Tennis Manitoba: February 2013

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

Tennis Manitoba looks to hire Community Development Manager

Looking for a career in sports? Tennis Manitoba may have an opportunity for you.

We are currently looking to hire a Community Development Manager to help run tennis programs in schools, community clubs, as well as with our member tennis clubs. The position combines program administration, communications, as well as some on court entry level tennis instruction.

Tennis Manitoba hopes to have the position filled by April 15, 2013. Those interested in applying for the position should submit cover letter and resume by Friday, March 22, 2013. For additional position details, click here.

Monday, 25 February 2013

Tennis Manitoba announces board members for 2013

At its Annual General Meeting recently held on February 23rd, Tennis Manitoba welcomed back five board members who will be returning to serve a second term. They are:

Barry McArton
Marni Miller
David Scrapneck
Bruce Waschuk
Glen Ziprick.

Board members currently serving a second year of a two year term are:

David Blatt
Mohamed Ismath
Heath Vermette.

Tennis Manitoba would like to thank outgoing director, Trevor Skidmore, for his commitment to the tennis community in our province. During the past year Trevor chaired Tennis Manitoba's Community Development committee, and was responsible for leading several new initiatives in 2012.

The board of directors is responsible for leading the administration and governance of Tennis Manitoba for a combination of one and two year terms. At the next board meeting, the directors will appoint an executive as well as committee chairs. Tennis Manitoba is actively seeking more volunteers to get involved at a committee level. Please contact Tennis Manitoba if you are interested in helping out with one of these areas:

The Community Development committee implements programs aimed at attracting new players to the sport. This includes the schools program, Building Tennis Communities initiative and parks and recreation programs.

The Competitive Structures committee oversees the sanctioned tournament schedule, officiating programs, rankings, and leagues.

The Player Development committee (formerly High Performance) deals with issues pertaining to junior and senior nationals, Canada Summer Games, provincial team programs, and coaching development.

The Resource Development committee plans communications and fundraising strategies to promote tennis in Manitoba. This includes the website, newsletters, magazines, and sponsorship programs.

Thursday, 21 February 2013

College tennis spring season update

Evann Waschuk of the Bellarmine University Knights

A big shoutout goes to our Manitoba students who claimed match wins during the opening weeks of the NCAA spring tennis season.

Evann Waschuk with Bellarmine University women's tennis was able to get wins at the No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles positions, in an 7-2 win over Campbellsville University. More at http://ow.ly/hVfxK

Alan Gardiner has started with a very hot hand, picking up two wins for Bellarmine University men's team vs. University of the Cumberlands (story at http://ow.ly/hVgkn ), as well as two wins vs. Campbellsville University, St. Catharine College and Brescia University. More at http://ow.ly/hVgUk

Sean Bailey helped Austin Peay State University men's tennis team get off to a good start, picking up match wins at No. 1 singles and doubles in their season opener against Chattanooga. (Story at http://ow.ly/hVhqs) Sean was also able to duplicate his efforts for the Govs home opener vs. Southern Illinois. More at http://ow.ly/hVhUP

Clarissa Chen provided the Robert Morris University women's tennis team with No. 3 singles wins vs. Mercyhurst (http://ow.ly/hVij4) and Niagara, as well as picking up a No. 1 doubles win vs. St. Bonaventure. More at http://ow.ly/hViUA

Aleksandra Ochrymowicz helped her St. Scholastica women's tennis team defeat Hamline University 9-0, picking up a match win in the No. 6 singles position. More at http://ow.ly/hVk3f

Alex Lesiuk was able to get a win at No. 3 singles as Colorado State University-Pueblo took on the defending RMAC champs Western New Mexico University. More at http://ow.ly/hVjCb

For a listing of Tennis Manitoba college updates, visit facebook.com\tennismanitoba

Friday, 15 February 2013

2013 Tennis Manitoba Junior Tour

Kylie Waschuk pictured here at the Canadian Mid-West
ITF U18 2012 held at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club.

The 2013 schedule for the Tennis Manitoba Junior Tour is now available, and includes eight tournaments held in Manitoba from February through to October. Competitive tennis players 18 years of age and younger will want to circle the tour dates on their calendars, as the local tournament circuit is used to qualify Manitoba players for the Canadian Junior National Championships, as well as track annual tour points races in four age categories.

