to take’ — as in,’Are you ready to take my serve?’ The name ‘tennis’ likely springs from these etymological roots. “Over the next centuries, the game evolved — for example, gloves were donned to protect the hands — and was adopted by the nobility. Elaborate indoor courts were soon being built in manor houses and palaces across Europe. The most familiar features of tennis (court, net, that weird scoring system, and — because a blue blood’s palm is at least as delicate as a monk’s — the tennis racket) can be traced to the indoor game that bloomed on the Continent around the middle of the fourteenth century. “Played exclusively indoors — often in palaces, no less — tennis was mostly a rich man’s game. (The homes of regular folks just didn’t have that kind of space.) And it might very well have stayed that way if not for the ingenuity of two Englishmen. On August 31, 1830, Edwin Beard Budding of Stroud, in Gloucestershire, received a patent for the first lawn mower, an invention that meant grass could be cut shorter and more uniformly than had previously been possible with sickle and scythe. Suddenly, the back gardens of England’s emerging middle class were ideal locales for a spate of new sports such as lawn bowls and croquet. Around the 1860s, croquet — with its restrictive rules and slow pace — began to lose its new-toy luster, particularly among members of the younger generation who were looking for something more athletic and challenging. “Walter Clopton Wingfield sensed an opportunity. The retired and well-connected army captain filled the need in 1873 by marketing to the world a product called Sphairistike — Greek for ‘skill with the ball.’ (Others in England at the time were reacquainting themselves with the ancient game, but it was Wingfield who rushed the net.) His portable kit featured a net, rackets adapted from the indoor version, an india rubber ball, and instructions for laying out an hourglass — shaped playing area replete with baselines and service boxes that could accommodate two to four participants at a time. The new game was an instant hit, although the name proved a harder sell. Within a year, Wingfield’s friend Arthur Balfour, the future British prime minister, convinced him to reclaim its original one. (The court shape wouldn’t last, either.) Thus was lawn tennis born, and with it one of the game’s three primary court surfaces. Today one of the sport’s four Grand Slam events is played on grass at Wimbledon, aka the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (the sports were reversed in the name back then) — where the first tournament was played in 1877. The rules of the game were standardized a year later. Wingfield, to his credit, made no claim to having ‘invented’ a new game. “His patent application specifically stated he was merely trying to simplify ‘the ancient game of tennis’ so it could be played in the ‘open air.’ Unfortunately, despite his efforts to remake the scoring system to one based on 15 ‘aces,’ or points, that 15, 30, 40 weirdness survives.”
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USTA News PROFESSIONAL EVENTS COME TO ARIZONA THIS WINTER With four professional events in the span of about two months in 2019, Arizona is the place to be to see up-andcoming young tennis talent. The Westward Look $15K Pro Tennis Classic was be held February 11-17 at the newly-renovated Westward Look Wyndham Grand Resort. This men’s event was an ITF World Tennis Tour tournament offering ITF World Tennis ranking points, with a large chunk of the competitors ranked among the top 600 in the world. This is the second of two events at Westward Look in 2019. The facility hosted a $25K event earlier in January. The City of Surprise Tennis Classic, a women’s $25K USTA Pro Circuit and ITF World Tennis Tour event, was also held the week of February 11-17 at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz. This year marked the 11th year of the tournament, which boasted current world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, US Open champion Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, and Genie Bouchard as past alumni of the event. The Arizona Tennis Classic - a men’s professional $150K event - will be held at Phoenix Country Club March 11-17. This will be an ATP Challenger level tournament with players appearing that are ranked inside the Top 100 in the world. This is the first year of this event, with all proceeds benefiting Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and the field should be excellent as the event runs concurrent with the second week of the BNP Paribas Open in Palm Springs. That means there is a chance first-round losers at that event could be among those in the field in Phoenix. For ticket information and more details about this event, visit www.arizonatennisclassic.com or call 602.248.8181 NET GENERATION NEEDS USPTA TEACHING PRO INFORMATION ONLINE Collective groups from the tennis industry launched www.netgeneration.com more than a year ago and one thing that is still missing on the comprehensive youth tennis site is USPTA teaching professional information and the programs they teach. Without this information included on the site, a critical link in the pathway to learning and playing the game, is missing. Given the current climate of youth sports in America, the background check to become a part of Net Generation is also a thing that helps our instructors stand out as true professionals and ensures a measure of safety for all those that teach youth players. The NetGeneration.com site has endeavored to be the one-stop shop for all things junior tennis in America, and it’s not going away. It will be the standard. It is the ONLY site we send all parents to when they ask about youth tennis in our areas. The site contains a repository of information on youth tennis for everyone, from age-appropriate equipment recommendations for parents to teaching lesson plans for instructors, as well as ready-made marketing materials for providers to promote their programs. page 18
