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Alex Exsted of Savage, Minn., meets Michelle Obama as part of winning the USTA’s Arthur Ashe Essay Contest.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
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Middle & High School Coaches . . . Use www.ustanorthernshop.com for your Booster Club clothing sales!
To set up your own booster club store, contact us at [email protected]
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N RTHERN EXPOSURE
Beginning January 1, 2014, the USTA Northern junior tourna-ment schedule will take on a different look. These changes will accommodate and follow in accordance with the new National Junior Tournament Schedule beginning in January of 2014. The changes from a national perspective, which in turn impact USTA Northern include: • Level 5s will no longer be national-points tournaments. (Prior to
2014, there were eight of these.)• Each Section will add another Level 3 and Level 4 giving North-
ern six national-points tournaments. (Northern previously had 12 national-points tournaments.)
• One of the two Level 3s will be held in January (January 17-20, 2014) and the remaining Level 3 will be in June.
• The four Level 4s will take place throughout the year during dif-ferent time periods.
• Level 6s and 7s will remain the same within the Section. • Points allocated to players may change slightly based on the na-
tional points table and what is adopted as a Section. More infor-mation is forthcoming regarding this.These changes for the 2014 tournament schedule have been
reviewed, discussed, studied and revised over the past 12 months
on both a National and Section level. The USTA Northern Junior Competition Committee and tournament sub-committee spent hours working on the best structure for the Section.
Besides the player experience and the development pathway, the Committee incorporated what National is implementing and followed that lead. In addition, the Committee took into account how tournament schedules impact parents, coaches/teaching pros, facilities, tournament directors and USTA Northern Section staff. Also, the committee considered other factors such as the distance between tournament locations, court availability and the high school tennis seasons in each state.
Our tournament level structure will remain intact as it currently is (Levels 3-7). Accessing the different tournament levels will no longer consider the number of points a player has or must have. Instead, beginning January 1, 2014, access to certain levels of tournament play will be based on draw sizes and certain levels will simply be “open.” For example, all Level 4s in 2014 will be draws of 24 based on the most current standings/rankings list at the time entries close. This means the 24 highest ranked registered players will gain entry into the tournament. All Level 6s will be “open,” meaning no points are required to qualify.
2014 Junior Tournament Changes
2014 Junior Tournament Structure (starting January 1, 2014) LEVEL 3s: January 17-20, 2014 – Draws of 32 in each age group for singles and 16 in doubles. Players receive National and Section points; June 6-10, 2014 – Open draw sizes – singles and doubles – no points required and players will earn National and Section points.LEVEL 4s: February, March, November and December (Exact dates TBD) – Draws of 24 in each age group for singles and 12 in doubles. Players earn National and Section points.LEVEL 5s: Only one Level 5 per month will be offered at various locations throughout the Section. January-April and October-De-cember Level 5s will be draws of 32 in each age group for singles and 16 in doubles and are open to Section residents only. From
May-September, Level 5s will have no draw limit and are open to non-Section residents. These result in Section points only.LEVEL 6s: At least one Level 6 will be offered every weekend. There will be no point restrictions and open draws. January-April and October-December are open to Section residents only. From May-September, Level 6s will be open to non-Section residents, earning Section points.LEVEL 7s: At least one Level 7 will be offered every weekend. The point cap will remain in place for Level 7s (currently 249 points in any age group) – the point cap number could change based on the changes to the national points table coming soon. Players will earn Section points.
Other Changes of NoteBoys and Girls 12s – All play for 12s in Level 7, Level 6 and Level 5 will be “green” ball on a 78-foot court. For Level 6s, this change took place starting September 26, 2013. For Level 5s, this change will take place starting January 1, 2014. Boys and Girls 10s – All play for 10s will remain in its current format – orange ball/60-foot court, modified scoring and the ability to have co-ed draws within singles and doubles.Formats – FIC (Feed-In Consolation) for Levels 3 and 4; FMLC (First-Match Loser Consolation) for Level 5s; FMLC (First Match Loser Consolation) or MFIC (Modified Feed-In Conso-lation) for Levels 6 and 7 based on draw sizes, entries and if
doubles is offered or not. For Levels 3 & 4, consolation will be played out to the finals (the consolation finals match will not be played) – this follows the National format.
DOUBLES - LEVELS 3, 4 & 5 – Players must play doubles in the same age group they play singles in, NO EXCEPTIONS.
START OF PLAY – With the expansion of draws to 24 in sin-gles and 12 in doubles for Level 4s, play could start as early as noon on Friday. With Levels 5 and 6 play could possibly start early Friday morning. These considerations were made to ac-commodate the scheduling guidelines within Friend At Court.
www.northern.usta.com 3
4 magazine NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
Congratulations 2013 USTa northern award Winners
C ongratulations to the winners of the 2013 USTA Northern Annual Awards who will be honored Friday, Nov. 22, from 6-9 p.m. at The Minneapolis Club in downtown Minneapolis. Tickets are $45 a person and still available. Please contact Lisa Mushett
at [email protected] or at (952) 358-3282 for more information and tickets.
