Posts tagged Patrick McEnroe

“If You Don’t Like Us, Find A Way To Get Rid Of Us!”

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1 month ago
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“If you don’t like us, find a way to get rid of us!”  That was Patrick McEnroe’s response to a parent’s question regarding the 2014 Junior Competition Changes at last summer’s Girls 12 Nationals in Atlanta, and it was really the beginning of my extensive coverage of the new calendar that USTA was planning to implement beginning January 1, 2014.

Now that the calendar changes have been finalized and approved at the National Board level, I figured I should do a sort-of recap of the process around the changes and how they came to be . . .

  • Some time in 2011: Jon Vegosen, then president of USTA, charged his Junior Competition Committee (JCC) to devise a new national tournament schedule.  Please note that the JCC was chaired by Tim Russell, a More >

USTA Follow-Up

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9 months ago
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The rules have changed all right, and it’s not just for the 10-and-under crowd.  I recently reported on the Q&A sessions that USTA hosted at various national hardcourt championships earlier this month.  As promised in that piece, I reached out to Tim Russell, Patrick McEnroe, Lew Brewer, and others to get a better understanding of what USTA is trying to accomplish with its changes to the 2014 Junior Competition schedule.  I emailed them the link to my article along with some specific follow-up questions.  While Patrick did reply that he would call me to discuss my questions, I haven’t yet heard from him.  However, I did have multiple lengthy phone conversations with both Tim Russell and Lew Brewer – a big thank you to both gentlemen for More >

To Sum It All Up . . .

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9 months ago
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It’s been a crazy week in the world of junior tennis!  In case you’re feeling as overwhelmed as I am, I thought I’d summarize what’s going on and my recommended action items.

  • USTA has adopted changes to its Junior Competition calendar that will become effective in 2014. If you haven’t yet seen it, the new 2014 tournament calendar is here. Some interested parties who feel that the changes should, at the very least, be delayed for further study, have created an online petition and are seeking signatures. If you would like to view and/or sign this petition, click here.
  • NCAA has passed new rules affecting its year-end Championships effective September 1, 2012, for the Spring 2013 tournament.  The rules are purported to be in the interest More >

Tennis Parents & Coaches: Please Read!

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9 months ago
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The following is an email that I received this morning from Robert Sasseville who runs several junior tournaments in the Southern Section.  Please take the appropriate action and feel free to pass along to others who want to be informed.  Thank you!

It was great having you in Rome for the GA Jr. Open.  I hope you had an enjoyable time.

With 650 players, 7 sites, and 4 days to play it, we didn’t get much of a chance to chat.  If we had, I’m sure the 2014 National Tournament Schedule would have been at the top of the list of things to discuss.

Since we had players from 13 sections, 24 states, and the District of Columbia, many of you are interested in play outside of your hometown, home state, and home section.  This aspect of competition is More >

What’s Really Going On?

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9 months ago
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Patrick McEnroe (General Manager of Player Development) – along with both Lew Brewer (Director of Junior Competition) and Kent Kinnear (Director of Player ID & Development) – has been at both the Boys and Girls 12-and-Under National Hardcourt tournaments this week holding Q&A sessions with parents and coaches.  The main purpose of these sessions was to discuss the 2014 changes coming to the national junior competition schedule.  Click here to listen to the session held in Atlanta recorded by our friends at High-Tech Tennis (Julie & Danny do apologize for the poor audio – the tournament site was bustling with players, parents, and tourney officials!).

I’ve listened to the session, read lots of comments from other parents and coaches, and More >

Random Thoughts on Hannity vs. USTA

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10 months ago
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I’m guessing you’ve all read Sean Hannity’s blog post regarding the changes to the national junior comp schedule that will become effective in 2014.  I’m guessing you’ve all read Patrick McEnroe’s and Tim Russell’s replies, too, as well as Mr. Hannity’s rebuttal.  I’ve read endless commentary on this heated debate on the various blogs and Facebook groups and message boards I frequent and tried to process everything written – it’s a lot to take in!

Given that my son isn’t yet playing at the national level and, therefore, isn’t immediately affected by these changes, I’m not sure anyone really cares what I have to say on the subject.  However, in the name of research, I did have two rather lengthy phone conversations with Tim Russell and More >

Sean Hannity’s Letter & USTA’s Response

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10 months ago
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On June 26, 2012, political analyst Sean Hannity posted a letter on his blog addressed to USTA concerning the revised national competition schedule for junior players. Today, I received an email from Timothy Russell, Chair of USTA’s Junior Competition Committee. Links to Mr. Hannity’s post as well as USTA’s response are below:

Sean Hannity’ Blog http://www.hannity.com/article/sean-s-analysis-on-usta/15702

Patrick McEnroe’s Response http://www.usta.com/Youth-Tennis/Junior-Competition/patrick_mcenroes_response_to_sean_hannitys_analysis_on_usta/

Timothy Russell’s Response http://assets.usta.com/assets/1/25/Sean_Hannity_response_July_5_2012.pdf

NOTE:  I have updated formatting for the links so you should be able to click on them now.  Sorry More >

What Are College Coaches Really Looking For?

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1 year ago
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My son has dreamed of playing college tennis since he was 9 years old.  That’s the summer he first went to tennis camp at the University of Georgia.  That’s the summer he got to be on the court with not only the head coach and assistant coach but, more importantly for him at that age, the guys who actually played on the team!  He came home from that first 5-day experience with a new-found commitment to tennis and a goal that has stuck with him ever since.

So, as any dedicated Tennis Parent would do, I started educating myself about college tennis and what it takes to get one of a very few coveted positions on the team.  I read articles.  I spoke to parents who had already been-there-done-that.  I googled NCAA and read up on the rules.  More >

Wayne Bryan vs. USTA

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1 year ago
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For those of you trying to follow the extensive back-and-forth between Wayne Bryan, father of doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan, and Patrick McEnroe, Head of Player Development for the USTA, I have included links below to all of the communications I have seen to date.  If you know of additional letters and/or emails and/or articles, please post a link to them in the Comments box below.

I would like to point out that there have been some extremely well-though-out comments made to many of the original posts, so please do take the time to read through them as well.

If you are the parent or coach of an American junior tennis player, I think it is imperative that you educate yourself on what’s happening with our governing body and the More >

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