ParentingAces - The Junior Tennis and College Tennis Podcast

Dave Mullins comes from an extensive tennis background, both as a player and as a coach. He is originally from Dublin, Ireland, and came to the US to play college tennis. He wound up in the world of college coaching, having a stellar career at the University of Oklahoma as the head women's coach.

A couple of years ago, Dave retired from coaching and returned with his wife and two children to Dublin where he is now working at the same club where he grew up playing. He is also devoting a good amount of time to helping families navigate through the tennis development process.

In this week's podcast, Dave and I talk about how rising college freshmen, as well as current college players, should be spending their summers. Should they be playing tournaments? Should they take an internship? Should they have a paying job? Should they take time off and relax?

Of course, there's not one answer that is best for every player, but Dave backs up his answers with what he's learned in his years as a player and as a coach. He shares very important information as we move into the summer season.

To find Dave online, visit his website at www.davemullinstennis.com. You can also reach him via email at [email protected].

Entries for the 2nd annual Sol Schwartz #SaveCollegeTennis All-In Tennis Tournament are now open. For the Atlanta tournament (July 17-19) go to http://events.universaltennis.com/tournaments/261/. For the Baltimore tournament (August 12-13) go to http://events.universaltennis.com/tournaments/336/. 

Also, registration for the ITA Summer Circuit is now open. Go to http://www.itatennis.com/Events/ITA_Summer_Circuit.htm for information.

Find us at www.parentingaces.com. Email me at [email protected].

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The past 12 days at the NCAAs at the University of Georgia have been incredible! The level of tennis and sportsmanship exhibited by the student-athletes, coaches, and fans (well, mostly!) has been superb. I ran into some old friends (including Stanford Super Fan, Cliff Hayashi!) and made some new ones. I even had the opportunity to meet some long-time digital friends in person - including College10s2day's Bobby Knight - what a treat!

At this year's Championships, I wanted to give y'all a glimpse at some of the people who make this event so great, so I reached out to some of the players, parents, and behind-the-scenes folks involved. The volunteers from UGA did an incredible job of keeping things running, including squeegeeing courts, manning the gates, and keeping all of us fed and hydrated. I hope those of you on Twitter and Instagram enjoyed my updates there, too!

In this week's ParentingAces Podcast, which is a bit longer than usual (sorry!), you will hear from Taylor Davidson, a senior at Stanford; Francesca DiLorenzo, a sophomore at Ohio State; Chanmeet Narang, the UGA Men's Tennis Team Manager; Elizabeth Milano, a UGA student and volunteer at the Championships; Tammy Duncan and Olga Reinberg, parents of UGA players; and Beata Redlicki, mom to players at University of Arkansas and UCLA. Please pardon the background noise as these interviews were actually conducted on the grounds of the Championships.

As mentioned in the podcast, entries for the 2nd annual Sol Schwartz #SaveCollegeTennis All-In Tennis Tournament are now open. For the Atlanta tournament (July 17-19) go to http://events.universaltennis.com/tournaments/261/. For the Baltimore tournament (August 12-13) go to http://events.universaltennis.com/tournaments/336/. 

To watch the FloTennis profile on Michael Redlicki, go to https://www.flotennis.com/article/56190-8-things-you-didn-t-know-about-mike-redlicki.

Also, registration for the ITA Summer Circuit is now open. Go to http://www.itatennis.com/Events/ITA_Summer_Circuit.htm for information.

For more information on the 2017 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships, visit http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/ncaa-2017.html. A huge THANK YOU to the University of Georgia, the NCAA, and the ITA for working together to put on my favorite event in tennis, hands down.

Visit us at www.parentingaces.com. Email me at [email protected].

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PlaySight Head of Sales Racquet Sports, Josh Graves, grew up in tennis. Upon graduating from Northwestern where he played #1 for the men's tennis team, he sought a job. Using the vast store of resources he developed throughout his tennis career, he landed his ideal job: working with a cutting-edge tech company in the tennis arena.

PlaySight has really changed since I was first introduced to it at the 2014 NCAA Tennis Championships. The company has created more affordable options for colleges and other facilities that want to bring the latest video, streaming, and stats technology to their users. 

Now, PlaySight is situated in 20 of the 32 schools represented at the NCAA Team Championships as well as at the new USTA Lake Nona facility. They also have a presence in several private clubs around the world, including the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The PlaySight folks have also created a great new tournament format called PlayFair using their video replay capabilities as a sort of challenge system (click here for my article on the first collegiate PlayFair tournament). So far, PlayFair has been very well received by key players, including coaches, officials, and players. PlaySight has partnered with USTA to test out the PlayFair format at some junior tournaments. We should expect to see more of these tournaments over the coming months which is great news for junior tennis.

PlaySight has developed an app as well, which can be downloaded free of charge from the App Store or the PlaySight website. It provides free video annotating and sharing as well as free viewing of livestreaming.

To reach PlaySight, go to www.playsight.com. You can also find them on the various social media outlets.

To listen to my 2014 podcast with PlaySight founder Gordon Uehling, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOzK3qByYeM&list=PLfiLuMW_ON87GUE6yUO5lVErBpThwyC1r&index=6

Visit www.parentingaces.com

Email [email protected]

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On July 28, 2015, Tim Siegel received a phone call that tragically changed his life. In this week's ParentingAces podcast, Tim talks about his son, Luke's, golf cart accident and how his family has turned such a horrific event into a foundation dedicated to helping others.

