Posts tagged tennis parents

When College Coaches Are Watching

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2 weeks ago
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As if competing in a tennis tournament weren’t tough enough, how does a junior player handle the added pressure of playing when he/she knows a college coach is watching?

Now that my son is finishing his sophomore year of high school, he’s going to be facing these situations the remainder of his junior tennis career.  Even if the coach is there to watch his opponent and not necessarily him, my son still needs to be prepared to handle that extra piece of the puzzle.  In hopes of giving him the tools he needs, I spoke with Ross Greenstein of Scholarship for Athletes and asked him to share his wisdom and knowledge about what coaches look for out there.  I also spoke with University of Maryland Baltimore County Head Tennis Coach, Rob More >

Too Much Generalizing, In General

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3 weeks ago
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I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m getting awfully tired of reading and hearing all the sweeping generalizations made about junior tennis players and their parents.  Not all junior players are spoiled, entitled brats.  Not all tennis parents are pushy, overbearing brutes.  There are plenty of sweet, well-grounded, hard-working, focused kids out there with parents who support and encourage those positive traits.

Yes, I know the bad ones rear their ugly heads from time to time – we all have our War Stories to share in this regard – but why all the generalizations?

I was talking with a good friend of mine recently, and she flat out told me that she encouraged her daughter to quit tennis and to play a different sport because “tennis More >

Action Steps & Why I’m Going to Take Them

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5 months ago
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Given that it seems to be crunch time with the last-minute scheduling of the first two “listening” meetings, I have spent countless hours over the past few days going over the proposed changes to the 2014 junior competition schedule, talking to very experienced people about them, and trying to understand the “why” behind them. I have come to the conclusion that, tennis-wise, there is nothing in the proposal that helps our kids and plenty that has the potential to hurt them. So, I am choosing to tell USTA in no uncertain terms that I want them to throw out the proposed changes – just get rid of them entirely – and start over. Use the research and data that the Junior Competition Committee has been collecting over the past two years to help More >

Parent/Coach Speaking Points for USTA Listening Meetings

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5 months ago
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I am working on compiling a list of speaking points that we can all use when attending the USTA listening meetings.  As you know, the next meeting is this Saturday, November 24th, in Rocky Hill, CT – for those of you in the area, please try to make it and, if you’re so inclined, give the rest of us a de-briefing afterward.

What I am hearing from USTA is that we need to present clear, detailed alternatives to the proposed junior competition changes.  These meetings were created as an opportunity for those in attendance to voice well-thought-out ideas that will improve junior tennis for our kids.  My hope is that those of us in the proverbial trenches can come together and show USTA a better way of doing business on behalf of our young More >

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