ParentingAces - The Junior Tennis and College Tennis Podcast

Wouldn't it be awesome if you could find a teaching pro who actually had a college degree in Tennis? What if she had an in-depth knowledge not only of teaching forehands and backhands but also sport psychology, injury prevention, nutrition, and communication? Well, thanks to several hard-working and forward-thinking folks, the Professional Tennis Management (PTM) Certificate is now a reality!

Coach Jorge Capestany, the Head Tennis Coach at Hope College, is leading the charge to create the PTM program at his school and chats with us this week about what that program will entail, how he is recruiting students to participate, and what will set these newly-educated professionals apart from their peers.

USTA is working hard to expand the number of PTM programs around the US in order to raise the bar for those calling themselves Tennis Teaching Professionals. My hope is that we will see a big uptick in the quality of coaching in our country which will make the Tennis Parent's job easier when it comes to choosing a coach for his/her junior player and will grow the sport at the same time.

Jorge is still developing the program and is actively seeking input on courses, curricula, and other aspects of the Certificate. If you have thoughts to share with him, you can reach him via email at [email protected].

Find Jorge online here.

Read more about the Hope PTM Certificate at hope.edu/ptm

Watch the Hope PTM PowerPoint presentation here.

Thank you to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the ParentingAces website.

 

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If you're a Tennis Parent or Coach, you know how frustrating it is to travel to a tournament only to find out the Tournament Director has decided to use short scoring due to weather or other impediments to play. This week's podcast guest, Mark Milne, has a great solution to present.

Thirty30 Tennis presents a format where players start each game at the score 30-all then play out the game from there, deuces and all. This is not about no-ad scoring. It is not about sets played to 4. The only change is that each game now starts at 30-all. That's it. Everything else stays exactly the same.

Since tennis seems to keep trying to shorten matches in order to maximize tv exposure and grow its fan base, maybe Mark's Thirty30 Tennis is just the solution everyone is looking for? 

Mark mentions Dave Miley in our conversation - you can listen to my podcast with Dave here.

Mark's call to action for all of us is to give his format a try then report the results and our thoughts on Thirty30 Tennis to him so he can compile the results into a report for the ITF in hopes of getting this format approved for play across all levels.

I hope you enjoy listening to Mark's beautiful Scottish Brogue as he explains Thirty30 Tennis to all of us! Please pardon the technical snafus - I am still searching for the perfect solution to doing podcasts with my guests who are based outside the US.

You can find Mark and Thirty30 Tennis online at thirty30tennis.com and as @thirty30tennis so be sure to follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. You can email Mark at [email protected]. Read more about Thirty30 Tennis in Mark's article for The Tennis Review here.

The ITF Rules of Tennis are online here. Be sure to check out Appendix 5 on Page 25!

Thank you to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the ParentingAces website.

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As of the taping of this week's podcast, there are 4 former college players in the Top 100 of the ATP and 2 former college players in the Top 100 of the WTA. It begs the question: is college tennis really a pathway to the pros? 

In this week's podcast, Todd Widom discusses how juniors should use college as a step in their overall development process. He also talks about the Junior ITF pathway and what a Junior ITF ranking may or may not mean in terms of college recruiting.

As always, Todd tells it like it is, no holds barred! He shares his own college tennis experience and how it shaped him in preparation for a professional tennis career. He also shares conversations he's had with college coaches about how they view rankings and ratings.

You can find Todd online at www.twtennis.com.

Thank you to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

Thank you to Bill Kallenberg for sharing his photo of John Isner as a Georgia Bulldog. See more of Bill's photography at capturedinaction.com

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the ParentingAces website.

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Mark Young started playing tennis as a junior in Australia training under relatively strict conditions. When his dad came home one day and announced he was moving the family to the US, the captain of the local high school team took Mark under his wing and helped him develop into a very proficient college player at Oberlin College, a top D3 program in Ohio. 

Fast-forward many years where Mark and his wife joined the faculty of USC in Southern California as part of the accounting department. Anyone who is familiar with USC sports will understand how Mark quickly became one of the tennis team's biggest supporters and fans, so much so that he decided to write an entire book chronicling the history of this great program, TROJAN TENNIS.

In this week's episode, Mark discusses his connection to the USC Trojan Men's Tennis Team and why he felt it important to document its story. He did extensive research in USC's Doheny Library, called and emailed a variety of past USC players, and spent an incredible amount of time interviewing current and past coaches. The result is a comprehensive history of one of the greatest - and winningest - college tennis programs in US history.

