Monday, December 17, 2012

December Musings

Tennis Toronto AGM Attendees
Regional News

This time of year has again been busy with Regional AGMs. I've attended meetings for West Central, STF, Tennis Toronto and Southwest regions. All have been very informative and those who attended found the interactions and discussions very helpful. Adrian Baldeo will be stepping down as regional chair in April, along with committee members Rita Lee and Arthur Wolf. Please join me in thanking Adrian and his team for their leadership over the last twelve years and we wish them well in the future. Please also welcome Alan Maguire as the new chair of Tennis Toronto along with his new team of volunteers. Alan has been actively involved on the committee in the past and will be a great addition to our Board.


OTA ED Jim Boyce with STF Board
OTA Southwest Region Chair Wayne Saigeon greets members

West Central Regional Chair Julio DiCresce



Faceoff 2012

For the second year in a row, Canadian superstar Milos Raonic held his Faceoff event at the ACC in front of a crowd of about 6000. I was fortunate enough to have a front row seat at the event...actually an on-court spot right behind the players, as one of 14 line officials trying to track their serves and groundstrokes. The atmosphere was even more electric than last year, and having Andy Roddick and Serena Williams there just added to the excitement. I can't count how many times the fans sitting at court level at either end of the court got hit with serves from Milos and Andy over the course of the evening. It was even more amazing trying to get a good look at where that ball was landing, especially with the bright lights overhead. Overall a fun evening!
 
 
Future Stars Tour

This is the second year of OTA's Future Stars Tour, with over 170 unique competitors in the U9 and U10 age categories. Over 40 stops were held during the 2012  Indoor and Outdoor season. I was happy to attend their yearend recognition event at ORC on Dec 15th. The top 15 players attended and were treated to a hour of tennis drills followed by a tasty lunch and awards ceremony. Thanks to Tennis Canada for helping to sponsor the event - it will be launched Canada-wide in 2013 and of course be run for the third year in Ontario. For more pictures of the event, check out our Facebook Page.

 

OTA Strategic Planning Update

Another key meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee wrapped up recently and I believe we have some important updates to share with OTA member clubs. Thanks to the entire committee for taking the extra time and reflection required to analyze the changing tennis landscape and translate that into some new and fresh initiatives that will lead the association over the next four years. All our OTA club presidents will have a chance to provide feedback this month on the draft plan before the Board approves in March 2013. If you haven't seen a draft copy yet, please contact your regional chair.


On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of the Ontario Tennis Association, I would like to wish you and your families a very happy and safe holiday season.

 


Sincerely,

Scott Fraser, OTA President



 
L-R: Rob Nicholls, Liz Wood, Sid Schecter, Dianne Weatherby,
Wayne Saigeon, Jackie Sheehy, Simon Bartram, Scott Fraser,
Michel Lecavalier, Adrian Baldeo, Dale Roberts, Miro Ejem,
Jim Boyce, Julio DiCresce, Steve Andrews
Missing: Dayle Levine

Friday, November 2, 2012

10th Annual Distinguished Service Awards 2012

The Distinguished Service Award is the Ontario Tennis Association’s highest honour. On Saturday, October 20, three deserving individuals received this award, presented to them at a dinner held at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club: Jimmy Wong from Thorncliffe Park Tennis Club,  Meg Fletcher from the Scarboro Bluffs Tennis Club and Betty Webster from Dundas Hamilton Thistle Club. It is important to point out that all our DSA recipients are volunteers. Their commitment to tennis and their community is an inspiration to volunteers in clubs throughout the province.

Jimmy, Betty, Meg, thank you again for your lifelong contribution to tennis and for setting the standard for present and future directors, club executives and volunteers at all levels of our sport.
If you know someone who might quality for this award, please visit our website and complete the DSA nomination form prior to April 30, 2013.

More pictures of the night can be found on our Facebook Page!
 