Returning to the 2013 tour, is a clay court tournament hosted by Taylor Tennis. The last clay court tournament for juniors was the LM Architectural Group Junior Open, hosted at Taylor back in June 2009. The 2013 Junior Tour stop at Taylor is scheduled for September 16th to 20th, and provides players an opportunity to try out their game on Manitoba's only clay courts. Tennis Canada intentionally hosts three out of four age categories at the outdoor junior nationals on the clay surface. The softer surface is recognized internationally for a player’s greater all round development, injury prevention and longevity, and integration onto the professional tour.

New to several tour tournaments this year will be a 3/4 court event for those eight years old and younger. Participants in the U8 event will play short sets of up to 4 games in a round robin format using modified balls, courts, and racquets. This is a great way to introduce our future tennis stars to the game.

Tennis Manitoba is also introducing a new tournament publication system for the 2013 season, which will offer increased player match statistics, rankings, and an iPhone and Android mobile app later in the year. Participants of Tennis Manitoba sanctioned events will now be required to create an online member account which will enable them to register and pay for tournaments.

The 2013 Junior Tour gets kicked off at the Winnipeg Winter Club with the Kids Dental Junior Open being run February 21st through to the 24th. The registration deadline for players is Monday, February 18th at 11:59 pm.

The 2013 Tennis Manitoba Junior Tour schedule also includes dates for junior national and international events that take place in Canada. For complete details, check out tennismanitoba.com

Friday, 8 February 2013

2013 Tennis Manitoba AGM

The Board of Directors for Tennis Manitoba would like to invite you to our upcoming Annual General Meeting to be held at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Winnipeg, 1301 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba. The meeting will take place on Saturday, February 23rd at 10:00 AM where we will provide Tennis Manitoba updates from this past year. If you are interested in attending please RSVP by February 20th.

Tennis Manitoba
(204) 925-5660

Wednesday, 6 February 2013

Kids Dental kicks off 2013 Junior Tour

The 2013 Kids Dental Junior Open tennis tournament is fast approaching, and is open to juniors 18 years of age and younger. The first Tennis Manitoba Junior Tour event on the 2013 calendar is hosted by the Winnipeg Winter Club, and takes place February 21st - 24th. Junior Tour tournaments are also used as national qualifying events for players residing in Manitoba and provide national ranking points for those players residing in Canada.

New to the Junior Tour this year is the addition of 3/4 court events for aspiring young tennis players. The Kids Dental Junior Open will offer a U8 3/4 court event for those eight years old and younger. Participants in the U8 event will play short sets of up to 4 games in a round robin format, and receive a participation medal.

The Kids Dental offers singles events in the U10 age category, for player 10 years and younger. The U12, U14, U16 and U18 singles events are used as national qualifying events, where top level juniors have the opportunity play at the Canadian Junior National Championships. Doubles will also be available for U14 and U18 age categories.

The tournament will also be the first in Manitoba to use Tennis Manitoba's new tournament management system. The new system is used widely throughout the world and includes such features as online registration and payment, match details, and in the near future rankings and a mobile app. Participants of Tennis Manitoba sanctioned tournaments will be required to setup their online player account prior to using the system for tournament registration. For more information on setting up a player account, click here.

Online entry for the 2013 Kids Dental Junior Open closes on Monday, February 18, 2013 at 11:59 PM. Registration is available at www.tennismanitoba.com

Tuesday, 5 February 2013

Canada upsets Spain in Davis Cup

Canada made history over the weekend, as our Davis Cup team upset world number 1 ranked Spain. It is the first time Canadians has gone past the opening round of the World Group. Canada will now get ready to host Italy this coming April 5th - 7th in a quarter-finals tie.

Saturday, 2 February 2013

College tennis teams ready for 2013 spring season

Saul Shrom picked up an athlete of the week award last fall
due to stellar play with the CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolves.

Many of our Manitoba student athletes will start their spring NCAA college tennis season this weekend. With Shane Nicholls signing on with Colorado State University-Pueblo this past January, there will be an all time high number of fourteen Manitoban's playing on U.S. university teams during the 2012-2013 school year.

Here is a listing of Manitoba students participating in the 2012-2013 college spring season:

Austin Peay State University (Clarksville, TN)
> Govs host SIU in first home dual match