Steinbach's Tennis U has it all

Barry Bruce, with everything one would need at Tennis U
 in Steinbach, Manitoba.

By Terry Frey, The Carillon

With Canadian superstars Milos Raonic and Genie Bouchard making their mark on the world tennis stage the last couple of years, interest in tennis in this country could be at an all-time high.

So for Steinbach’s Barry Bruce to launch his Tennis U in Steinbach, which could be one of the finest facilities in the province, if not the country, the timing is right, with interest in tennis, perhaps coincidentally, but certainly fortuitously, at an all-time high.

This project for Bruce, the owner of the McDonald’s franchise in Steinbach, has been in the works for a couple of years, but with the indoor facility now completed at his new building on Acres Drive, it is now open as he is accepting bookings from the public.

Bruce, himself, is one of the top tennis coaches in the province, with more than 25 years of coaching experience who also has experience coaching at the national level and on the ATP professional tour.

Dubbed a world class training centre, a tour of the facility earlier this week left this reporter, who just happens to be an avid tennis buff, absolutely wide-eyed that this facility was located right here in Steinbach.

Bruce has invested more than $1 million of his own money into the facility, which is state of the art in every respect. A serving machine that can serve the ball up to 130 mph. There is also full court radar to measure the speed of serves. Milos would be suitably impressed. And there is a Lobster machine, which can lob the ball in different patterns.

His professional tennis stringing machine is one of only a few of its kind in Canada and is the same machine used on the ATP Tour. Even the playing surface, called plexi-pave, is the finest surface available.

Tennis U is now open for booking individuals to play or for lessons. A variety of lesson rates are available, depending on the equipment used in the process.

An example of rates for court rentals are $40 per hour for singles, which would be $20 per person, or $60 an hour for doubles.

"We are completely self-contained here, " said Bruce, "we have everything here anyone would need in tennis."

One of the things that Bruce is most excited about with his new tennis facility is the new program he is offering for kids called Learn to Play where different balls are used in the program to make it easier for kids to learn the game. He is hoping to start after school and summer programs for kids wanting to learn the game. "The kids will use smaller racquets and foam balls and we can have up to 24 kids on the court at one time."

He is also hopeful that adult leagues will start at the facility as well as hosting some future competitions.

The facility itself is stunning, 11,000 square feet in all with a 40-foot ceiling with brilliant lighting.

For Barry Bruce, Tennis U is a hobby, a passion and a business venture all rolled into one, this truly is a facility second to none.

"It’s fun to see people’s reaction when they see it for the first time, tennis people from around the country," said Bruce with a chuckle, "they are shocked, they can’t believe it’s here."

Article and photo courtesy of Terry Frey, The Carillon

Canadian Tennis Coast-to-Coast: Tennis Manitoba and their digital innovations

Article courtesy of Tennis Canada.

As part of the process leading up to a 2015 re-brand of Tennis Canada, we travelled to each province to meet with the presidents and executive directors of the Provincial Tennis Associations (PTAs) to learn what tennis means on a grassroots level in their region. Over the next three months, we will feature a different province weekly and learn more about the various themes that embody tennis across the country. To read articles from the rest of the series, click here.

Popularizing the Universal Tennis Rating System

Though tennis in Manitoba may be less prevalent when compared to Ontario and Quebec, due to a smaller population, the province has made several unique contributions to the fabric of tennis in Canada. This includes the popularization of the Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) system. UTR is a tennis ranking system that provides players across the world with a common language to determine their level of play. There are 16 levels of tennis, which are based on actual match results without regard for age or gender. Bruce Waschuk, president of Tennis Manitoba, has led the charge for the spread and promotion of UTR.

Manitoba initially implemented UTR to help improve tournament player selections and draw seeding. Because of Manitoba’s smaller population, there is not an abundance of tennis players at all the various age and gender event categories. To solve this problem, Manitoba now uses UTR for running level-based tournaments, where draws may have players from multiple age groups and both genders. Manitoba also uses UTR to realize new initiatives that help grow tennis participation, as well as help existing players find a better game. These player ratings allow juniors to find more appropriate local tournament competition. This is a stark difference from previous years where extensive travel was the norm for many competitive Manitoba juniors.