DSA Winner Betty Webster with friend Doug
OTA President Scott Fraser, OTA Past President Michel Lecavalier and OTA Club member Christine Barachina with DSA winner Jimmy Wong


Scott and Michel present DSA to Jimmy Wong


Scott and Michel present DSA to Betty Webster









Scott and Michel present DSA to Meg Fletcher



DSA Winners Meg Fletcher, Jimmy Wong, Betty Webster
 

Salad buffet at the Cricket
 








Past STF Presidents: Natalie Wong, Rob Nicholls, Meg Fletcher with current STF President Dianne Weatherby

 

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Giving Thanks - A Veritable Feast of Regional Activity

STF Tournament Gets Media Attention

I love it when clubs and regions provide feedback on all the activities and tournaments that are happening in their community. That's why I am so impressed at what the Scarborough Tennis Federation (STF) is doing to promote grassroots tennis. STF held their annual Junior tournament on Sep 29 at the West Rouge Tennis Club in six age categories. All STF clubs are OTA-member clubs and send competitors to play at this regional event. STF's main goal is to provide their juniors with opportunities to experience tournament match play, consequently preparing them for future participation in OTA tournaments.

This year, the final results were even posted in the Toronto Sun, thanks to STF Media Relations contact Glenn Sutherland. I encourage all clubs and communities to work hard to provide playing and competing opportunites for young children. Let your local community paper know about what's happening and they will be more than happy to report results and spread the word that tennis is fun for kids of all ages.


Under 12 Boys Singles Finalists. James Quinlan from Charlottetown Tennis Club defeated Vaseehar Ajanthan from North Bendale Tennis Club. Also pictured is OTA Regional Chair and STF President Dianne Weatherby

Can-Am Tennis Tournament at Fort Erie Tennis Club

Scott Maskell from Fort Erie wrote to me last week and reported that, "The 2012 Can Am Tournament was a huge success with 96 participants and many spectators from the United States and the Southern part of Ontario". The tournament was in mid June and included dinner on the Friday night, breakfast and lunch on the Saturday and lots of prizes. Here were the final standings:

Mixed Doubles :

Grand-Final: Sheri Perdziak & Drew Puleo defeated Mary-Anne Grande & Sam Deora
Consolation Final: Alex Kemeter & Kathi Plugg defeated Wendy Haggerty & Andy Olvet

Mens Doubles :

Grand Final: Mike Robinson & John Giocoechea defeated Scott Gould & Russ Reinagel (see picture below)
Consolation Final: Chris Bonn & Tim Cochrane defeated Tady Saczkowski & John Goodin

Ladies Doubles :

Grand Final: Thitima Christopher & Kathy Goodin defeated Lisa Noworyta & Erica Weiss (by injury default)
Consolation Final: Cheryl Athoe & Tami Micallef defeated Chris Trefiak & Marlene Mader


Men's Doubles Winners & Finalists


South West Region Serves Up Success at the Niagara Academy of Tennis
 
Thanks to Maureen Chudyk for writing in and reporting that, "It was a very successful summer at the NiagaraAcademy of Tennis." Along with their high performance international summer camp, they hosted six (6) South West Regional events for players from U10 to Adult. The regional competitions were well attended and the blend of international and local players gave it a special flavour. One of the highlights of the tournaments was a weekly BBQ for all the competitors. The OTA funding from the region helped make all of this possible. It provided the resources to have staff to organize the events and to purchase prizes and trophies to the winners.
Juniors Winners are all Smiles!
 
Positive Feedback is Always Welcome

It's human nature to focus on the negative aspects of a service organization. I read articles in the Toronto Star all the time from columnist Ellen Roseman about how Bell or Rogers or whatever organization is treating customers badly. The OTA is a service organization and our great staff never forget that when dealing with club questions and issues. The recent OTA club survey reflected the positive experiences that clubs have had with staff members and regional volunteers when requesting service, asking questions or resolving problems. I recently received some very positive feedback from Brighton Tennis Club in East region, telling us that the regional chair, Dale Roberts, provided some OTA-branded clothing to the club for their yearend tournament. In the words of member Kathryn Corbett,

"Now, on our courts and all around Brighton, people will see that snazzy Wilson shirt and those crisp OTA T-shirts being worn with pride ... We have included a link to OTA on our Brighton Tennis Club website to be sure our members are aware of the role OTA plays in our province and community ... Thank you for doing your part to keep tennis a vital part of our town".