2013 USTA Northern Award WinnersAlbert Teeter Adult Sportsmanship Award: Aaron Rosenbery (Lakeville, Minn.)Jerry Noyce Junior Sportsmanship Award: Boys: Greg Wischer (Grand Forks, N.D.); Girls: Sonya Das (Arden Hills, Minn)Bob Larson Media Excellence Award: Bruce Gullikson (Burnsville, Minn.)Rocky Rockwell Grassroots Official Award: TBAJack Dow Adult Development Award: Sheryl Warfield (Rochester, Minn.)Ward C. Burton Junior Development Award: Jenny Arnfelt (Arden Hills, Minn.)Jr. Team Tennis Organizer of the Year: TBANo-Cut Coach of the Year All-Star Team Award: Ryan Hoag (Minneapolis, Minn)Family of the Year: The Stingley Family - Tony, Ronda, David, Marc, Lisa and Langston (St. Paul, Minn.)Wolfenson/Ratner Community Service Award: Les Zellman (St. James, Minn.)Frank Voigt Pro of the Year Award: Ryan Myhre (Fargo, N.D.)Member Organization of the Year Award: Life Time Fitness – Lakeville (Lakeville, Minn.)
USTA Northern Annual Meeting November 22USTA Northern will host its 2013 Annual Meeting on Friday, Nov. 22, prior to the Awards
Dinner at The Minneapolis Club. The Annual Meeting is from 4:30-6:00 p.m., followed im-mediately by the Awards Dinner. The Annual Meeting is open to the public and all USTA Northern members are encouraged to attend.
ATTiRE iS BUSiNESS CASUAL AS NO JEANS OR TENNiS SHOES ARE ALLOWED iN THE MiNNEAPOLiS CLUB.
USTA Northern to Host Swingle & Jingle Mixed Doubles Event December 7
Ho! Ho! Ho! You asked for another event so mark your calendars for Saturday, Dec. 7, as USTA Northern plays host to the Swingle & Jingle Mixed Doubles Tourna-ment from 2:30-6:00 p.m. at the Reed Sweatt Family Tennis Center in South Minne-apolis. This fun, one-day event will feature play at the 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 levels with limited draw sizes and more tennis!
USTA Northern will provide snacks and beverages, while all players are asked to bring a plate of holiday treats to share. There will be holiday music and games, an “ugly sweater” contest and maybe even a visit from everyone’s favorite tennis player in red!
Entries open October 21 and are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Registration is $20 per person. Don’t delay as this event filled quickly in April, so find a partner and join us for some holiday cheer!
N RTHERN EXPOSURE
1001 West 98th Street, Suite 101Bloomington, MN 55431
(952) 887-5001 • (800) 536-6982Fax: (952) 887-5061
STAFF DIRECTORY
Kristi Bushinski (952-358-3280)Junior and Officials Programming Assistant [email protected]
Pat Colbert (952-358-3283)Assistant Executive Director/Director of Junior [email protected]
Jean Forbes (952-358-3292)Junior Teams [email protected]
Mike Goldammer (952-358-3284)Executive [email protected]
Cory Haugen (952-887-5001, ext. 0)Executive [email protected]
Brandon Jackson (952-358-3291)Director of Junior [email protected]
Carolyn Kramer (701-238-1515)Tennis Service Representative – North & South [email protected]
Nancy Lundberg (952-358-3286)Director of Adult [email protected]
Lisa Mushett (952-358-3282)Director of Marketing and [email protected]
Christine Nickels (952-358-3290)Director of Community [email protected]
Kelley Okerman (952-358-3287)Adult Competition Specialist/Twin Cities Area League [email protected]
James Poehler (952-358-3281)[email protected]
Sandy Smith (952-358-3288)Director of Membership & [email protected]
Tony Stingley (952-358-3289)Director of Training and [email protected]
Carol Thies (952-358-3285)Adult Competition [email protected]
www.northern.usta.com 5
Executive Director’s message
Why Not 10 and Under Tennis?
I love watching my boys play sports! For the past few years, it seems they have played them all. But of all the sports I have
watched over the years, I really love watching them play tennis!
I didn’t start playing tennis formally until the age of 12. Conversely, my boys, ages 8 and 9, started playing regularly at the beginning of the summer. Prior to this summer, they could hit the ball back and forth with mom and dad a few times without error, but rallies past six shots, and purposeful shot selection was the exception, not the rule. My wife and I made a conscious de-cision not to push our boys into tennis, but to allow them to guide us in their development.
