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USTA Tennis Teachers Conference Celebrates its 40th Year

The USTA’s 40th Tennis Teachers Conference will be in New York City from Aug. 28 to 31. The event is a leading resource for teaching professionals, organizers and coaches. It will be held at the Grand Hyatt New York and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Headlining the event is eight-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander; former top 10 player and popular TV broadcaster Cliff Drysdale; and junior tennis coach Judy Murray, who is the mother of two-time Grand Slam finalist Andy Murray and 2007 Wimbledon mixed-doubles champ Jamie Murray.

Attendees at the USTA Tennis Teachers Conference have the opportunity to network with colleagues and attend conference seminars, gather information and resources on the latest offerings from a variety of tennis organizations and companies, and attend a “Night at the US Open” on Monday, Aug. 30, the opening evening of the tournament at the USTA BJK National Tennis Center.

Additionally, the TIA will hold its 3rd annual Tennis Forum on Tuesday morning, Aug. 31, highlighting the latest trends in the tennis industry and the industry’s efforts to grow the game.

For registration information for the Tennis Teachers Conference, visit usta.com/ttc. Register before July 16 and save 10 percent.

Nominate Now for USTA Outstanding Facility Awards

Do you know an outstanding tennis facility in your area? If so, nominate it for a 2010 USTA Outstanding Tennis Facility award. Award nominations must be received in the USTA office by July 19.

Criteria for the awards and nomination forms are available at usta.com/facilityawards. Recognition will be given to outstanding tennis facilities under these jurisdictions: Parks & Recreation Departments, Educational Institutions, Non-Profit Corporations, and Private and/or Commercially Owned and Operated Facilities.

Award winners will receive a wood and marble wall plaque and a large sign to display at the facility. In addition, certificates will be available for various agencies and companies recognizing the honor. Winners also receive a one-year complimentary USTA Organizational Membership, and may choose to attend the USTA Technical Committee meeting in New York in early September for a presentation.

This is the 29th year for the prestigious USTA Outstanding Facility Awards. This year, an optional “Green Facility” section has been added to the nomination form. For questions, email facilityawards@usta.com or call Jeremiah Yolkut at 914-696-7154.

ASBA Certifies Five Court Builders

Five tennis court builders have earned the Certified Tennis Court Builder designation from the American Sports Builders Association, the national organization for builders, designers and suppliers of materials for tennis courts, running tracks, synthetic turf fields and indoor and outdoor synthetic sports surfaces.

The certification program, which was developed by the ASBA in order to help raise professional standards and improve the practice of athletic facility construction, shows that an individual has demonstrated or exceeded a specific level of professional experience. To achieve Certified Builder status, an individual is required to show documented evidence of professional experience, and is required to pass a comprehensive examination on construction and maintenance of the specific type of facility in which he or she is seeking certification. (Visit sportsbuilders.org for more on the ASBA and certification.)

The new Certified Tennis Court Builders are Adam Fryor (Court One Inc., Youngsville, N.C.), Matt Graft (Talbot Tennis, Marietta, Ga.), Kevin Healion (Century Tennis Inc., Deer Park, N.Y.), Steve Horner (Advantage Courts Company, Amarillo, Texas), and Fred Volpacchio (North Salem, N.Y.).

Prince Celebrates 40th Anniversary

August 2010 is the 40th anniversary of Prince Sports, headquartered in Bordentown, N.J. The company was started by Bob McClure in 1970, who invented the “Little Prince” ball machine in his garage in Princeton, N.J. — the first commercially viable electric ball machine, according to Prince.

In 1976, the company developed the first oversize racquet, invented by Howard Head, then developed “long-body” frames. It also came out with the first multifilament tennis strings. One of the latest developments is “O-Tech,” which are air holes in the hoop of the racquet. The O technology has been exported to other sports equipment, too.

Current Prince players include Maria Sharapova, Bob and Mike Bryan, Sam Querrey, John Isner, Vera Zvonareva, Nikolay Davydenko and Gael Monfils. Past player include Jimmy Connors, Stan Smith, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Martina Navratilova, Pam Shriver, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Gabriela Sabatini. For info, visit princetennis.com.

PTR to Deliver Etcheberry Experience Certification

The PTR has a three-year deal with strength and conditioning guru Pat Etcheberry to conduct the Etcheberry Experience Certification Program internationally. PTR Master Pro Dr. Louie Cap (left in photo) and PTR International Director Iñaki Balzola (right) were named as Etcheberry’s sole authorized program presenters after completing extensive training with Etcheberry at Justine Henin’s training facility in Florida.