There are so many lessons to learn from Mark's book and from this week's podcast! Please listen and share with your junior players!

You can purchase TROJAN TENNIS online here. 

Read more about Mark in his bio:

Dr. S. Mark Young holds the George Bozanic and Holman G. Hurt Chair in Sports and Entertainment Business at the University of Southern California. Dr. Young is also a Professor of Accounting in the Leventhal School of Accounting and holds joint appointments as Professor of Management and Organization in the Marshall School of Business, and Professor of Communication and Journalism in the Annenberg School of Communication. He is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Peking University. Previously, Young served as the Associate Dean of the Marshall MBA Program. He is also a New York Times and Los Angeles Times Bestselling Author. 

Professor Young received an A.B. from Oberlin College (Economics), an M. Acc. from the Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. (Accounting) from the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests are in the areas of management accounting and control, the business of the creative industries, and the sociology of collecting and futurism. His book (coauthored with Pinsky, The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America, (Harper Collins, 2009), is an analysis of how celebrity acting out behavior is having a profoundly negative impact on today’s youth and our society. This book was on both the New York Times and LA Times Best Selling Lists. Within the Marshall School of Business, Mark developed the Business of the Creative Industries concentration, an academic program in which MBA students can learn about the business side of the motion picture, television, music and games industries. Young teaches the core course in the program, “Management and Organization of the Creative Industries.”  

Within management accounting he has published over 40 articles that focus on how the design of management accounting and control systems influences human behavior and performance in a wide variety of organizational contexts. In 2006, his book Implementing Management Innovations: Lessons Learned from Activity Based Manufacturing in the U.S. Automobile Industry (co-authored with Shannon Anderson, Kluwer Academic Press) won the Notable Contribution to the Management Accounting Literature Award from the American Accounting Association – the highest research award given in academic accounting. He has coauthored the text, Management Accounting, Information for Decision Making and Strategy Execution (6th Edition, Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2012) with Robert Kaplan (Harvard), Anthony Atkinson (Wilfred Laurier) and Ella Mae Matsumura (Wisconsin), and the associated book, Readings in Management Accounting (6th Edition; Pearson, Prentice-Hall, 2012). 

A former Division 3 tennis player and life long enthusiast, Mark also serves as the team historian for USC Men’s Tennis team. He also serves as Chair of the Oversight Committee for Athletic Academic Affairs – the committee that oversees the academic side of all USC athletes.  Mark’s book, Trojan Tennis – A History of the Storied Men’s Tennis Team at the University of Southern California was published in 2018. This book documents the USC Trojans – the winningest men’s tennis program in U.S. collegiate tennis history. 

Dr. Young has won several outstanding teaching awards at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including the Golden Apple Teaching Award at USC, the Mellon Mentoring Award (twice for working with Ph.D. students) and the Jim Bulloch Award for Innovations in Management Accounting Education given by the American Accounting Association. Young is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Teaching Excellence at USC. He has also taught in senior executive programs including the Global EMBA in Shanghai. Young is currently a member of the Board of Governors of Fremont College and served as a Board Member for StoriedLearning.Com. He has consulted and conducted research with Warner Brothers, Chrysler, GM, StorageTek, Texas Instruments, and the California Medical Association. 

Mark comments regularly in the business and entertainment presses and has appeared on BBC’s Newsday, CNN’s The Situation Room, Showbiz Tonight, The View, The Howard Stern Show, Fox & Friends, ABC News, Fox Business Channel, the KTLA Morning News, and the Fox Strategy Room, and has been interviewed by The Economist, Financial Times, Laura Ingraham, the BBC, the New York Times, The Guardian, the LA Times, National Public Radio, Marketplace, The London Times, Scientific American Mind, the Associated Press, Newsweek, People Magazine, Premiere Magazine, Woman’s Wear Daily and Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Thank you to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the ParentingAces website.

With the new recruiting rules announced by the NCAA (click here), making sure your child is properly prepared for the process is crucial to his/her success. 