“UTR felt like a natural part of tennis culture in Manitoba,” said Tennis Canada CMO Mark Healy. “It was expected in conversations around the courts, and innately followed in all tennis play.”

Working to Bring Tennis to the Forefront

Manitoba hosts two professional events as part of the ITF Pro Circuit, a $15,000 men’s Futures and $25,000 women’s Challenger, which both take place in Winnipeg in August. Manitoba emphasizes the build-up around the tournaments, focusing on new programming and catering to a young demographic. Before these tournaments came to Manitoba, it was very hard to drum up interest around tennis. Tennis Manitoba executive director Mark Arndt, Waschuk, and their team worked hard to bring these ITF events to their province and it is now paying dividends through increased tennis participation.

“Our two ITF tournaments are the showpieces of tennis in the province,” said Arndt. “They are the key to unlocking other forms of tennis participation.”

The harsh weather in Manitoba makes outdoor winter tennis nearly impossible, which is in line with the rest of Canada. Fortunately, there are several indoor clubs that buoy tennis participation throughout the winter, such as the Winnipeg Winter Club and Taylor Tennis. Manitoba’s tennis clubs are unique because they have a rich, albeit small, culture around clay courts.

“The culture of tennis in North America usually manifests itself through hard courts,” Healy remarked. “But clay courts are popular and growing in Manitoba – it was very refreshing.”

Digital Innovation

Manitoba is very sophisticated when it comes to digital marketing, which has led to a large social following. The province has its own successful digital marketing campaigns, but has also agreed to help test any new digital strategies that Tennis Canada may have. This collaboration will lead to synergies for both sides and hopefully for all digital marketing in Canada.

Tennis Manitoba believes that two factors keep people from playing tennis: finding a partner and finding a place to play. To combat the latter, Manitoba took an inventory of all known tennis courts in the province and created a custom Google Map for Manitobans looking for a nearby court. It is extensively used throughout the province and is a highly visited page on Tennis Manitoba’s website.

Looking for a place to play tennis in Manitoba? Check out the
Tennis Manitoba Court Locator at www.tennismanitoba.com.

A trailblazer in the area of UTR, Manitoba is also trying to push it to new heights by combining it with technology. The Tennis Manitoba team inputs all tournament match results that take place in the province into the UTR system, which calculates a tennis player’s level of play rating. This leads to improved player development, as well as an increase in player satisfaction from more compatible match play.

Strong leadership, passionate tennis players, and innovation in UTR help make Manitoba a very significant tennis contributor in Canada, with lots of potential for the future.

Provincial Tennis Associations (PTAs) are the provincial arms of Tennis Canada and are essential parts of growing and developing interest and participation across the country through their local initiatives. Our mission to grow the game of tennis in Canada would not be possible without the committed and tireless efforts of the PTAs.

2015 Western Canada Summer Games Try-out

Team Toba at the 2007 Western Canada Summer Games.

The Western Canada Summer Games are fast approaching, and Tennis Manitoba is looking to select a training team of 12 players (a combination of boys and girls) to begin preparation for the competition this summer.

The tennis event at the Western Canada Summer Games is a unique competition where players compete as a team for their province. The Games can be a great experience for players aspiring to play University tennis, as many former Team Manitoba members have gone on to secure a US-based college tennis scholarship.

Tennis Manitoba will hold an open tryout on Friday, January 30th, at Taylor Tennis from 5 to 7 PM. A parents information meeting will follow. There is no fee for the tryout. All interested players must register by Monday, January 26, 2015.

For additional details, click here.

Online Registration (click here)

Under 10 Provincial Team Training Program

Tennis Manitoba will offer a new introductory tennis program starting this October for young athletes born during 2005 and earlier. The introductory sessions are aimed to develop a solid foundation of tennis skills, and will use a variety of games, drills and activities to develop coordination, balance, agility and speed. Kids will also learn tennis scoring, as well as beginning tactics and strategies for playing matches.