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What it’s desperately lacking is a list of NetGeneration-approved teaching professionals on the site for consumers to connect with when they pull up their area in a search. We at the USTA are: - wholeheartedly recommending teaching pros finish the process of becoming a NetGeneration approved teaching professional - complete the background check - list their programs on the site Currently there are 226 USPTA teaching professionals in the Southwest, only 72 of whom are actually registered on NetGeneration. Even more disconcerting, only a couple of handfuls have actually listed their programs on NetGeneration.com. That is what consumers see on the website, so what they’re seeing is only a small sliver of what’s available to them, and that’s not good for any of us in the industry. The onus is on USPTA pros to complete their registration and we are absolutely here to help you complete this step! Contact Jackie Marx at marx@southwest.usta.com for more information on how to become NetGeneration approved and get your program’s info up and listed. BORDER YOUTH TENNIS EXCHANGE APPEARS ON CBS NEWS THIS MORNING Border Youth Tennis Exchange (BYTE), a National Junior Tennis Learning chapter located on the Arizona/Mexico border in Nogales, received some amazing press coverage when they were featured on CBS News this Morning’s show on Saturday, February 2. The two-minute spot highlighted the novelty of the program, which works with kids on both sides of the US-Mexico border, teaching them tennis and life skills. To check out the spot, visit the link here: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/tennisprogram-brings-kids-from-both-sides-of-the-border-together/ KIDS’ DAYS COME TO COLLEGE CAMPUSES USTA Southwest, in conjunction with several of the college tennis squads in our area, are putting on USTA Campus Kids’ Days this spring to showcase the teams in their communities and have a fun, kid-focused event to highlight local tennis offerings. Kids under 12 years of age are invited to attend these fun days that often are carnival-like atmospheres with the college teams, include food, prizes and other games. For NCAA Compliance reasons, kids older than 12 can not attend. For more on these Kids’ Days events, contact Jackie Marx at marx@southwest.usta.com
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KIDSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; DAY SCHEDULE - 2019 March 30: University of Arizona men vs Arizona State men (Tucson, AZ), 11 am - 1 pm April 6: University of Texas El Paso women vs. UT-Tyler women (El Paso, TX), 10 am - noon April 13: Arizona State men vs University of Utah men, (Tempe, AZ) 11 am - 1 pm FIRST ROUND OF SOUTHWEST COMMUNITY GRANTS GIVEN OUT USTA Southwest recently announced the first wave of Community Grants given out to organizations for early 2019. Most of these were for equipment or other aspects to sustain, continue or develop new programs. Congrats to these organizations: - Carlsbad NJTL - Copper Sun Tennis - Covering the Court Kids Tennis Club Program - Limitless Performance - Border Youth Tennis Exchange - Sandia High School girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tennis - USTA Southern New Mexico Junior Slam Series - Tucson Jewish Community Center Organizations can apply at any point throughout the year for potential funding, and are encouraged to go through the process. Click the link below for the grant application or copy/paste this link into your browser: https://form.jotform.com/USTASouthwest/GrantApp
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A Publication of the USPTA Southwest Division Jack Michalko / editor 77 East Missouri Avenue, Suite 62, Phoenix, AZ 85012 602-740-0126 / e-mail: usptasw@cox.net The Southwest Magazine is published quarterly by the Southwest Division of the United States Professional Tennis Association. The opinions expressed in the Southwest Magazine are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Southwest Magazine or the USPTA Southwest Division. CopyrightŠ Southwest Division/United States Professional Tennis Association, Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this newsletter is not permitted without written permission from the USPTA Southwest Division. Advertising information: All ads must be camera ready and in color if possible. Prices are per issue. Full Page.............$150 Half Page............$100 1/4 Page..............$70
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