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to provide praise for all the good things being done to help promote tennis. Keep the emails coming!

More pictures?  LIKE our OTA Facebook Page!

 

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Community Tennis at its Best - Valois

I know the OTA is all about promoting tennis in Ontario, but after just returning from working the Steve Stevens Senior Nationals in Montreal, I couldn't help but tell you about a hidden treasure of a community club in Pointe Claire, QC - the Valois Tennis Club.

During Aug 18-25, Valois hosted the Men's and Women's over 60 events and the Women's over 55 event on their beautifully maintained five har-tru tennis courts. There are a lot of beautiful tennis clubs across Canada, but I must say that what sets Valois apart from many others is "heart". The volunteers that work tirelessly to maintain the courts and clubhouse and bring cheer to all those who play there are simply top notch in my books!

Here is a special shout-out to my friends: Tom Brown, who participated as both a player and Valois go-to guy, ensuring the courts were groomed continuously after each match. No request was considered a problem. Then we had the ladies behind the tournament desk, Sandra Crombie, Marie Fitzsimons and daughter Sarah. These ladies did an amazing job, signing in all the players, recording match scores, assigning and collecting balls, contacting players MIA, taking any special request (however odd) with smile and grace. As if that wasn't enough, we also had Fred Ross and Don working double duty on court maintenance, food prep and everything in between. A special thanks to Tom's wife, Kitty, who put in extra duty not only to help out on the tournament desk, but prepared some amazing healthy food platters for the players and officials. And let me not forget Coco, Don's wife, who worked her magic to get me on an earlier flight home.

Bottom line, everyone at Valois makes you feel special. And everyone there genuinely loves what they do to keep the club humble and inviting. Do you think your club possesses this type of heart and soul? If so, we'd like to hear from you. Leave your comments on this blog entry or LIKE the OTA facebook page and leave your comments there.

More photos of the event can be found on the OTA Facebook page.

See you on the courts!
Scott Fraser, OTA President





Sandra, Scott, Betty, Don and Coco

The Valois Family with Officials Scott Fraser and Betty Birmingham


Fred, Sandra, Tom, Don

Sampling of Gourmet offerings! Thanks Kitty!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Rogers Cup 2012 Toronto

This was my first Rogers Cup as president of the OTA, and boy was it a busy week! As soon as I returned from Ottawa Open/Roman Cup, I jumped on court Sunday as line official for some of the qualifier matches with the likes of Fognini, Reynolds, Berrer, Dodig, Odesnik, Gabashvili, Ebden and Stakhovsky. The opening weekend is a good time for us line officials to warm up our eyes and begin getting used to the fast servers. There was also a bit extra pressure this year as the Grand Stand (GS) was outfitted with the Hawk-Eye technology to allow player challenges, just like on Centre Court. I also worked line calls on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I would say my highlight was Wed afternoon at about 2pm when I spent about 30 minutes on court with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Jeremy Chardy. That was my first time on Centre court and what a thrill to be calling lines for these players!

Ready to go on court


Seventh Annual OTA Presidents' Day


Monday gave me a day break to meet many of the OTA member club reps attending Presidents' Day at the Buick Pavilion. This marks the 7th year holding this event and it is always well attended. I'm sure we had nearly 200 attendees. For those who've never attended, it's a chance to network with like-minded volunteers who work hard to maintain an active club and promote tennis to their members. The agenda is not too heavy...a nice continental breakfast followed by some introductions of the staff and board, and this year a quick update by myself on the results of the OTA survey that was distributed electronically a few months ago. The full results will be published in the September issue of OT Magazine. After a few draws for prizes and a few photos, everyone left for the courts to watch some exciting matches. Thanks to everyone for attending!