The certification program passes along Etcheberry’s fitness, strength and conditioning philosophy and techniques to a new generation of coaches and trainers. Etcheberry has trained professional athletes in sports from the PGA to the NBA. In tennis, he’s worked with Agassi, Capriati, Courier, Henin, Hingis, Sampras, Seles and more.

PTR members receive discounts on all Etcheberry products and services, including Strength & Conditioning courses with Etcheberry himself.

Wheaton Installs Bubbled ClayTech Courts

Lee Tennis Court Products recently installed the first bubbled ClayTech courts at the Wheaton Sports Center, outside of Chicago. Compared to other clay court surfaces, ClayTech is easier to maintain and thus more playable indoors, says Lee Tennis.

“Converting our Har-Tru courts to ClayTech bubbled courts has been one of our best decisions,” says Dawn Szumski, general manager at Wheaton Sports Center. According to Szumski, converting the three courts to ClayTech was a result of their passion for continued innovation and exceptional indoor clay court playability with minimal required maintenance.

“Sentiment from our players is that the bubbled ClayTech courts are more consistent and play significantly better and all we have to do is sweep and line them once a day and occasionally spray them with water to keep the dust down,” she says.

“ClayTech cleverly blends slide comfort, extreme playability with minimal body injuries and maintenance,” says Pat Hanssen, Lee’s director of sales.

“If you currently have Har-Tru courts, this is a very simple change,” adds Paul Tulacka, owner of Midwest Tennis of Westmont, Ill., which installed the courts. “The existing courts serve as the base for an asphalt pad and once this is complete the ClayTech glues down in as little as three days.”

For more information, visit leetennis.com.

LSI Offers New HiDef Lighting

LSI Industries’ new HiDef indoor court lighting system uses high-output T5 fluorescent lamps with a combination of direct/indirect light distribution. LSI says benefits of the system include energy savings, enhanced light quality, considerable reduction in light depreciation over the life of the system, long lamp life, and instant-on operation. For information, contact Bruce Frasure at 800-436-7800 or bruce.frasure@lsi-industries.com.

Tennis Depot to Distribute Poly Star

Poly Star strings will now be distributed by The Tennis Depot (thetennisdepot.com). Poly Star first introduced polyester strings to the tennis market, says the company, and has 29 years of experience investing in research and development. Tour player Nikolay Davydenko is among current pros who use Poly Star.

Poly Star Classic, Energy, Turbo and Strike will be available in the U.S. in 12-meter sets and 200- and 400-meter reels. For questions or information, contact 866-787-4644 or info@thetennisdepot.com.

New Ashaway ZyMax 67 Badminton String

Ashaway Racket Strings has introduced ZyMax 67, a tournament-gauge badminton string with increased durability and strength. The company says the 22-gauge (.67 mm) ZyMax 67 offers the lowest tension loss of any badminton string. Key to the performance of the ZyMax line is a combination of high-tech core and braid materials, and Ashaway’s proprietary ZyWeaVe core process technology, which allows the production of lighter, stronger badminton strings.

Available in sets of 10m and 200m reels, ZyMax 67 strings up tighter and plays firmer with maximum tension stability, says Ashaway, and it maintains string tension longer and displays consistent performance. Visit www.ashawayusa.com.

ITA to Allow QuickStart Lines on Competition Courts

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association, the governing body of college tennis, has approved a rule change that will allow its competition courts to have permanent USTA-approved 36-foot and 60-foot tennis lines. The rule change will allow collegiate facilities to be used for tournaments and training sessions geared toward children ages 10 and under using the QuickStart Tennis play format, which utilizes lower bouncing balls, smaller racquets and shorter courts, all tailored to a child’s age and size.

“The rule change to allow USTA approved 36- and 60-foot lines on competition courts was unanimously approved by the ITA Operating Committee at its meetings during the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga.,” says ITA Executive Director David A. Benjamin. “The ITA is excited and proud to lead the way with this endorsement of the QuickStart play format.”

“USTA Player Development is thrilled that the ITA and its member coaches have taken the lead in embracing 36-foot and 60-foot tennis,” says Patrick McEnroe, general manager of USTA Player Development. “Comprised of some of the top player development coaches in the nation, the ITA recognizes the importance of appropriate training and competition for the 10-and-under population.”