As a tennis teaching professional for 20 years and a staff mem-ber of USTA Northern for almost 17, I’ve had the opportunity to see a wide range of tennis programs, growth initiatives and teaching methods, styles and preferences come and quickly go. I remember vividly using youth teaching equipment as a “rookie” tennis professional such as lizard skin balls, foam balls, teach-ing towers, and tethered serving aids to name a few. I used this equipment for the youngest kids in our classes (3-6 years old), primarily as a teaching aid. Thankfully, the youth equipment has evolved a great deal over the years.
A number of years ago, the USTA introduced an initiative called 36/60. It has changed names a few times over the years and is now called 10 and Under Tennis. The main components of this initia-tive include the modification of balls (red, orange and green), the court size (36-foot, 60-foot and 78-foot), the racquet length (21-27 inches), net height, age and scoring formats to make the game easier for kids. My boys started with red foam balls on 36-foot courts with 21-inch racquets a few years ago. They are now play-ing with the orange ball on 60-foot courts with 25-inch racquets.
The 10 and Under Tennis format is not unique to the United States. Various forms of this initiative are happening all over the tennis world. Tennis Canada has Progressive Tennis. Tennis Aus-tralia boasts Hot Shots Tennis. The Lawn Tennis Association in Great Britain has Mini Tennis. The International Tennis Federa-tion (ITF) has Tennis 10s Play and Stay. Belgium and Spain also had varying degrees of this system in place for many years. As a teaching professional, it’s easy to see why this system works. As a parent of two children who play tennis and have watched their development over the past four months, it’s absolutely incredible to see how far they have come so quickly.
The system makes it so much easier to learn proper and more advanced technique with lower bouncing balls, lighter racquets
which allow more racquet control and smaller courts that are easier to navigate. It’s easier for the kids to learn and understand the court, which makes for more advanced kids from a tennis-knowledge perspective. The kids are able to do so much more with the racquet, balls and court!
Over the past four months, with proper equipment, coaching (thanks Kathy!) and en-couragement, my boys have gone from uncon-ventional strokes and three to six shot rallies to 10-30 shot rallies with proper grips, stroke plains and spins. They can construct a point, move the ball from side-to-side, up and back and even low and high. They are also able to navigate the court from the baseline, hit effec-tive transition shots and even play the net.
The balls, racquets and courts have encour-aged longer points, which in my mind, is a terrific thing for their development. You only have to look at how the French and Spanish men compare to the U.S. men in the world rankings. Spain has 14 men in the top 100 world rankings (seven in the top 50). France has 13 in the top 100 (eight in the top 50). The U.S. has six men in the top 100 (two in the top 50) and three of them are 95, 98 and 100, respectively. Both France and Spain train and compete primarily on clay, which encourages longer rallies. Longer rallies reinforce the player’s need to understand the court, work points, improve foot-work, balance and foot speed and stay “in the moment” through-out a point.
I see the red, orange and green balls and smaller courts much the same. The lower compression balls allow kids to hit through the ball with confidence. The balls bounce lower which help in creating proper mechanics and stroke plains. The smaller courts make it easier to retrieve balls and keep the ball in play longer.
The biggest complaint I have heard over the years as to why kids don’t play or stick with tennis is it’s too difficult to learn. I beg to differ. I’ve seen it through two lenses as both a teaching professional and parent. I think tennis is easier than ever to learn, be successful and enjoy.
Will these changes produce more highly-ranked junior play-ers and American champions? Only time will tell. However, I do know kids will enjoy the sport more than ever if given the chance to learn it the right way. My kids are living proof of that!
See you on the courts!Mike Goldammer
6 magazine NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
Four Inducted Into USTa northern Hall of Fame
Over 150 people, including 21 current Hall of Famers, attend-ed as USTA Northern inducted four new members into its Hall of Fame September 27 at The Minneapolis Club in Minneapolis. Members of the Class of 2013 were Marcia Bach (Bloomington, Minn.), Dr. Charles “Chuck” Darley (originally from Rochester, Minn., now living in Iowa City, Iowa), Larry Dodge (originally from Fargo, N.D., and now living in Berkeley, Calif.) and Susie Neet (Minneapolis, Minn.).
Marcia BachMarcia Bach has dedicated over
40 years of service in growing not only the game of tennis, but park and recreation programming around the United States. Bach started her career in 1970 as the Recreation Supervisor and As-sistant Director for Bloomington Parks and Recreation in Blooming-ton, Minn. Her first ventures into tennis were developing tennis pro-gramming within the city of Bloom-
ington and serving as the Tournament Chair for the National Pub-lic Parks Tennis Association in 1979, 1985, 1992 and 2001.