The full program will run 30 weeks from October to June, and is broken into 3 sessions of about 10 weeks each. Successful participants will be selected at an evaluation camp scheduled for 3 - 5 p.m., Saturday, October 4 at the Norwood Community Center.

For additional program details, click here.

Parents interested in having their child participate in the program are to contact Jared Connell before 4 p.m. Wednesday, October 1, 2014, at jared@tennismanitoba.com.

CTV Sport Star: Kylie Waschuk

Kylie Waschuk was selected as the CTV Sport Star. The top-ranked junior tennis player in the province has captured several championship wins in Manitoba, and will be playing NCAA Division 1 tennis for Loyola Marymount University beginning this fall.

To view video, click here.

2014 Prairie Regionals

Morgan Waller (SK) and Mackenzie Miller (MB) book
 their ticket to U14 Canadian Nationals.

2014 Manitoba - Saskatchewan Outdoor Nationals Qualifying Event

Tennis Manitoba along with Taylor Tennis hosted a two day regionals tournament which, at the completion, identified players that will travel to the Canadian National Championships.

Congratulations to all that competed.

U12 girls qualifying for nationals in Montreal:

• Reece Carter - MB
• Elinor Shpunt - MB
• Shia Holms - SK

U12 boys qualifying for nationals in Montreal:

• Josh Saban - SK
• Sahand Marzban - MB
• Ben Lortie - SK

U14 Girls qualifying for nationals in Montreal:

• Morgan Waller - SK
• Andreea Ababei - SK
• Mackenzie Miller - MB

Other Manitobans heading to the nationals are:

U14 boys in Montreal:

• Daniel Gharagozloo
• Sahand Marzban

U16 Boys in Mississauga:

• Daniel Gharagozloo

U18 Boys in Mississauga:

• Cole Lacap
• Shrey Gupta
• Daniel Gharagozloo

View Prairie Regionals photos.

Team Prairies Nationals Preparatory Camp

Jared Connell and Emerson Gusmini along with help from Denise Fernandez and Robert Kennedy ran a day camp at Taylor Tennis to prepare the recent qualifying players for the Canadian national championships in August. Great effort was shown by all participants.

Good luck to all at nationals!

Thank you to Narom Sing for the photos. (Click here to view.)

Manitobans Shine at Under 12 Nationals

Sabrina Alano, with Team Prairies coach Jared Connell,
 was the 2nd Flight champion at the Rogers U12
Junior National Championships in Calgary, AB.

Manitoba juniors fared well at the 2014 Rogers U12 Indoor Junior National Championships, which wraps up today at the Tennis Academy in Calgary, Alberta.

After early round robin play, all three juniors from Winnipeg were able to avoid the bottom flight draw, which is often filled by participants from smaller population provinces.

Leading the charge was Marcello Audino, who went 2 - 1 in his preliminary round robin matches to qualify for the boys' championship flight. Marcello ended up with a 13th-16th placement, which should give him strong seeding consideration at the Under 12 Nationals which take place this summer in Mont Tremblant, Quebec.

It was Sabrina Alano who brought home the hardware, going 4 - 2 in her singles matches to win the second flight championship.

The youngest member of Team Prairies, a team comprised of six juniors from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, was 9-year-old Reece Carter who went 3 - 3 in match play. Reece managed to win the second flight consolations while attending her first Canadian Nationals.

In other nationals competition, Winnipeggers Anna Gavalova, Cole Lacap and Jennifer Wang particpated in the Rogers U16 Indoor Junior Nationals held at Club de tennis Île-des-Soeurs in Montreal. Next week Maya Arksey, Daniel Gharagozloo and Mackenzie Miller will travel to Vancouver for the Under 14 Nationals, while Zack Baron, Shrey Gupta and Cole Lacap participate in the Under 18 Nationals which take place in Markham.

