Posts tagged competitive tennis

Official Statement from USTA

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2 months ago
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I just received the following via email from Lew Brewer:

The Junior Competition & Sportsmanship Committee of the USTA had a positive and productive meeting in Dallas from February 26 to February 28 regarding the 2014 National Junior Competitive Structure.   During this meeting the committee reviewed feedback received at the Listening Sessions and the Letusknow.com e-mail address. This included comments from key stakeholders including parents, coaches and players, tournament directors, teaching professionals, college coaches, USTA sections and other tennis constituents.   The proposed changes developed during this meeting were unanimously approved by the committee and will be presented to USTA National and Section Leadership on or about More >

The Curse of Passion

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2 months ago
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For the past several weeks, my son has decided to become a Full-Fledged Teenager.  Those of you who have been-there-done-that know exactly what I mean . . . snarky attitude, disinterested facial expression, limited eye contact.  And, it’s mostly been directed at me.  I guess because I’m the one around him the majority of the time.

I’ve been through the Snarky Teenager thing twice before, so you’d think I’d have it down pat.  You’d be wrong.

When you have a passionate personality, your passion doesn’t just limit itself to the things where it can be beneficial.  Oh no!  Your passion permeates pretty much everything you do, including your child-rearing methods.  It would be so much easier on ALL of us if I could just chalk my son’s sass (can More >

My Dilemma

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2 months ago
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Lately, I’ve been really torn between covering the 2014 junior competition changes for everyone versus writing about the things that are really important to me personally, like my day-to-day experiences with my son – which is the reason behind this blog to begin with.  I’m hoping that the 2014 stuff will be resolved soon so I can get back to what I really want to share with y’all . . . my tennis journey with my own child.

But, I feel like as long as the 2014 changes have a chance of being revamped or paused or (dare I say it?) overturned, I need to keep writing about them and keeping y’all informed so we can all take whatever action is necessary to create the best competitive tennis environment for our children.  I wish USTA were doing a More >

Notes From 9th and Final Listening Meeting in Texas

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3 months ago
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USTA Folks in Attendance:
  • Bill Mountford
  • Dave Haggerty
  • Lew Brewer, though he arrived a bit late and stayed mostly at the back of the room.

The following information is a conglomeration of several emails that I received after the meeting. If you were there and have something to add, please do so in the Comments below.

Sadly, attendance was rather small, but those in attendance seemed to be fully aware of the changes and were fully engaged in the discussion.

The initial issue that came up was in regards to why the USTA is reducing the number of national tournaments. The conversation started with traditional schooling and the desire to try and reduce the number of days players will miss. A few of the parents voiced their disagreement More >

All Sections Are NOT Created Equal

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3 months ago
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Voting within USTA is much like the Electoral College system in the US federal government.  All USTA sections are not created equal.  Apparently, size DOES matter.

That said, and as was suggested by Scott Schultz at the listening meeting in Los Angeles, it is still crucial that we all continue to reach out to our Section Presidents (click here for a list of Sections, 2013 Presidents, and contact info where available) and ask them to vote for a pause on the 2014 changes to the junior competition calendar.  It is our best hope for getting the result that many of us have been working toward for the past year or so – to see the USTA Junior Competition & Sportsmanship Committee take the 2014 plan, push the pause button, seek input from those More >

Notes From 8th Listening Meeting in Los Angeles

21
3 months ago
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USTA Folks in Attendance:
  • Scott Schultz
  • Bill Mountford
  • Lew Brewer
  • Ellen Ehlers
  • Greg Hickey – SoCal President
  • Michael Cooke – NorCal President

I’m happy to report that I have heard from several folks who attended last night’s meeting in Los Angeles, and that there was once again overwhelming opposition to the 2014 changes.

There were 61 attendees including several parents, coaches, USTA representatives, and even a tennis journalist.   Some people who had planned to be there didn’t make it because they thought it was at UCLA (I’m not sure how or why they had incorrect information regarding the meeting location).  School-night traffic on the LA freeways made it impossible for some parents to get there, but, still, 61 people came.

During the More >

If This Doesn’t Convince You . . .

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5 months ago
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Spreadsheet Links

2014 National comparison with 2009 and 2012 -with teams

2014 National comparison with 2009 and 2012 -Individual entries-No Teams

The two spreadsheets above were created by Robert Sasseville, a member of the group that met with the USTA folks in Chicago in October.  Robert has run the Girls 14s Nationals for the past 30 years and has been involved in junior tennis in some way, shape, or form for over 40 years, so he’s seen the evolution of the competition calendar and ranking system over a long enough period of time to understand clearly how the 2014 changes will impact our junior players.

The first link shows a comparison between the 2014 national competition opportunities and those in 2012 and 2009, including the new More >

Notes from 2nd USTA Town Hall Listening Meeting Nov 24, 2012

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5 months ago
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The following information was emailed to me by Jason Lampione – tennis coach, mentor, and writer – who was in attendance at the Rocky Hill, CT, “listening” meeting held by USTA.  These are simply Jason’s notes taken during the meeting – he will be compiling his own analysis of them over the next day or so which I will then post on ParentingAces for you to read.  

This second meeting was led by incoming USTA President Dave Haggerty and USTA Chief Executive of Community Tennis Kurt Kamperman and was attended by 30-40 (exact number unknown) parents and coaches.  I have inserted my comments in italics at the end of certain bullet points below.  

USTA released a statement via email to some key people after the meeting – that statement is posted More >

Notes from First USTA Town Hall Listening Meeting Nov 17, 2012

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6 months ago
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The following information was emailed to me by a parent who was in attendance at the Reston, VA, “listening” meeting held by USTA.  I am reprinting it exactly as it was sent to me.  Please read and share with other tennis parents and coaches so our voices will be heard.  Thank you.

USTA Town Hall Meeting

11/17/2012

Mid-Atlantic Annual Meeting — Reston, VA

Representing the USTA:       Lew Brewer, Director Junior Competition

Scott Schultz, Managing Director, Youth Tennis

Scott Schultz (SS):            Introduction

wants to really listen and wants participants to leave feeling like they have listened

This is 1st town hall meeting

This is not about kids going pro.  These proposed changes affect critical group of kids:  those who devote the More >

Reblog from ZooTennis.com: First USTA Town Hall Listening Meeting

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6 months ago
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The following is copied directly from today’s ZooTennis.com’s post – clicking on the link will take you to the complete post.

The first USTA Junior Competition Town Hall Listening meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, November 17, at the Sheraton Hotel in Reston Virginia. Lew Brewer is scheduled to speak at the Mid-Atlantic section’s annual meeting and awards luncheon with the topic “Understanding the Upcoming Changes to the Junior Tournament Structure.” This gives the impression that the changes are a done deal, which was not my understanding from the statement after the October Tennis Industry meeting in Chicago, but I could be misinterpreting the above title or the statement. For more, see this post from Parenting Aces.

There More >

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