Posts tagged parenting

High School Tennis Revisited

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6 days ago
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Last year, about this time, I was writing regularly about my son’s experience on his high school tennis team – the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

However, due to some ridiculous eligibility rule changes by the Georgia High School Association (GHSA), my son did not play for his school team this year.  It was HIS choice, don’t get me wrong, but, basically, our state governing body made it very unattractive for any high-level players to join their high school teams this year – to summarize, the rule said that a player lost eligibility if he or she trained for his/her sport during stated school hours.  For my son and many other tennis players, their school hours are modified in such a way as to include “zero period” and online classes so they More >

Happy Mother’s Day

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1 week ago
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Those three kiddos in the photo above belong to me and have taught me more about life than I ever thought I could learn. 

This morning, I read the following in an email from Janis Meredith of JBMThinks and wanted to share it with y’all.  I think she does a great job of recognizing the challenges of parenting!

Happy Mother’s Day!

I hope you moms feel loved and I hope you dads make sure Mom feels loved.

But even in the midst of being appreciated, moms and dads can feel overwhelmed with the parenting job, and you may ever wonder if you will get this parenting thing figured out.

You might be thinking with all the rest of us, I’ll probably get the hang of it the day my my kids leave home!

My youngest turns 20 in a couple of weeks. I should More >

Now What?

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1 month ago
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The 2014 changes to the junior competition calendar are all but a done deal.  The Powers That Be at USTA, despite our best efforts, have decided they (not parents, not coaches, not the players themselves) know what’s best for our young players and have slashed competitive opportunities at the national level by a huge margin.  So, now what?

Add to the mix the fact that several USTA sections have also adopted a rather Draconian policy for the 10-and-unders and 12-and-unders, forcing them onto the ROG path, making it so they have to play all the way up in the 14s if they want to play with a yellow ball on a full-size court.  If you haven’t already, be sure to listen to the free podcast of my radio show with Lawrence Roddick (Andy’s older More >

Another Giant Step

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1 month ago
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This past weekend was another giant step in my Tennis Parent Journey.  My son drove himself to a tournament.  Out of town.  About 2 hours from home.  While my husband and I were at a family reunion out of state.

Now, before you start thinking I am totally out of my mind, please know that I enlisted the support of a Fellow Tennis Mom to be on call for my son.  She and her son were staying at the same hotel as my kid.  She was in charge of checking my son into his room and making sure he had his key.  Her son was playing in the same age division as my kid.  And the boys go to school together.  (And I now owe her a very nice bottle of wine!)

As my husband and I left our house and headed to the airport, I made a mental list . . . Had I More >

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (with a tennis flair)

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5 months ago
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Twas the nite before Christmas and out on the courts was a jolly fat man in red tennis shorts

The sweat socks were hung in the pro shop with care and the racquets were strung with a Christmasy flair

The players were snuggled all safe in their beds While visions of passing shots Danced in their heads.

They dreamed about tiebreakers love sets and aces Wimbledon, Forest Hills, All kinds of places

Whatever the setting Wherever the scene with Pancho or Stan or perhaps Billy Jean

A fast match with Bobby with pre warm-up- rituals for winner-take-all (plus TV residuals)

When out through the night there arose such a clatter I put on my sneakers to find out the matter

And there on the court was the source of the trouble ‘Twas Santa and 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 >

URGENT: USTA 2014 Jr Comp Update

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6 months ago
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I got word from a parent in the Mid-Atlantic section of a meeting being held this Saturday (November 17th) at which Lew Brewer of USTA will be discussing the proposed changes to the junior competition schedule.  This may be THE “listening meeting” for that section, so I urge all parents and coaches in the area to attend and report any significant news to the rest of us via the Comments section on this post or via our Facebook page.

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