In 1982, she joined the USTA Northern Board of Directors, and in 1987, became the first full time paid Executive Director of the Section (1987-2003). In her 16 years as Executive Director, she started with one full-time and two part-time employees and a budget of $100,000 and grew that to 12 employees and over $1.1 million by the end of her tenure.
After USTA Northern, she went to work for USTA National as the National Park and Recreation Tennis Coordinator. She was the coordinator of the USTA Northern Tennis Festival of the North in 2010, and has served in a number of USTA volunteer positions. Also, an avid player, Bach was a National Public Parks
Tennis Championships Finalist in 2003 and has played in many USTA and Bloomington Tennis Ladder leagues.
Over the years, Bach has won many honors and was inducted into the Bloomington Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. She is currently the Recreation Supervisor for Crystal Parks and Recs in Crystal, Minn.
Charles DarleyCharles “Chuck” Darley was one
of the most accomplished players to come out of USTA Northern. He compiled a high school record of 72-0 at Rochester John Marshall, and is one of only three players to win three Minnesota High School Boys Singles Championships. He was ranked in the top 20 of the country from 1961-64, topping out at #4 in 18s doubles and #10 in 16s singles.
Darley played college tennis at the University of California-Berkeley where he was a two-time All-American. He was an NCAA singles quarterfinalist in 1967 and a singles and doubles quarterfinalist in 1968. He was a three-time Northern California Intercollegiate singles champion and two-time doubles winner.
In 1967, Darley was ranked #20 in the U.S. in singles and #5 in doubles. During the three years he played U.S international-level tournaments, he faced 10 players ranked #1 in the world includ-ing Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith.
After earning his PhD, Darley taught tennis in Northern Califor-nia, served as a USTA National and Intersectional Coach and devel-oped a free lesson program in East Palo Alto, Calif. In 1984, he was named Head Women’s Tennis Coach at the University of Iowa and also served as Head Coach for the USTA Iowa Area Training Center.
Presently, he is the Tennis Director and Head Teaching Profes-sional for the Great River Tennis Association in Muscatine, Iowa.
Photos courtesy of Frank M
azzocco Photography
The 2013 USTA Northern Hall of Fame Class (from l to r): Charles Darley, Marcia Bach, Susie Neet and Larry Dodge.
Susie Neet is surrounded by her friends who helped her overcome ovarian cancer in the past year.
N RTHERN EXPOSURE
www.northern.usta.com 7
Darley is also a member of the Rochester, Minnesota Athletics Hall of Fame and the Iowa Tennis Hall of Fame.
Larry DodgeLarry Dodge is arguably the best
player to come out of North Da-kota. He attended North Dakota State where he won the North Central Conference men’s singles title in 1961. He won six consecu-tive North Dakota Closed singles and doubles titles from 1957-62 and won the Red River Valley Open five times in his career. He was ranked as high as #2 in the Section for men’s singles in 1967.
After moving to California, Dodge won 11 national senior titles and eight silver balls. His highest national rankings were #1 in USTA Men’s 60 Singles and 50 Doubles. He represented the Unit-ed States on USTA Senior Cup and International Club teams and at ITF events around the world. He won the 1994 USTA National 55 Hardcourt singles title and the 2000 USTA National Grass-court singles crown.
He was owner, architect and managing partner of La Madrona Swim and Racquet Club in Santa Cruz, Calif., from 1978-2012. He was also architect, in conjunction with other architects, for a number of public and private tennis facilities in California includ-ing The Taube Family Tennis Stadium at Stanford University, Hell-man Tennis Center at the University of California at Berkeley and the Golden Gate Park Tennis Center Upgrade in San Francisco.
Susie NeetSusie Neet has been a long-time
player and volunteer within the Section for over 30 years. She has been a ranked tournament player, high school coach, USTA Jr. Team Tennis coordinator, USTA League Tennis player and captain and has given her time and energy to a number of tennis-related causes, especially involving youth.
On the court, Neet’s USTA League teams advanced to seven
national championships. She has captained 4.5 League teams dur-ing her career and was ranked #1 in USTA Northern in Women 35s in 1992-93. She also was ranked in Women Open Singles from 1983-85, 35 Singles from 1986-93 and 45 Singles in 1992.
She was an assistant coach at Bloomington Jefferson when they won the state championships in 1993, 1995 and 1996, served as a coach at Minneapolis Washburn and Minneapolis Southwest, where she is currently the varsity girls coach.
Off the court, Neet has been a long-time volunteer with many programs and was the first at the Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center starting both the Girls Squad and the after-school pro-gram for at-risk kids from Minneapolis schools. She also was the volunteer coordinator for the USTA Northern Women’s $50,000 Professional Tournament from 1999-2007.