Many of the nationally competitive Manitoba juniors are members of the Tennis Manitoba Provincial Team, which is coached by Jared Connell. The Team has weekly on court practices, fitness sessions, and travels together for out-of-province competition.

Junior qualifying for this summer`s outdoor nationals starts with tournaments scheduled on the 2014 Tennis Manitoba Junior Tour. For more details visit www.tennismanitoba.com

See also: 2014 Rogers Indoor Junior Nationals photo album

Winnipegger Kylar traded shots with Djokovic

Winnipegger Kevin Kylar rubbed shoulders with some of the
best tennis players in the world last week.
(BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES)

Local warmed up world No. 2 prior to $1-M win

By Geoff Kirbyson, Winnipeg Free Press

Novak Djokovic hit some tennis balls with Winnipegger Kevin Kylar for about 45 minutes on Sunday and then went out and won $1 million.

The world's No. 2-ranked player from Serbia defeated living legend Roger Federer from Switzerland 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif.

Unfortunately for the 19-year-old Kylar, who worked as a practice and hitting partner last week for the men and women at arguably the biggest non-Grand Slam tennis tournament in the world, he didn't work on a commission basis.

In fact, he and the other 10 or so hitting partners didn't earn a dime for their sweat equity, but they did make a few bucks in tips.

"(The tournament organizers) called me Saturday afternoon and asked if I wanted to warm up Djokovic at 11 o'clock on the stadium court. Of course, I said, 'Yes,' " Kylar said.

"It was a little bit surreal. You watch the guy on TV so many times and suddenly you're hitting with him. The first (rally) we hit the ball 50 times over the net. He doesn't miss and I tried my best not to miss. But once you get through thinking who he is, it becomes just like any other practice.

NO. 1 PLAYER

Kylar, the No. 1 player in the province who won his second Manitoba Open singles title last summer, played in the pre-qualifying event at Indian Wells, losing in the third round.

Some of the other players he hit with include Russia's Dmitry Tursunov and Svetlana Kuznetsova and Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova.

He has come a long way since he was a wide-eyed kid wandering around the grounds thanks to his dad, longtime Winnipeg tennis pro George Kylar, who has strung racquets for the players at Indian Wells for many years.

(The elder Kyler strung about 300 racquets during the week.)

It's hard to put a price on what his experience at Indian Wells will be worth or how it will impact Kylar's game but he's hoping it will show up on the courts this summer.

"Some of the coaches gave me a few pointers of what I could work on. When you play three or four hours a day, it helps regardless of who you're playing with, then you throw in that these are the best players in the world," he said.

Kylar may be in further demand on the practice court as Djokovic wasn't his only partner who experienced great success last week. He hit regularly with the big surprise in the women's draw, Italy's Camila Giorgi, who lost in the fourth round after beating Maria Sharapova.

"I wouldn't say no if somebody asked me. I don't know if I would fly somewhere just to be a hitting partner. Maybe," he said.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 19, 2014 D2

View Manitobans at the BNP Paribas Open photo album.

Connell Hired as Director of Player Development

Coach Jared Connell guided the U12 Canadian team to victory at
the Open Super 12 Auray 2013, held last February in Auray, France.

Tennis Manitoba is pleased to announce the appointment of Jared Connell as Director of Player Development. Jared brings a spectrum of local, national and international coaching and playing experience to our organization. His focus, as directed towards high performance, will create opportunities for Manitoba tennis players to compete on national and international levels.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to build the environment of high performance tennis in Manitoba" stated Connell. "If we want to develop players that can compete on national and international levels, time and energy must be spent to properly educate those involved of the requirements”.

Connell assumes the role immediately and will work closely with Technical Director, Charlie McLean to ensure highest standards are met in developing tennis players in Manitoba.

2013-14 Provincial Tennis Team

Team Manitoba tennis at the 2013 Canada Summer Games,
Shrebrooke, Quebec.