Mac Opens Academy in New York City

John McEnroe will open and direct the John McEnroe Tennis academy at the $18 million Sportime at Randall’s Island Tennis Center in New York City. The Hall-of-Famer and former world No. 1 player, who is a native New Yorker, says the full-year programs will begin right after the 2010 US Open. Sportime, which owns 13 tennis and fitness clubs in New York State, will partner with Mac in the operation of the academy.

USTA to Install 4 Clay Courts at NTC

In its effort to develop American champions, the USTA is installing four clay tennis courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, home of the hard-court US Open.

“Now, every player who comes through the USTA system will have a very strong grounding in clay-court tennis,” USTA CEO Gordon Smith told Bloomberg news service. According to playtheclay.com, a website developed by Lee Tennis, of the 103 men who have reached the top 10 since the ATP rankings were created, 91 of them grew up on clay.

Short Sets

• The U.S. Davis Cup team will play its World Group Playoff in Colombia Sept. 17-19. The U.S. needs to defeat Colombia to retain its position within the 2011 World Group. The loser will be relegated to the Americas Zone I for 2011 and not be able to win the Davis Cup title next year. It’s the first time since 2005 that the U.S. has had to play in the World Group Playoffs.
• The digital edition of RSI will now be emailed free to all PTR members.
• Tournament officials for The MPS Group Championships, the WTA Tour event that recently completed its second year in 2010 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., after a long run as The Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, say the event will not continue in 2011 due to the WTA Tour realignment of its tournament calendar.
• Mercedes-Benz entered a multi-platform global marketing partnership with 16-time Grand Slam Champion and world No. 1 Roger Federer. The agreement coincides with the start of the Mercedes-Benz sponsorship of the US Open, beginning in August.
• World TeamTennis and Solfire today announced a multi-year agreement making Solfire the official apparel provider of World TeamTennis and an official sponsor of the WTT Professional and Recreational Leagues, and WTT Smash Hits.
• The USTA is awarding more than $315,000 in Recreational Tennis Grants to 38 non-profit organizations across the country. The USTA’s Recreational Tennis Division has pooled financial resources to create a series of Program/Project Support grants and Community Partnership Investment awards. These will be distributed on a bi-annual basis to non-profits that are committed to increasing tennis participation, are well-established in their communities, support tennis programming and foster diversity among participants. In total, the USTA awarded over $1 million in Recreational Tennis Grants to qualified applicants in 2009.
• “Let’s Play Tennis! A Guide for Parents and Kids by Andy Ace” is a new book about getting parents and their children started playing tennis together. The author and illustrator, Patricia Egart, has coached youth and high school tennis for 15 years. The book is geared to children between ages 5 and 10. For info, call 763-438-8466 or visit andyacetennis.com.
• The U.S. Fed Cup team has drawn Belgium as its opponent for the first round of the 2011 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group competition. The second–seeded U.S. team will travel to Belgium for the match.
• “When it comes to kids, tennis clearly knows something that golf does not,” says a recent Wall Street Journal article. While the golf industry worries it has lost nearly a million kids ages 6 to 17 (a 24% drop, to 2.9 million), the tennis industry, concludes the article, is an example of how to do things right. Tennis play for that age group has jumped from 6.8 million to 9.5 million in five years.
• Recently fifteen PBI pros provided instruction for the 3-day Columbus Celebrity Classic Tennis Invitational in Columbus, Ga. It was the 12th consecutive year PBI pros have been involved with the event, which this year raised $345,000 for the John B. Amos Cancer Research Center.
• Looking for something unique for your kid’s bedroom wall? Fathead (fathead.com) offers life-size wall graphics of tennis players Andy Roddick, Tommy Haas and Aleksandra Wozniak (among other sports celebs).
• Wimbledon now has an official poet-in-residence. Matt Harvey was named the first “Championships Poet” and will write a poem each day on “all things Wimbledon,” attempting to capture the flavor of the event. Verses will be published online and in podcasts and can be about anything and everything — play on the grass courts, rain, the roof, queuing spectators, strawberries and cream, tantrums on the court.
• The Legends Ball, which benefits the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum, returns to Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City on Friday, Sept. 10. Contact 212-843-1740 or legendsball@hgnyc.com.
• Eric Hechtman of Miami won the men’s open title and Marina McCollom of West Des Moines, Iowa, won the women’s open title at the $10,000 USPTA Clay Court Championships in May.