In this week's episode, we talk about how junior players can increase their exposure to college coaches, especially if they are not among the top-ranked players in their recruiting class. We also discuss several recruiting myths that seem to make the rounds among Prospective Student Athletes (PSAs) such as D1 has the best tennis and all other divisions are second-rate or that if your UTR fits within a team's top 6 then you'll automatically be offered a scholarship and play in the lineup. Tarek explains the different ratings and rankings, how college coaches utilize them during recruiting, and what junior players can do to maximize their opportunities during the recruiting process.

In addition, Tarek also discusses his collegiate exposure camps and how they are different from college showcases or combines such as the one offered by USTA (click here to read about it). 

Tarek Merchant is the Founder and CEO of IMRecruitable. He has experienced all there is to offer in the college recruitment process which makes him a unique ally in your recruitment process. Tarek has more than 15 years experience in the college system, as a player from 2002-2006, conducting over 30 exposure events (showcases, exposure camps at colleges such as Yale and University of Pennsylvania) and assisting more than 5,000 high school athletes through the recruitment process in various sports.

Originally from Kingston, ON Canada, Tarek grew up a multi sport athlete. He excelled in ice hockey, baseball, and tennis. At the age of 15 his family moved to Toronto. Tarek was offered multiple tennis scholarship that he refused until finally decided to take a full scholarship in 2002 to attend Western New Mexico University (division 2). In 2004 he transferred to Jacksonville University (division 1) on a partial scholarship. Since graduating in 2008 with a MBA, Tarek has been heavily active in helping high school athletes find the best college fit according to their athletic and academic abilities. In 2014 Tarek formed IMRecruitable to provide a platform to further educate students and parents on how to approach college recruitment and simplify the process from start to finish.

 

Tarek has graciously offered a $100 discount for any of his camps using coupon code: PA. But hurry! The discount is only valid until May 15th, 2018.

You can reach Tarek at [email protected] or find him online at www.imrecruitable.com. For more information on the collegiate exposure camps, go to www.collegiateexposurecamps.com/. 

Thank you to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the ParentingAces website.

 

 

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Last week I published an article on the new partnerships between Universal Tennis Ratings and the two major coaching certification organizations, USPTA and PTR (click here to read the article). And this week UTR announced another new partnership with Chinese Tennis organization Love Sports. Now, you have the opportunity to hear from UTR's CEO, Mark Leschly, about how UTR works and what's in store for the future. Since there seem to be a lot of misconceptions around UTR and its algorithm, I thought this would be a great chance to clear up some things and give you a peek behind the curtain.

Universal Tennis is the company behind UTR powered by Oracle, a revolutionary system that provides a single, unifying language and standard for tennis players across ages, geographies and genders. The company’s vision is to unify tennis for everyone by bringing cutting edge analytics and community based technology to players worldwide independent of level. UTR is a unique, algorithm-based system for tennis that allows anyone to measure, identify and track their level relative to other players, while also providing tools for coaches and organizers to run UTR Powered Events that are level based rather than age or gender driven. Today the UTR powered by Oracle system is gathering data over 6.5 million match results, across 700 thousand players in over 200 countries. The Company is owned by Iconica Partners (www.iconicapartners.com) and other seasoned investors, advisors and operators in tennis, sports, technology and media. Partners include Ken Solomon, President of Tennis Channel; Mark Hurd, CEO of Oracle; Jan Leschly, former CEO of Smithkline Beecham and ATP Top 10; Ken Hao, Managing Partner, Silver Lake Partners; Tennis Media Company; and the LA Dodgers investment group.  To sign up for UTR powered by Oracle, please visit www.MyUTR.com.

Mark Leschly combines both an in depth knowledge and experience in sports and tennis with nearly 25 years of entrepreneurial management and investment in technology led businesses as a venture capitalist and startup CEO. He is a former ATP ranked player selected to the Danish Davis Cup, two time Captain and #1 player for Harvard Men’s Tennis and a member of the USTA Foundation Advisory Board and USTA Player Development Council. 

Mark is the Founder and Managing Partner of Iconica Partners, a principal firm investing at the interface of sports, media and technology. He is an owner in several sports teams and leagues including the Los Angeles Football Club (Major League Soccer team in LA), Professional Fighters League (a new MMA league), Team Liquid (esports) and Oklahoma City Dodgers (AAA Minor League baseball team). He is an owner and Managing Partner of Rho Capital Partners, a leading technology focused venture capital and private equity firm with over $2.5B under management (www.rho.com). 

Mark received an M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and a B.A. with honors from Harvard University where he played tennis all four years.