Tennis Manitoba has announced details of the 2013-14 Provincial & National Training Center Program. The 28 week program includes weekly on court sessions, strength and conditioning training, quarterly fitness testing and out of province competition.

Team tryouts are scheduled for 4 - 7 p.m., September 28, 2013. Competitive junior tennis players interested in participating in the team tryouts, are asked to register prior to 12 noon, Friday, September 27th. To access the tryout registration form, click here.

The following is an overview of the program:

1. Coaching Staff

• Head Coach - Jared Connell
• Assistant Coach - Robert Kennedy
• Assistant Coach - Marlon Goldburn

2. Open Tryout

• An open tryout for is scheduled for 4 - 7 p.m., Saturday, September 28 at Tuxedo Tennis Club for junior tennis players (boys and girls) in the U12 to to U18 age categories.
• In the event of inclement weather, please meet at Taylor Tennis Club.
• There is no fee for the tryout session.

3. Team Selection Criteria

• Team members will be selected by the coaching staff, with selection notifications made by September 30th.
• Selections will be based on past tournament performances / results, program commitment, physical competencies, match play and tennis skills.

4. Program Dates

• Session 1: 8 weeks, week of Sept 30 - Dec 9, 2013
• Session 2: 10 weeks, week of Jan 6 - Mar 24, 2014
• Session 3: 10weeks, week of Mar 31 - Jun 9, 2014

5. Program Training

• On court tennis: 1day per week, 2 hours
• On court fitness: 1 day per week, 1 hour (following tennis session)
• Strength and conditioning: 1 day per week, 1 hour
• Fitness testing: 5 tests throughout program
• Training session days will be separated by age group / ability level
• Training days to be announced

6. Program Travel

• Tournament 1: Edmonton, AB, Nov 1 - 3, 2013
• Tournament 2: Saskatoon,SK, Nov 30 - 31, 2013
• Tournament 3: Edmonton, AB, Feb 28 - Mar 2, 2014
• Tournament 4: Prairie Regionals, Saskatoon,SK, dates TBD (mid-March)

7. Program Apparel

• Each team member will receive a tracksuit, 2 training shirts

8. Program Fee

• Costs are currently being finalized. An approximate fee of $1,600 per player for the 28 weeks. The program fee does not include travel expenses.

9. Player Agreement

• Team members are required to adhered to a player agreement, which is to be signed by the player, parent / guardian, and personal coach. Included in the player agreement will be competition schedules that include participation in all regional and national championships that the player qualifies for in their respective age group, fitness programs / testings and results, technical improvements, training attitudes and behaviour. Periodic evaluations will be held throughout the program.
• Program participants will be chosen on the above criteria. There are limited number of team spots available in each age group. Players are selected to a particular age category based on their date of birth and/or ability. Each group will consist of a combination of boys and girls.

10. Code of Conduct

• All team members are required to sign a Tennis Manitoba Code of Conduct agreement.

Manitoba Juniors Take on Canada's Best

Kylie Waschuk made it to the round of 16 at the Under 18
Rogers Outdoor Junior Nationals, losing out to the no. 1-seeded
player, Gloria Liang from Ontario. (Photo: Kristin Muller)

Five of Manitoba's top junior tennis players qualified to play at the 2013 Rogers Junior Outdoor National Championships this past August, for an opportunity to compete with the best junior players in Canada.

For Sabrina Alano (Under 12), Jennifer Wang (Under 14), and Shrey Gupta (Under 16), it was their first appearance at the junior nationals.

Just prior to the junior nationals, Wang and Gupta, along with Kylie Waschuk (Under 18), made a successful run at the 2013 Canada Summer Games in Sherbrooke, Quebec, tying an all-time best Team Manitoba tennis result by placing fifth.

David Krowiak (Under 14) joined Wang at the Under 14 nationals, making it the third time he has competed at a national level.

There are eight junior national tournaments a year; one indoor and one outdoor for each of the Under 12, Under 14, Under 16 and Under 18 age categories. The outdoor junior nationals were held in Mississauga, Ontario, and Mont Tremblant, Quebec.