Alpha Back to Present at GSS Symposium

Alpha Racquet Sports announces their plans to return for a fourth straight year as a sponsor of the 2010 GSS Racquet Stringers Symposium in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 9-13. Alpha National Sales Manager Mark Gonzalez will be co-presenting a four-hour seminar titled “Machine Repair & Maintenance” with J. C. Carpentier of Tennis Machines.

“This is a must-attend event for any stringer looking to increase their knowledge, learn new techniques, and improve their skills,” says Gonzalez, who developed the presentation. The goal is to provide hands-on learning to assist stringers in the proper care of their expensive stringing machines and diagnostic equipment.

“Mark has done a tremendous job in putting together a very useful presentation for stringers who really want to know more about taking care of their equipment,” says symposium director Tim Strawn. “And J. C. Carpentier of Tennis Machines is considered to be one of the premier technicians in the world when it comes to maintaining and repairing the equipment we use, so we’re lucky to have him on board.”

For details and to register for the symposium, visit gssalliance.com.

U.S. Men Claim Sixth Invacare World Team Cup Title

The U.S. Quad Team of Nick Taylor of Wichita, Kan., David Wagner of Hillsboro, Ore., and Bryan Barten of Tucson, Ariz., led Team USA to the 2010 Invacare World Team Cup title in May, defeating Israel 2-0 in the final, held in Antalya, Turkey.

The U.S. women’s team — Emmy Kaiser of Fort Mitchell, Ky., Dana Mathewson of San Diego and Hope Lewellen of Chicago — finished in sixth place in the women’s division.

Congratulations To the Following For Achieving MRT & CS Status

New MRTs

Colton Westran, Big Rapids, MI

Evan Valerie, Big Rapids, MI

Stefano Prete, Victoria, Australia

Jeff Doty, Sheridan, OR

Daniel Howard, East Lansing, MI

James Thompson, Austin, TX

Craig Carter, Asheville, NC

New CSs

Kendra Blewitt, San Francisco, CA

Steven Summers, New Haven IN

TRO Names Top Resorts, Camps

Tennis Resorts Online recently released its annual rankings of the Top 100 Tennis Resorts and Camps worldwide. Rankings, available at tennisresortsonline.com, are based on reviews submitted by vacationers over the last year. This year they were asked to rate their experience in each of 17 categories.

Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina repeated as the No. 1 Resort while the Roy Emerson Tennis Weeks at the Gstaad Palace in Switzerland once again snared No. 1 Camp honors. Rankings are also broken out into the best in several categories, including game matching, tennis staff, instruction, lodging, cuisine and more.

The top 5 resorts are:

1. Kiawah Island Golf Resort, S.C.
2. Wild Dunes, S.C.
3. Topnotch Resort and Spa, Vt.
4. Bio-Hotel Stanglwirt, Austria
5. Rancho Valencia, Calif.

The top camps are:

1. Roy Emerson Tennis Weeks, Switzerland
2. Vic Braden Tennis College, Utah
3. New England Tennis Holidays, N.H. (recently moved to Sugarbush, Vt.)
4. Cliff Drysdale Tennis, Vt.
5. Saddlebrook Tennis, Fla.

