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

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