Tennis Canada often uses the results from the junior nationals to determine which players represent Canada at some of the big international events like the Junior Davis Cup, Junior Fed Cup and World Junior Tennis competitions.

Manitoba juniors that participated at the junior nationals were selected from results at Tennis Manitoba Junior Tour and Prairie Regional qualifying events. For additional information on competitive junior tennis in Manitoba, please visit www.tennismanitoba.com.

See also:
> 2013 Rogers Outdoor Junior Nationals photos
> Looking for gold at Mont-Tremblant

Tennis Fitness and You

Eugenie Bouchard and Filip Peliwo training at the National
Tennis Centre in Montreal.

By Melissa Boyd, Tennis Canada

The beauty of tennis is that it is a sport for a lifetime for everyone, not just the high performance athlete. We sat down with Kieran Foy, fitness coach at the National Tennis Centre in Montreal, to find out how fitness and nutrition can improve your game regardless of whether you play competitively, or just for fun.

Tennis Canada. Compared to athletes in other sports, in your opinion, how fit are the best tennis players in the world?

Kieran Foy. The tennis player really is the complete athlete. They have great cardio, they have great speed and agility, they’re extremely strong and big. They are physically imposing and now they’re adding strength and flexibility, two elements that weren’t there before. There’s not a lot of sports where you see those two unique aspects, especially when movements are being performed at a very high acceleration. A tennis player is right up there with the best conditioned athletes in sports.

TC. Can you give some fitness tips for the average tennis player and how they can optimize their performance on the court?

KF. Being fitter allows you to enjoy your tennis more. You can hit the ball bit harder, move quicker, and your racquet will feel lighter. The best thing you can do is a little bit of something every day. So, a little bit of jogging, a little bit of strength, a little bit of flexibility. You don’t need to go crazy. You don’t need to be sprinting around and risk pulling or tearing something.

TC. How does fitness for a kid getting started in tennis differ from a high performance player like Eugenie Bouchard or Filip Peliwo?

KF. I think you can start to introduce notions of what it is to train and what is fitness as a concept. At that age, they don’t need to be in a very structured program per se. They’re not at the age where they need to understand what a full warm up is, or the full physical and psychological development of an athlete, or what a cool down is. The key is to play a lot of games, outdoors especially. I think they should use running as a model, but within the context of playing other sports. In particular, sports where there is a ball that’s parabolic like basketball, tennis, and soccer where the ball bounces around at different angles and trajectories.

TC. How crucial are warm up and cool down exercises before and after matches? What are some examples of effective ones?

KF. For the average player, the best thing they can do is warm up and have a little stretch before they play because they are more likely to tweak something. So, 5-10 minutes of jogging continuously in different directions – backwards, side skipping, arms rolling forward, arms rolling backwards. Just get the joints moving a little bit. Once you finish that, you should stretch. 10 minutes to get everything loose and not have it cold when you go on court.

TC. Can you give some nutrition and hydration tips for the average tennis player? What should they be consuming before, during, and after playing?

KF. Before a match it’s important to hydrate to make sure that you take in adequate fluid. This can help you stay cooler in your match. Somewhere along the lines of ¾ of a litre to one litre of water before you play. While you’re playing, a good guideline is to have 200 ml of liquid every 15-20 minutes. In terms of eating before a match, you want to have a light snack maybe two hours before because you don’t want to carry anything in your stomach as you’re playing. Between games, you can take fruits that are easily digestible or sports drinks if you’re playing for more than an hour. But still, water is your best friend. I like to eat within 30 minutes of playing just to replace my energy. That can be fruit, pasta, or some white protein like chicken or fish.

Kids tennis development camp coming to Winnipeg

Tennis Manitoba is hosting a two day advanced tennis development camp for children 10 years of age and under which will take place at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club, July 22-23. The camp is intended for children previously exposed to the sport, who can rally on a full size court. The sessions will be led by two of Canada's leading experts in junior tennis player development. There is no fee for participants.