For more photos of the entire week at Rogers Cup ATP, go to the OTA facebook page.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Ottawa Tennis Scene

My visit to Ottawa Aug 1-4 quickly proved to me that the nation's capital has a vibrant tennis community, boasting 34 clubs and over 394 courts. The community of clubs, together with the NCTA - National Capital Tennis Association (a region of the OTA) have developed tour players, NCAA scholarship players, top ranked provincial players and everyday club players over the years. However ...

As with many clubs in other regions, Ottawa clubs have their share of challenges. Clubs have difficulty growing their programs to attract new players and many have limited funds for facility improvements. This, combined with limited funding from the City of Ottawa and slow penetration of tennis in the school system has given Ottawa clubs a reason to rethink or at least revitilize their approach to growing the sport.

One of the reasons for visiting Ottawa with OTA Executive Director Jim Boyce was to outline a value proposition to a group of invited clubs to help them address their existing issues and set them on a positive course moving forward to grow participation in the sport. NCTA president Sean Sweeney and Ottawa park and rec manager Ward Cosman are especially eager to promote the benefits of the OTA and also attended. I think some real interest was generated and it is my hope that the OTA can work in closer partnership with these clubs so they do become part of the OTA tennis family. Stay tuned for future updates.

Ontario Open / Roman Cup


My wife and I also got a chance to visit a number of the beautiful clubs in Ottawa. One in particular, the Rideau Tennis Club will be celebrating its 100th anniversary later this year, and has been host to the annual Ontario Open / Roman Cup for many years now. This year there were 60 adults entered for the Open and over 200 juniors for the Roman Cup. The Roman Cup receives generous donations from Mike Cowpland and his wife. The event has been held annually since 2008, in memory of their son, Roman Kowalski Jr., who tragically passed away at the age of 22 in the summer of 2007. Roman had been a very successful tennis player all his life.

The club boasts 11 clay courts and eight hard courts in a beautiful setting next to the Rideau River. The day prior to the start of the Open/Roman Cup, a fun Pro-Am tournament is played, and yours truly decided to enter this year as one of the Ams. Guest pro Ted Thompson and I teamed up and had some exciting matches against our opponents. The matches were followed by a nice BBQ, presentations and a silent auction. Our day on Friday was spent enjoying many of the juniors matches on court.

Many thanks to Rideau Club manager Janet Van Bakel and Head Pro Zhenya Kondratovski for hosting such a wonderful event! More photos can be found on the OTA Facebook Page.

Scott at Entrance to Rideau

Scott with NCTA President Sean Sweeney, Roman Cup sponsor Mike Cowpland and OTA ED Jim Boyce

Sunday, July 15, 2012

President's Blog for July 2012

Cleves

The last week of June my wife and I attended our second year at Cleveland's House. Cleve's is a great family resort in the Muskoka Lakes area, offers all-inclusive packages for a comfortable stay, great food and plenty of activities. There are also 16 hardcourts on the property and this particular week they offer their "tennis bootcamp" where head pro Hugh Smith brings in additional guest pros to conduct extensive group instruction, drills and round robins. For six full days, we spent anywhere from 4-6 hours on the court. It's the best warm-up for the summer tennis season you can get and I highly recommend it. There were players attending at all levels. Our schedule for a typical day was something like:

  • 8:00   am - rise & shine
  • 9:00   am - buffet breakfast
  • 10:00 am - hit the courts for drills and skills development
  • Noon        - break for hot tub, get ready for lunch inside or on the patio
  • 2:00   pm - hit the courts for more drills and practice
  • 3:15   pm - stick around for two sessions of organized round robins
  • 4:30   pm - pool or hot tub break before dinner
If you're so inclined, you can partake in spa treatments, boating on the lake and nightly entertainment down at Duke's bar. Many new changes were in place this year which made the experience even better. Newly hired chef Jason MacArthur and his team put together an amazing menu and culinary experience for everyone; the food is certainly one of the highlights of the stay.

Cleves is an associate member of the OTA and is providing special discounts for their various vacation packages.  Special thanks to resident pros Hugh and Maddy along with guest pros Gary, Max, Lorent and Andrew for putting on a great tennis workout week!