Peoplewatch

• Former USTA President Randy Gregson of New Orleans died May 23 in New Orleans. He was 91. Gregson was USTA president from 1985-86, and a past president of the USTA Southern Section and the Louisiana Tennis Association. After Hurricane Katrina, Gregson was instrumental in procuring grants from the USTA to help revamp the city’s tennis courts.
• Serena and Venus Williams, both playing with Wilson K Blade Team racquets, won the French Open doubles title, their 12th Grand Slam women’s doubles championships. The sisters are now the No. 1 doubles team in the world for the first time in their careers and one of only five teams to complete a career doubles Grand Slam.
• Bob and Mike Bryan tied the all-time record for doubles titles on the men’s tour, scoring their 61st win in mid-May. The twins are now tied with the Australian doubles team of Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge. Ironically, by the time the Woodies are inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July, the American twins may very well have eclipsed their record.
• Gael Monfils has signed a multi-year deal with K-Swiss footwear and apparel. The world No. 20 player will be the highest ranked men’s singles player on the K-Swiss team.
• The Association of Private Clubs and Directors, along with The BoardRoom magazine, recently honored Chuck Gill, USPTA vice president and tennis director at Ibis Golf & Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., with its Distinguished Club Award.
• Wimbledon and French Open champion Jan Kodes of the Czech Republic has partnered with New Chapter Press for the U.S. release of the book “Jan Kodes: A Journey to Glory from Behind the Iron Curtain.” The coffee table book, originally published in Czech, provides a narrative and illustrated history of Czech tennis through the eyes of Kodes and author Peter Kolar.
• Tennis Channel has extended its French Open relationship with John McEnroe through 2013. It has also re-signed French Open and US Open announcer Ted Robinson, extending his role with the network through 2013.
• Jeanne G. Austin, the mother of Pam, Jeff, Doug, John and Tracy Austin, and wife for 64 years of George Austin, passed away May 25. She was 84 years old and lived in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.
• In May, the ITF suspended Wayne Odesnik for two years for importing human growth hormone into Australia, an anti-doping violation. The ban is backdated to December and will end on Dec. 28, 2011. All his results from this year will be wiped out. Odesnik pleaded guilty in March and was fined more than $7,000, and he agreed to a voluntary suspension.
• USA Racquetball’s Winter Issue of “Racquetball” Magazine was devoted to the women of the sport, honoring 11 of racquetball’s most influential women in 2009. Among those named was renowned clinician and coach Fran Davis, Head/Penn Racquet Sports National Promotions Coordinator.
• Two American sophomores, Bradley Klahn of Stanford and Chelsey Gullickson of Georgia, took the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’ singles titles in Athens, Ga. This is the second consecutive year that Americans have won the NCAA singles titles. Americans also swept the doubles titles, as Virginia’s Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz won the men’s title while Stanford’s Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette took the women’s.
• Former USTA Eastern Section President Dan Dwyer died May 25. He had also served as tournament director of the New York City Mayor’s Cup, and he founded the National Tennis Association for the Disabled and the International Lichtenberg Buick-Mazda Wheelchair Tennis Tournament. He was the USTA’s first Wheelchair Committee chair, and he was a member of the ITF Wheelchair Committee.
• Eric Hechtman of Miami won the men’s open title and Marina McCollom of West Des Moines, Iowa, won the women’s open title at the $10,000 USPTA Clay Court Championships in May.
• Five-time European badminton champion Peter Gade recently put his 2010 European Champion Gold Medal and other equipment up for auction as part of the “1,000 rackets for Haiti” appeal launched last month by Association Solibad and the Monaco-based international initiative Peace and Sport to help Haitian earthquake survivors.

Key Measures for Tennis Facilities Released

Tennis facility owners and operators, along with others in the industry, can now get the latest trends and data for operating a tennis facility in the “Cost of Doing Business: Tennis Facilities” report from the TIA. The bi-annual report provides a method for facilities to measure their performance against industry averages.

The data in the CoDB report is weighted by facility size and type to match the profile of tennis facilities in the U.S. The report contains general trends as well as data pertaining to tennis programming and facility operational costs. Also included is data on facility membership, dues, court usage fees and more.

“As a facility operator, you can see where your tennis facility may be outperforming the industry and where you may have challenges or can improve,” says TIA Executive Director Jolyn de Boer. “Comparing your operations to industry-wide averages will help you identify opportunities to maximize growth and profitability.”

For tennis facilities in 2009, the cost of doing business analysis indicates many positive results, mixed with some outcomes that reflect the nature of operating a business in a down economy. The good news for tennis facilities, though, is that average revenue per court is up 18% since 2005 and the retention rate of introductory programs for new players/beginners is high, at 65%.

For more information or to obtain a copy of the CoDB report, email research@TennisIndustry.org or call the TIA at 866-686-3036. For more on research available from the TIA, visit www.tennisindustry.org.

College Tennis Roundup — ITA Inducts 10 Into Men’s Hall of Fame

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) inducted 10 members into the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame during the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships in May. The ITA HoF is located on the University of Georgia campus in Athens.

The Class of 2010 consists of five players, one player/coach, three coaches and one contributor. Players are Mahesh Bhupathi (Ole Miss), Daniel Courcol (Mississippi State), Zan Guerry (Rice), Rodney Harmon (Tennessee/SMU) and Leif Shiras (Princeton). The player/coach inductee is Jay Lapidus (Princeton/Duke). The coaches are Kent DeMars (South Carolina), Craig Tiley (Illinois) and Steve Wilkinson (Gustavus Adolphus). The contributor inductee Gordon Smith (Georgia).