Neet is a past winner of USTA Northern Wolfenson/Rat-ner Community Service Award (2006) the Albert Teeter Adult Sportsmanship Award (1993).
Twenty-five Hall of Famers enjoyed the festivities including: Front row (l to r): Margie Champlin, Susie Neet, Betty Warner, John Desmond, Clifford Caine, Don Hendrickson, Mary Thompson, Bob Larson. Back row (l to r): Ron York, Charles Darley, Larry Dodge, Steve Champlin,
David Nash, Tom Fridinger, Jerry Pope, Joan Baker, David Mathews, Marcia Bach, Tim Butorac, Sue Gregor, Dick Riley, Gregg Wong, John Simko, David Yorks and Dave Healey.
Hey JB
Let’s Play Fantasy Tennis
Q. Hey JB… If you could have anyone’s forehand, whose would it be?
JB: Wow! That might be the best question in the history of this column. Where do I begin? Are we talking active players or all-time? Am I ranking strictly on quality and effectiveness? Do I have to face off with your first choice in a cross-court game? Or is this a cocktail party question—just the fantasy of getting to hit Player X’s forehand for a day? When I choose a stroke, am I just getting use of the stroke exactly as applied by the owner, or do I get all of the talent in-herent therein, with the ability to tailor it entirely to my own purposes? If I choose Juan Martin del Potro’s forehand, for instance, do I get to be 6’6”, but then also have to move and talk like Lerch from The Addams Family?
I can’t choose just one, so here are my Top Five, in order:
5. Rafael NadalRafa’s forehand is on the list with
death and taxes. It’s the single most dominant groundstroke ever. His serve has been downright mediocre at various points in his ca-reer, but he continues to roll out of bed and win the French Open. The primary reason it makes my list, though, is because I just want to know what it’s like to have a ball that heavy come off my racket and be able to physically torture people with it. What’s it like to make Feder-er hit shoulder high backhands until he cries and wants to go home? Generating Rafa’s forehand would be a lot of physical work, though, and my true fantasy forehand has to involve more ease of use, to utilize a Steve Jobs point of view.
4. Tomas BerdychThe Mark McGwire (for all you baseball peo-
ple out there) of forehands - near-flawless technique and timing married to a beastly 6’5” frame. It looks as though he’s barely swinging, and then the ball slams into the backstop and the guy on the other side hasn’t moved. It clocks in the 90s routinely. Must be a nice feeling!
3. Roger Federer (2004-2007)If you haven’t seen Federer in person, or if you’ve only been
watching him the last two or three years, it’s difficult to appreci-ate the racket speed he generates and how his forehand raised the bar for modern tennis. There is a quirk or two in his tech-nique that makes his forehand outrageously whippy at contact, and allows him to slap winners and shape seemingly impossible trajectories from the same backswing, all while deciding at the last minute which one of his four contact points he wants to hit from. The degree of difficulty is a 9.5 out of 10, especially with that 90-inch frame. If anybody in the history of the game had his timing, body and skill, they might attempt it. It’s funny watching young Grigor Dimitrov attempt to copy it. You’re no closer than I am, Grigor.
2. Juan Martin del PotroIn the summer of 2009, when he was healthy and winning the
US Open, he hit 10 or 15 forehands on national television that left fans, opponents and announcers utterly speechless. We’ve now gotten somewhat accustomed to it. As my doubles partner once said while watching a del Potro match, “I would give my left pinky to hit ONE forehand as hard as delPo hits EVERY forehand.”
1. Fernando GonzalezGonzo is, to my knowledge, the only player who has a nickname
based (primarily) on the fact that his basic approach to hitting the ball is considered irrational. His backswing on a typi-
cal forehand looks like what a sane person would do if he had just double faulted an
entire game away in practice and was about to send one into the parking lot. Announcers laugh, opponents shake their heads, and yet his balls routinely find the court. My favorite anecdote,
though, comes from a friend who sat directly behind Gonzo’s baseline
at the US Open. “I’ve never heard the sound of a player’s
racket accelerating through air before he hits it. It’s like a tornado.”
To see my fantasy team for the backhand, volley, overhead, serve and more,
visit www.northern.usta.com and look for
J.B.’s Fantasy Tennis.
8 magazine NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
Fernando Gonzalez
N RTHERN EXPOSURE
www.northern.usta.com 9
Steve Wilkinson Inducted Into USPTA Hall of Fame
USTA Northern Hall of Fame coach Steve Wilkinson (St. Peter, Minn.), Nick Bollettieri and Vic Braden joined the ranks of only 13 others when they were inducted into the United States Professional Tennis Association’s (USPTA) Hall of Fame on Sep-tember 27 at the USPTA World Conference during the annual awards presentation at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Fla.
