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