In other ITA news, Lauren Lui of Northwestern University and Daniel Canellas of the University of Alabama-Huntsville have been selected as the 2010 Wilson/ITA National Promoter of the Year Award winners. The award recognizes individuals who promote the game at the collegiate level. Both student-athletes have been selected to receive a paid summer internship at Wilson’s global headquarters in Chicago.

Division I

Men

• National Assistant Coach of the Year — Will Glenn, Georgia
• ITA/Farnsworth National Senior Player of the Year — Robert Farah, USC
• National Rookie of the Year — Henrique Cunha, Duke
• National Player to Watch — Austin Krajicek, Texas A&M
• ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship — Jason Jung, Michigan
• ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award — John-Patrick Smith, Tennessee

Women

• National Assistant Coach of the Year — Dave Balogh, Florida
• National Senior Player of the Year — Caitlin Whoriskey, Tennessee
• National Rookie of the Year — Lauren Embree, Florida
• National Player to Watch — Hilary Barte, Stanford
• ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship — Catherine Newman, Vanderbilt
• ITA/Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship — Cameron Ellis, Georgia

Division II

Men

• Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year — John Hansen, Valdosta State Univ.
• Assistant Coach of the Year — Daniel Rockhill, Concordia College NY
• Player of the Year — Alex Grubin, Concordia College NY
• Rookie Player of the Year — Leandro Ferreira, Univ. of West Florida
• Player to Watch — Dilshod Sharifi, Francis Marion Univ.
• ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship — Lorenzo Cava, Bentley Univ.

Women

• Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year — Pablo Montana, California Univ. of PA
• Assistant Coach of the Year — David Secker, Armstrong Atlantic State Univ.
• Player of the Year — Jenny Chin, BYU-Hawaii
• Rookie Player of the Year — Barbi Pocza, Barry Univ.
• Player to Watch — Alida Muller-Wehlau, Armstrong Atlantic State Univ.
• ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship — Natalia Ramos, Florida Institute of Technology

Division III

Men

• Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year — Andrew Girard, Carnegie Mellon Univ.
• National Assistant Coach of the Year — Brendan Kincaid, Salisbury Univ.
• National Senior Player of the Year — John Watts, Washington Univ.-St. Louis
• National Rookie of the Year — Mark Kahan, Amherst College
• National Player to Watch — Austin Chafetz, Amherst College
• ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship — Matt De Vlieger, Calvin College

Women

• Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year — Marty Perry, Univ.of Chicago
• National Assistant Coach of the Year — Jason Box, Bates College
• Co-National Senior Player of the Year — Grace Baljon, Williams College, and Siobhan Finicane, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
• National Rookie of the Year — Kate Klein, Washington Univ.-St. Louis
• National Player to Watch — Ellen Yeatman, Washington and Lee
• ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship — Julia Browne, Tufts Univ.

NAIA

Men

• Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year — Kris Miller, Oklahoma Christian Univ.
• Assistant Coach of the Year — David Goodman, Azusa Pacific Univ.
• Player of the Year — Matthijs Bolsius, Azusa Pacific Univ.
• Rookie Player of the Year — Martin Poboril, Oklahoma Christian Univ.
• Player to Watch — Joel Myers, Point Loma Nazarene Univ.
• ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship — Oliver Sindayigaya, Lewis-Clark State College

Women

• Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year — Rich Hills, Point Loma Nazarene Univ.
• Assistant Coach of the Year — Viviana Yrureta, Oklahoma Chrisitian
• Player of the Year — Natasa Zoricic, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univ.
• Rookie Player of the Year — Caroline Nilsson, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univ.
• Player to Watch — Gabriela Bergmanova, Vanguard Univ.
• ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship — Sheryl Bon, Azusa Pacific Univ.

Gamma Launches New TNT2 Touch String

Gamma Sports has launched its newest addition to the TNT2 string line, the Touch. The TNT2 Touch is the first multifilament string with the Gamma patented TNT process.

“Many players spend hundreds of dollars to buy a new racquet every few years looking for a competitive edge,” says Chuck Vietmeier, national sales manager for Gamma. “Little do they know that they can get a significant boost in their play simply by using quality strings. Players will really see a difference in their game when they start playing with the new TNT Touch.”

As part of the product rollout, Gamma wants to hear what players have to say about TNT2 Touch. Until July 31, Gamma will run the “Feel the Touch Difference” contest. Registrants will get the chance to win $500 in Gamma Sports products. For contest information, visit gammasports.com/tnt2touch.

From the July 2010 issue
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