Pros L-R: Maddy, Gary, Hugh, Lorent, Max, Andrew


Boot Camp Team with Pros


Visiting Roger Martin

I was fortunate enough to get some time with the Chair of Tennis Canada, Roger Martin, in early July. Roger is also Dean of the Rotman School of Management at U of T and has written and lectured extensively on strategy, integrative thinking and productivity. We spent some time discussing how the competitive tennis landscape in Canada has changed (for the better) over the last eight or more years. One of Roger's biggest contribution to tennis in Canada during his tenure as chair has been his ability to apply his strategic expertise to refocus Tennis Canada and ensure the development budget has increased from $2M eight years ago up to $12M for this year. Producing top players takes investment and time with proper coaching and training, and it would appear TC is starting to see this investement pay off, first with Milos Raonic, and now recently with big wins at Wimbledon for Filip Peliwo (ranked #1) and Eugenie Bouchard (ranked #2). All three are direct products of the National Training Centre in Montreal. Let's hope this trend continues and those players in the spotlight now are just the tip of the iceberg for better things to come.

And of course I would be remise if I didn't credit the wonderful work of the OTA and the other provinces in providing a feeder system for TC. OTA provides by far the largest number of sanctioned events of any province combined with an outstanding schools tennis program and club support system. All these components ensure as many kids as possible have access to the sport from an early age, which increases the probability that a select few will take their skill to the professional level.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

President's Blog for June 2012

I was out the other night playing my Intercounty match at Richmond Hill Lawn T.C. (RHLTC) and saw president Mike Bowcott mingling with the members. RHLTC as you might remember just celebrated their 50th anniversary. The club has had an amazing transformation, from rebuilt courts, new fencing and lighting, new brick walkways and patio, new seating areas and great landscaping. The town finally put some money into this facility after many years of neglect, thanks to Mike and his team's hard work dealing with the mayor and councilors to free up the money. I spent some time talking with Mike about growing the game and he is a big proponent of grassroots tennis for young kids (ages 5-8), and is continuing to work with the town to have some additional public courts in the area redone with proper tennis surfacing so that camps, lessons and even leagues can be started. Negotiating these kinds of changes and improvements is always tough but Mike seems to have the town's attention, and I wish him luck.

My own home club (Markham T.C.) was incorporated this year and now has the opportunity to apply for grant funding to upgrade their tennis facilities. The largest funding available is through Trillium. Many people don't know that by simply incorporating their club, they open up a whole new source of revenue through these granting options. If you read through the requirements, it specifically indicates: "....We help sports and recreation organizations in their efforts to be more effective and responsive to community needs and fund new equipment and the repair of community facilities to improve access to sports and recreation." I know the president, Donna Carpenter, will be working hard with her executive to apply for and capture available funding to hopefully upgrade that dated clubhouse, replace the deck and perhaps even look at putting a case together to bubble the courts during the winter. The OTA can help in all those areas so I encourage clubs thinking about this to give the office a call and discuss it further.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

President's Blog for May 2012

Volunteers form the cornerstone of our sport across Ontario. Without all of you and your countless hours invested in growing tennis in the local community and beyond, tennis would not be growing in popularity. In fact, according to the Canadian Tennis Brand Health Study commissioned by Tennis Canada in 2011, there continues to be growth in the number of Canadians who play tennis at least once per year - 4.9M in 2011, up 3% from 2010.

The OTA President Survey was released to our member club contacts on Apr 20 and already we've received about 25 surveys back with some very valuable feedback. My hope is to reach at least a 25% return rate by the survey close date of July 20th. I encourage all club Presidents to complete the survey sooner rather than later.

The Ontario Sport Awards dinner was held April 19 at the Ontario Place Atlantic Pavilion, celebrating Ontario's finest athletes, coaches, volunteers and corporate sponsors (like having a DSA at the provincial level). The 2011 recipient of the Syl Apps volunteer award as nominated by the OTA went to Gus Morhart, with the corporate sport citation going to Marco Distler of Miele Canada. Each sports association in Ontario is allowed to nominate one outstanding individual and corporation in these categories annually. Congratulations to both Gus and Miele.