“I cannot think of three other tennis-teaching giants who de-serve this recognition more than Nick, Vic and Steve,” said USP-TA CEO John Embree. “In their own individual ways they have contributed mightily to our mission of elevating the standards of tennis-teaching professionals and coaches across the country and around the world.”
Kathie Smith To Run NYC Marathon For USTA Northern
USTA Serves, the National Charita-ble Foundation of the USTA, and USTA Northern are partnering for ‘Run for a Cause’ on November 3 at the 2013 ING New York City Marathon.
USTA Northern is sponsoring Kathie Smith (Minneapolis, Minn.) to run the race and fundraise for USTA Northern. Smith is an avid tennis player and teaches in North Minneapolis. Running the NYC Marathon has been on her bucket list and gives her another opportunity to run for charity as she did at the Chicago Marathon in 2010.
“I have witnessed first-hand the potential many of these kids have, but will not reach due to the lack of money to send them to extra training, whether it be a sport, musical or academic endeavor,” Smith said. “This is just one more way I can get out there and help kids reach their potential.”
All donations Smith collects support USTA Northern. You can still donate to Smith at http://bit.ly/157it1c.
Libby Rickeman Wins National Sportsmanship Award
Congratulations to Libby Rickeman (Wayzata, Minn.) who won the Sports-manship Award at the Level 1 National Doubles Tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C. Rickeman and Zoe Klass-Warch (St. Paul, Minn.) won the 14s West draw at the event.
Natalie Lorentz Wins Dallas Regional
Natalie Lorentz (St. Louis Park, Minn.) won the singles championship at the USTA Girls 14 Regional tournament in Dallas, Texas. Lorentz, who was the fourth seed, upset top-seeded Madison Hwang (Frisco, Texas) 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals before tak-ing out the sixth seed, Jacy Smith (Bryan, Texas) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the finals.
Four USTA Northern Officials Work US OpenCongratulations to the following USTA Northern officials who
worked the 2013 US Open: Tim Kurtt (St. Paul, Minn.), Vyasa-char Mohan (Maplewood, Minn.), Jan Schreier (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Ron Jacobus ii (Lakeville, Minn.).
USTA Northern Looking For OfficialsCould you be the next US Open Official from USTA North-
ern? The Section is looking for Tennis Officials at all levels. Pay starts at $16 an hour. For more information, contact Kristi Bushinski at [email protected].
Jan Schreier calls lines during a Tommy Haas match at the 2013 US Open.
10 magazine NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
I went to school at a time when sports for girls didn’t exist. Not that I
could’ve played anyway – growing up on a farm meant endless work and no time for recreation.
Brought up in an abusive, unloving and lonely environ-ment, the words self-esteem and confidence were not in my vocabulary. It never oc-curred to me that I could be athletic.
Yet at age 27, when my boyfriend Roger put a ten-nis racquet in my hand and showed me how to take a swing, love of the game was at first grip.
Roger was a self-taught tennis player with an innate sense for figuring out the mechanics of a sport and then applying it. He played every sport, but excelled at tennis and went to the state championships when he was a senior in high school.
It’s often been said that men should never try to teach their partner a sport. And I’m sure learning would’ve been a lot easier with professional lessons, but at the time that was financially out of the question. So we were stuck with each other and he taught me the best he knew how.
We almost broke up one time over tennis. Instead, we mar-ried and forged on with the precarious balance between love and frustration.
Roger constantly challenged me. Every time I felt I was get-ting better, he hit the ball a little further away. I complained, “I can’t get to that ball.” “Yes, you can,” he insisted. “Always try for every ball. Never give up.”
After 10 years of playing only with Roger, I joined a flex league. Occasionally, I would win a game or two, but never a set. When I came home discouraged, I would get a pep talk from Roger about not giving up.
One year at Christmas, we decided on a homemade present. For me, tennis had become the bridge to many self-discoveries: confidence, self-esteem, believing, tenacity, succeeding, being not only a gracious loser, but a gracious winner as well, to never stop learning, to run really fast!
So my homemade present was a letter thanking him for
teaching me how to play tennis, how tennis had changed my life, had shaped our marriage and that in spite of all the disagree-ments on the court, he was the best tennis coach ever. This was presented with a trophy labeled World’s Best Tennis Coach.
Fast forward 20 years. We now owned a golf course and wintered in Florida. Upon moving there, I immediately joined a ten-nis team and made a lot of friends - another great ben-efit of tennis.
I soon became known for my quickness on the court. One time, during a match, I got to an unbelievable drop shot (at age 54 I might add) and my team captain Helga came up to me later and said, “No one else but you could’ve gotten to that
shot.” Thank you, Roger.Roger died suddenly four years ago. After his death, the only
thing I could do was play tennis. Swinging a tennis racquet, while at the same time wrestling with a tsunami of pain seemed insur-mountable.