Thank you to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the ParentingAces website.

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Several months ago, Tennis Parent (and now, Podcaster!), Robert Garrett called and asked me if I would ever consider doing an episode where he could ask questions of a top junior player, parent, and coach. Of course, I said YES, and this week's episode is the outcome of that conversation.

Coach Todd Widom, who y'all have heard from many times on ParentingAces, arranged for his young player, Ronnie Hohmann, and Ronnie's parents, Ron and Judy, to come on the podcast so that Robert could ask them pointed questions about how Ronnie progressed from beginner to 2017 Eddie Herr 16s Champion. The Hohmanns were incredibly honest in their responses to Robert's questions, giving all of you some great information as you help your own junior player reach his/her highest potential.

Please remember, though, that this is only one family's experience. There are so many pathways through Junior Tennis, and I hope to be able to have more of these types of conversations with families and coaches over the next few months.

You will hear the Little Mo tournaments referenced. You can find more info on Little Mo here.

Thank you to Todd, Judy, Ron, Ronnie, and Robert for chatting with us! You can reach Todd at [email protected].

You can find Robert's new podcast, Payers & Players, here.

Thank you to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the ParentingAces website.

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You never know where life will lead you! 

Several years ago, I started getting Facebook messages from a fellow Tennis Parent in the UK asking me questions about training abroad and college tennis opportunities in the US. As Sharon Gaskin and I began communicating more regularly, we realized we had a lot in common and now consider ourselves friends though we have never met in person. Sharon is a corporate trainer who, like me, decided to create a business wherein she advises and guides others in her field. As part of her business, she hosts a membership website and provides video content to her clients.

A couple of weeks ago, Sharon asked to interview me via Zoom so her clients could hear how ParentingAces started and how the website and podcast have grown over the past 7 1/2 years. This bonus VIDEO podcast episode is that interview. Enjoy!

You can find Sharon and her company, The Trainers Training Company Ltd., online at http://www.thetrainerstrainingcompany.co.uk/. Her paid content is available at http://www.trainer-talk.co.uk/. And you can hear Sharon on the ParentingAces Podcast here.

Sports Made Easy, formerly known as My Game Solutions, is an online community that connects players, instructors, and facilities in real time. With the mobile app you can search for players using any preferred location and find a place to play. Participate in a friendly game or competition to help you improve your overall game.   Parents and junior players can use the app to schedule practice matches which can be reported to UTR directly through the app IF both players agree. Sports Made Easy really does make the whole notion of playing more practice matches so easy!   As a service provider - such as coach, hitting partner, personal trainer, and racquet stringer - you can promote your services on the platform and reach new clientele. As a service provider, get real-time messages and bookings through this innovative app. For more information, please email customer support.   They are also conducting a summer camp with a subsidized rate plan for high performance and beginners. High performance kids will be trained with retired pro Melanie Oudin. Check out their events on their website or download the app and register to view all the upcoming events.     Neil and Chuck have offered a generous discount to the ParentingAces community! While the Basic Version of the app is free for everyone, Parenting Aces community members will get 30 days of Premium Services for free and a 20% discount on monthly subscription charges for each month you pay for Premium Service until the end of 2018. You simply need to use promo code PA2018 while registering.   For more information, email [email protected]

A big thank you to Neil and Chuck for taking the time to chat with us. Also a big thank you to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the ParentingAces website.

 

       

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We rarely get to hear from Tennis Parents outside the US, so I was thrilled when UK Tennis Parent Sharon Gaskin agreed to come on the podcast!

Sharon shares her son, Ryan's, entire tennis journey starting with his early junior years and moving to his training at Soto Tennis Academy in Spain, eventually landing in the US to play college tennis.

She talks about the difficulty of working with the LTA (the UK equivalent of USTA), deciding to send her son abroad to train in his early teen years, and the challenges of college recruiting as an international PSA. Sharon mentions the relationship her son formed with Sara Borwell (hear my podcast with Sara here) in order to help him navigate the recruiting process.

Things haven't gone completely smoothly, as you'll hear Sharon explain, but Ryan seems to be settling into American College Life now that he's into his 2nd semester and that the dual match season is underway.

A big thank you to Sharon for taking the time to share her journey with us. Also a big thank you to STØNE for our music! You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic

If you're so inclined, please share this - and all our episodes! - with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the ParentingAces website.

 

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