Had a chance to drop by for the kickoff of the Philpott Art Auction fundraiser held at the Movie Poster gallery at 1875 Leslie St. Unit 18. Featured some nice drawings and watercolours from the late artist Allan James Cunnington. Daniel Nestor wine tasting provided by Peter Jensen of NEXUS wine group. You could also bid on an autographed 6-bottle case of Nestor win. All proceeds went to the Philpott Inner-City children's tennis fund. Thanks to the ladies of Philpott: Ceciley Parker, Sharon Arnold and Eleanor O'Gorman.

Met Susanne Pacher, VP at the Thorncliffe Park Tennis Club during the OTA's AGM meet & greet. Very nice lady who is working hard to make a difference for the hundreds of high-need families in that part of Toronto. She is looking for funding opportunities to help partially or fully subsidize a four week tennis program for the kids in the neighborhood. Canadian Tire Jumpstart program is one such source which may work out for this club. Good luck and I hope to hear more about the club's successes over the summer.

Dropped by Tennis Canada's COE the other day and met Victor Krustev's mom. If you check the 2011/2012 OT Magazine yearbook you'll see that Victor was ranked #1 in the U12 age category as of the end of 2011, and is currently #2 in the U14 category. I remember Victor when he attended one of the tournaments I held at the Markham Tennis Club way back in July of 2006. He was around 7 years old at the time and I knew right away he would be making an impact on the tennis scene. Victor is currently sidelined with an injury and needs a number of months to recover. These are the challenges faced by a lot of juniors who work extremely hard from an early age, but sometimes their bodies don't behave quite the way they expect. Victor is recovering well and we all wish him a speedy recovery to get back on the courts real soon!

The 2015 Pan and Parapan Games being held in Toronto and surrounding GTA is only three short years away. The sport of tennis will be well represented and there will be more announcements and feature events occurring as we get closer to the date. On May 4, CIBC,  as the lead partner, announced it is donating $1M in athletic scholarships over the next 10 years to encourage athletics and education. I was on hand for the announcement and also was able to see the future site of the CIBC Athlete's village that will be built just east of Front and Parliament in Toronto. The artist's rendering of the area looks amazing and will leave a lasting legacy of affordable housing and new condo spaces.

Met our new female rep for Tennis Canada National Seniors Committee, Jennifer Bishop. What a nice gal and full of energy, enthusiasm and new ideas. The committee is an advisory committee that exists to support, guide and promote Tennis Canada’s Seniors Tennis mandate. Jennifer is originally from Newfoundland and grew up playing competitive tennis from an early age. We look forward to her contributions. Congratulations Jennifer!

Saturday, May 5 was a busy day for summer club openings. The weather behaved so I was able to get out to my home club, Markham Tennis Club. I've been a member of MTC for 20 years with my family and it continues to foster a friendly and social environment. Past President Jim Fehr and incoming President Donna Carpenter were on hand to ensure all had a great time.

Next visit was the 50th anniversary celebration at Richmond Hill Lawn Tennis Club. RHLTC was founded in 1960 and located to their present location in the late 1970's. President Mike Bowcott addressed the crowd of about 150 and noted that back in the 60's, family membership was $35 while individual adult membership was $15, and a bottle of coke was a nickel. Mayor Dave Barrow addressed the attendees and presented the club with a 50th anniversay certificate.  Snacks, drinks and a special cake were served to all visitors and founding members Sam (age 91) and Joan Malcomson were on hand to visit with members and recall fond memories of the early years.

Last Words : I invite everyone to visit both the OTA website and the OTA's facebook page often, as I make attempts to maintain a social media presence in the tennis world. As of this writing, you can find a variety of pictures of great volunteers, events and celebrations on facebook. I am happy to promote any event or milestone going on in your region using the same tools.  Please send me pictures featuring your favourite event, volunteer or activity and I'll do my best to get it some recognition. Or better yet, invite me to attend and I'll take pictures!