Standing on the court that first time, I blinked away tears. But holding my tennis racquet gave me a focus and the swing remained through the crashing waves of grief.
In the eulogy I wrote for him, I talked about things he had taught me. I said that because of him I was famous for being the fastest “girlie” on the court. Little did I know, so many years ago that the thing he taught me was the thing that would save me after he was gone.
Tennis is defined as a game using racquets to hit a ball back and forth across a net. But tennis is so much more than that. There are dynamics that gradually surface, the invisible silent teachers that are part of the game.
Tennis has underlined the chapters of my life and in part de-fines who I am today. It gave me confidence as a player and as a person. Tennis taught me patience and perseverance; that you can’t always win but you can still get a good workout. The only thing that really matters in tennis, as in life, is that you give it your best shot. And that you never give up.
Tennis Life Lessons
by marlene Parkin
Marlene and Roger
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www.northern.usta.com 11
W hen you watch people attempt to hit the perfect shot or talk about stroke
technique, most only focus on the hand that is holding the racket. That can be a huge mistake. While there are two-handed forehands (i.e. Monica Seles, Fabrice Santoro, etc.), they tend to be the exception rather than the rule, and while two-handed backhands are quite common, generally the forehand and
the serve dictate the way the game is played today at almost all levels of play.
Not to discriminate against those who happen to be south-paws, but when I refer to the non-dominate hand, I will be saying left hand the rest of this article. What is the big deal about the left hand? Plenty!! The left hand serves many purposes in helping hit the ball. Here are just a few ways, and perhaps you might consider using it in your game, if you are not already.
Changing Your GripIf you change your grip, which
you probably do, the left hand is essential. Most players when changing their grip try to change with their dominant hand and consequently have a difficult time keeping a consistent grip as the racket is constantly twisting and turning. However, they are usually quite good at twirling the baton, but I digress. The grip should be changed with the top hand and the bottom hand should be relaxed when holding the racquet. Using the left hand is more consistent and quicker in terms of getting a good grip change from backhand to forehand or vice versa.
Tracking and SpacingBy tracking the incoming ball with your left hand on your
forehand side (think a shortstop backhanding a ball with his glove), you automatically turn your shoulders and perhaps more importantly you are able to gauge the distance between
you and the ball. Most folks are too close to the ball rather than too far away. Jeff Salzenstein, a former top-100 player in the world, likes the analogy of holding a beach ball between your arms so there is space between them.
Relaxing Your HandIn between points you should transfer the racquet to your left
hand. This helps your right hand stay relaxed. If you watch the top pros, they also hold the racket high in their left hand which conveys a positive body language as opposed to dropping the racket down and dragging it on the ground like a Neanderthal.
Tossing the BallThis may seem like a no-brainer, but the toss is the key to the
serve, and ultimately, the game of tennis. Vic Braden recently reported that they have mea-sured people’s ball tosses at his research facility and the longest toss they have seen is by a woman who tossed the ball over the back fence. A consistent toss leads to a consistent serve. Notice how the top servers in the world keep the left arm extended longer after the toss then of those servers who are inconsistent. A good toss should be where the server wants it so they can hit a balanced serve and not look like someone juggling a cantaloupe on their forehead.
Turning the PageYou use your left hand to turn
the pages of tennis books or periodicals so you can gather more information. Whether it be about strokes, tactics or Justin Baker’s guide to tennis stylings (see the last issue of Northern Exposure) - the left hand is important.
Balancing and Body Awareness
Finally the left hand helps with balance whether it is a counter-weight on a one-handed back-
hand, or a guide for the forehand, it helps a player maintain balance. Peter Burwash of Peter Burwash International says in his book Tennis for Life, “Remember… all mistakes on ground-strokes are the fault of the left hand. Think left hand!!”
The Forgotten Side by Bruce gullikson
“
“
Remember … all mistakes
on groundstrokes are the
fault of the left hand.
Think left hand!!
– Peter Burwash, World-
Renowned Coach and CeO of
Peter Burwash international
12 magazine NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
Northern Section League Champions
Congratulations to the following USTA Northern Section League Champions. They will be representing the Section at the 2013 USTA League Tennis National Championships in indian Wells, Calif., Rancho Mirage, Calif., or Tucson, Ariz., throughout September, October and November.