For additional details, please contact Tennis Manitoba at (204) 925-5660.

> Contact Tennis Manitoba

Upcoming TPA seminar in Winnipeg

The Tennis Professionals Association (TPA) is proud to present a seminar that will focus on 10 and under & 12 and under player training. The sessions take place Tuesday, July 23rd from 10am - 5pm at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club. Attendees will be allowed to participate in the junior provincial camp, led by the Prairies’ Technical Director, Charlie McLean and Tennis Canada’s Director of High Performance Club and Talent Development, Christophe Lambert.

This seminar will count as a full day re-certification opportunity. For more information and to register, click here.

For additional information on the TPA certification program click here.

Team Toba Tennis Squad is announced

Courtesy of Team Manitoba. 

The women’s team will be captained by Emily Fridrik, who will be making her second consecutive multi-sport games appearance after competing in the 2011 Western Canada Summer Games. She will be joined by Kylie Waschuk and Hannah Blatt, who also competed at the 2011 WCSG and games newcomer Jennifer Wang.

Cole Lacap is the men’s team captain. Patrick Fu, Shrey Gupta and Miraj Soni are the other team members. Both Lacap and Fu competed at the 2011 WCSG in Kamloops. Daniel Gharagozloo was selected as an alternate.

Jarrod Connell is the coach and Chera Mikos the manager.

Visit the Canada Summer Games website.

Tennis Manitoba Looking to Hire Games Manager

Tennis Manitoba is accepting applications for the position of team manager for the 2013 Canada Summer Games. As per Canada Summer Games guidelines, the available position is open to female candidates.  If you are interested, please submit your resume by Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 4:00 pm C.T. 

Questions pertaining to the position can be directed to Mark Arndt, Executive Director at Tennis Manitoba.

» Contact Tennis Manitoba details

About the Canada Summer Games
The Canada Games are the country’s largest domestic multisport event and are the pinnacle of inter‑provincial/territorial sport competition.  The Games are held at two-year intervals, alternating between winter and summer. Participants from 13 provinces and territories join together to share the spirit of competition, demonstrate sporting excellence, and celebrate cultural diversity.

The Sherbrooke 2013 Canada Summer Games will be held in Sherbrooke, Quebec from August 2 to 17, marking the first time that Sherbrooke will host the Canada Games, as well as the first time that the Canada Summer Games will be held in the province of Quebec.

During the two-week period, over 4200 participants ranging in age from 15 to 23 will compete in 17 sports for the right to claim the Canada Games Flag for their province. Approximately 220 Paralympic and Special Olympic athletes under 30 years of age will also participate in the Games in three and two sports, respectively. The Games will provide national competitive opportunities for athletes to excel and achieve excellence in their sports.There will also be participants of the Women In Coaching Program and the Aboriginal Apprentice Coach Program attending the Games. » More games details

Charlie McLean takes on technical director position

Charlie McLean is the new Tennis
Manitoba Technical Director

Tennis Manitoba is pleased to announce the appointment of Charlie McLean as Technical Director of tennis in our province. Charlie’s knowledge and experience will greatly support Tennis Manitoba's efforts to improve player development among competitive juniors aged 18 years and under.

Charlie’s extensive tennis background includes:

• Coach to players reaching ATP and WTA world rankings
• Tennis Canada Coach 3 – Level 3 certification
• Team Captain – Under 10 British Champions
• British Lawn Tennis Association Development Award – Level 3
• British Lawn Tennis Association Performance Coach – Level 3
• Tennis Alberta’s Coach of the Year – 2011
• Current Head Professional at World Health, Calgary
• Current High Performance Co-ordinator with Tennis Alberta.

The Tennis Manitoba Technical Director is currently a part time contract position with responsibility for creating long term player development plans and programs which involve Tennis Manitoba staff and Manitoba-based tennis coaches. Charlie starts December 14th with a series of player identification sessions in Winnipeg.