Tim grew up in tennis, achieving the highest level as a junior player, college player, and on the pro tour before moving into college coaching at Texas Tech University. He lives with his wife, Jenny, and their children in Lubbock, Texas, now working full-time to care for Luke and to share Luke's story in hopes of raising funds to assist other families that have a child suffering with a traumatic brain injury.

FoxTV will air a recently-produced documentary on Luke this summer (air dates listed in image below). The ITA also produced a short video on Luke which you can view at https://www.facebook.com/ITACollegeTennis/videos/vb.44553009422/10154633892519423/?type=2&theater

Please take the time to visit the Team Luke Foundation website at http://teamlukefoundation.com. You can follow Luke's story on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Prayforlukesiegel/?ref=br_rs, on Twitter @TimSiegelTTU, and on Instagram @Luke.Siegel

Visit us: http://parentingaces.com
Contact us: [email protected]

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This week, the world lost a great man, a great supporter of tennis, and the Tennis Parent I aspired to be when Steve Johnson, Sr. passed away.

I first met Steve at the NCAA Championships in Athens, GA when he was on a panel for parents and high school-age players who were interested in learning more about college tennis. After the panel discussion, my husband and I spoke with Steve and thanked him for his candor. I never guessed that would be the beginning of a friendship that would find us together at the US Open, Indian Wells, the Easter Bowl, and at a variety of college matches in Southern California.

Whenever I traveled to SoCal, I would always let Steve know I was coming to "his coast" in hopes that we would have a chance to meet up and catch up. If he wasn't too busy teaching tennis lessons or spending time with his family, he would make the effort to find a way to come to wherever I was and say hello. The last time was at the Boise State-UC Irvine match just a few weeks ago.

I will miss Steve's friendship and his council. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Michelle, and his two well-loved children, Alison and Stevie. Godspeed, my friend.

This podcast was originally recorded in December of 2012. To read an interview between Steve and Frank Giampaolo, click here. For two other interviews I did with Steve, click here and here.

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Adam Van Zee played his college tennis at D3 Wabash College then coached both the men's and women's teams at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. He now works in development at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis while also writing and hosting his own podcast for Division3Tennis.com.

In this episode of the ParentingAces podcast, Adam and I discuss the ins and outs of playing a Division 3 sport. We talk about how to finance a D3 education when the NCAA does not allow for athletic scholarships, how the D3 recruiting and application process works, and how PSAs can use the D3 Recruiting Hub to narrow down their list of potential schools. 

NOTE: According to the information I was able to find online, PSAs are allowed unlimited official visits to D3 colleges starting the first day of their senior year of high school. However, they are only allowed one official visit per college. In Divisions 1 and 2, PSAs are limited to 5 total unofficial visits.

If you have questions about choosing a D3 tennis program, you can reach Adam on Twitter @d3centraltennis or via email at [email protected]

For more information on Division 3 from the NCAA, click here and here.

My apologies for the ad-lib from Sully mid-episode!

Keywords: adam van zee, college, d3, division 3, earlham, ncaa, official, recruiting, tennis, visits, scholarships, financial aid, college tennis, coach, student-athlete

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Coach Ed Krass runs a series of college exposure camps for high school age junior players (rising 9-12 graders). His goal is to help these kids learn from the college coaches themselves so they have a clear idea of what it means to play college tennis. Not only are the kids on the court with the head coaches themselves, but they also have the opportunity to talk one on one with the coaches and ask questions that can help them throughout the recruiting process.

In this episode of the ParentingAces podcast, Ed shares a day in the life of his campers as well as some of the things potential student-athletes should look for in a college tennis coach and program.

Plus Ed graciously offers a $50 discount to the ParentingAces audience!

To redeem the discount offer, visit the Register Now link on CollegeTennis.com to choose the date and location you'd like your player to attend, then call 813-684-9031 and let them know you're a ParentingAces listener who would like to take advantage of the discount.

For more information, visit CollegeTennis.com. Also, check out OneOnOneDoubles.com for information on the doubles drills and tournaments that Ed discusses during our podcast.

Book mentioned in podcast:

Coaching Tennis by Coach Chuck Kriese (click here to buy)

To contact Ed Krass, call 813-684-9031 or email [email protected].

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Coach John O'Sullivan of Changing the Game Project discusses transactional vs. transformational coaching (read more here) and why we parents need to seek out coaches who are truly invested in the development of the whole child, not just the tennis player. We also talk about the "sweet spot of involvement" for parents and how we parents need to adjust constantly throughout our child's junior development. Lastly, we touch on the challenges of coaching your own child and how best to separate "coach" versus "parent" on and off the court. You can find John's podcast here - I encourage you to check it out! Coaches may be interested in the Way of Champions conference coming this summer to New Jersey. You can find out more here. To listen to John's TED Talk, click here.

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Does your junior player have issues staying motivated? Has he/she had to deal with cheating in practices and/or tournaments? In Part 7 of our conversations, John Falbo discusses the intricacies of helping your player find the internal drive to succeed in tennis despite the obstacles ahead, including players who are dishonest. John stresses the importance of maintaining an open line of communication with your player throughout the development process, especially given the high cost of junior development and the small number of college scholarships available. Constant communication is key!

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The founder of Im Recruitable and Collegiate Exposure Camps talks about the challenges and possible stumbling blocks for junior tennis players going through the college recruiting process. Tarek offers suggestions and solutions for helping the process have a positive outcome from both

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