40 & Over Women
40 & Over Men
4.0 – Twin Cities (Captain: Jon Tretsven)
4.0 – Twin Cities (Captains: Kari Mack, Julie Woodstra)
3.5 – Twin Cities (Captains: Saul Selby, Eric Narvaez, Brad Struve)
3.5 – Twin Cities (Captain: Carol Thies)
3.0 – Bismarck (Captain: Sharon Beattie)
4.5 – Twin Cities (Captain: Bruce Gullikson)
4.5 – Twin Cities (Captains: Helen Gunther, Elisabeth Hurlburt)
N RTHERN EXPOSURE
www.northern.usta.com 13
18 & Over Women
3.0 - Rochester (Captains: Kristin Heywood, Amy Crockett)
2.5 Rochester(Captains: Amy Witter, Roxann Pike)
4.0 – Twin Cities (Captain: Georgia Kaiser)
3.5 - Twin Cities (Captains: Catherine Carney, Shirley Draz)
4.5 – Twin Cities (Captain: Jennifer Wallace)
18 & Over Men
3.5 – Twin Cities (Captains: Richard Breitman, Lee Post)
4.5 – Twin Cities (Captain: Bruce Gullikson)
4.0 – Twin Cities (Captains: Aaron Rosenbery, Dennis Labajo)
5.0 – Twin Cities (Captain: Adam Beduhn)
14 magazine NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
6.0 – Twin Cities (Captains: Carl Bigby and Mark Schweich)
7.0 – Twin Cities (Captain: Chris Homsey)
8.0 – Twin Cities (Captains: Mike Padilla, Patrice Meger)
9.0 – Twin Cities (Captain: Mike Johnson)
N RTHERN EXPOSURE
18 & Over Mixed Doubles
www.northern.usta.com 15
USTA National and Northern Grants Help grow Community Tennis
Many communi-ties and pro-grams within
USTA Northern have been on the receiving end of fi-nancial grants from USTA National and/or the Sec-tion in helping promote and develop the game of tennis on a local level. Read all about these excit-ing recent projects in our Section made possible by these grants.
For more information on how your community might qualify for future grants on a Section or Na-tional level, please con-tact Christine Nickels, USTA Northern Director of Community Tennis, at [email protected].• St. Paul Urban Ten-
nis (St. Paul, Minn.) – $3,000 from USTA Northern for its Lead-ership Academy to help grow the competitive piece by financing and transporting 20 kids to two USTA Tournaments dur-ing the winter season. In return, these kids volunteer service hours to the SPUT program in hopes of developing future leaders within the organization.
• Columbia Heights High School (Columbia Heights, Minn.) – $2,000 to provide low-income students with transportation to the free Saturday program at InnerCity Tennis in Minne-apolis.
• Missouri Family YMCA (Bismarck, N.D.) – $1,500 Com-munity Tennis Grant to purchase modified equipment (balls, racquets, nets) for a new 10U Program. The YMCA serves over 3,000 kids with many of Native American decent.
• innerCity Tennis (Minneapolis, Minn.) – $3,000 to purchase modified equipment (balls, racquets, nets) that was introduced at 23 park sites around Minneapolis this summer.
• Eau Claire YMCA (Eau Claire, Wis.) – $4,340 from USTA National and $500 from Northern to help in resurfacing the five existing indoor courts and the addition of blend-ed lines on each court.
• Mankato East and West High Schools (Manka-to, Minn.) – $55,000 from USTA National and $15,000 from USTA Northern for seven new courts with a viewing area at East and three new courts at West and four existing courts resurfaced.
• Pierre Tennis Asso-ciation (Pierre, S.D.) – $5,000 from USTA National and $3,000 from USTA Northern for the resurfacing of six courts and the addition of 10U blended lines for school and community programming. Also, the following com-
munity tennis and program leaders received scholar-ships to the 2013 USTA
Youth Provider and Tennis Develop-ment Workshop October 31-No-vember 3. in Denver, Colo.: Chris Dummermuth (Sioux Falls Tennis Association, Sioux Falls, S.D.); Lea Favor, Sean Kangrga (Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center, St. Paul, Minn.); Emma Larson (Choice
Health & Fitness, Grand Forks, N.D.); Craig Gordon (Life Time Fitness, Twin Cities); Matt Boughton (Eau Claire YMCA, Eau Claire, Wis.); Mike Vidmar (Reed Sweatt Family Tennis Center, Minneapolis); Katrina Hanenberg (Bismarck Parks and Recre-ation, Bismarck, N.D.); Paul Vang (InnerCity Tennis, Minneapolis); Becky Cantellano (St. Paul Urban Tennis, St. Paul, Minn.); Jessie Daw (Aberdeen Tennis Association, Aberdeen S.D.); Sadie Rein-ers (Hastings Tennis Association, Hastings, Minn.); Baylee Robin-son (Williston Parks and Rec, Williston, N.D.) and Joseph LaFleur (Cook County Tennis Association, Grand Marais, Minn.).
Pierre Ribbon Cutting October 7, 2013
Eau Claire YMCA indoor Tennis Center, Eau Claire, Wis.
