Fed Cup History

What a privilege it was to be able to attend the exciting Fed Cup matches in beautiful Quebec City over Easter weekend. The purpose of attending was not only to witness history in the making, but to give the Council of Provinces (COP) a chance to meet new Tennis Canada President Kelly Murumets and spend some quality time discussing priorities and challenges.

First, the matches. Even though Slovakia's A Team failed to participate, it was far from a slam-dunk affair. First match up on the Saturday had Alex Wozniak pitted against fast-rising Jana Cepelova. Admittedly, Alex was likely not the favourite to win this match, but she somehow found a way to pull it off in three sets with some ugly turns and twists along the way. My wife and I were seated at court level at one end of the PEPS stadium on Laval University campus. I could almost reach out and touch the players we were that close. Throughout the match we were simultaneously cheering and bowing our heads in disbelief of a shot gone bad. But a win is a win, and kudos to Alex for digging deep when it mattered.



Fed Cup Team celebrate victory!

The second match with our feature player Genie Bouchard against Kristina Kucova, was an equally tough battle. Genie herself admitted her game was off and she was struggling at times. You could see it in her mannerisms, frustration in her face, tossing her towel wildly at times to the ball kids. She felt like the underdog, but that's when Genie seems to raise her game up a notch, and that she did to finish out the match and put Canada up 2 to 0 on Day 1.

Our Canadian team is now among the elite 8 world group in Fed Cup with a chance to go all the way in 2015. We had an almost sold-out stadium over the weekend (3k per day). We also had national TV coverage with SportsNet and TVA along with local and national newspaper coverage, all great at growing the game and building momentum and star power.

COP Meet Kelly



Council of Provinces meets during Fed Cup, shown here with TC President Kelly Murumets


Now it wasn't all fun and games for the COP. Friday evening and Saturday morning gave us all a chance to meet the lady behind an organization that continues to build its reputation and visibility on the world tennis stage. If you watch Kelly's latest interview with SportsNet, you will note she already has very clear ideas about where Tennis Canada needs to head going forward. In person, Kelly is very affable, warm and inviting and you can tell she is also a very astute business woman. I and the rest of the COP feel she very much embraces the partnership mentality with the provinces and will stay very engaged as we look to close gaps, promote transparency and understanding, improve the competitive structure and opportunities for young players, and build tennis participation across Canada.



Fed Cup Team Loves the OTA!



Rogers Cup and More Regional News

Where do I start. July and August have been crazy months for tennis in this province and I've tried to touch as many events as possible. I think I'll start with the latest events, that of both Rogers Cup (WTA) in Toronto, and Coupe Rogers (ATP) in Montreal, and then discuss Ontario Open/Roman Cup, COP activity and some regional news.

Aug 4-8, 2013 - Rogers Cup WTA


Genie Bouchard being Interviewed

On Sunday, Aug 4, I spent the day as line umpire finishing up the qualifying rounds for the women in Toronto. I then hit the courts again Aug 6-8 calling lines for the main draw matches. This year was especially exciting as I was assigned to cover both the grandstand and centre court for Wed and Thurs matches. What a thrill that was! Being that close to the likes of Li, Bartoli, Fichman, Jankovic, Ivanovic, Wozniacki, Kvitova, Stephens, Radwanska and Bouchard was pretty special. I felt pretty good as I was only over-ruled once during my time on court and I had one very close call that was confirmed correct by the hawk-eye. I know tickets sales tend to be lower when women are in town, but by all accounts, I thought the draw was pretty exceptional and our own Canadian women generated some pretty exciting momentum going into the tournament. Tennis Canada provided for the first time some special player access for Premium ticket holders. This included Q&A sessions and photo ops with players like Serena Williams and legends Billy Jean King and Monica Seles (who played an exhibition doubles match on the Monday night). TC even brought in Pete Sampras and Johnny Mac for some additional exhibition matches over the finals weekend.

Unfortunately our own  Genie Bouchard didn't make it far into the tournament, winning her first match against Alisa Kleybanova and then falling to sixth ranked Petra Kvitova. Also unfortunate was the fate of France's Marion Bartoli playing against Magdalena Rybarikova on the grandstand. I had just started my shift at the start of the second set, when Marion quickly retired during her service game with an abdominal injury. No sooner did she move on to the Cincinnati tournament when
she announced her retirement from tennis due to ongoing physical pain and injuries.



Monica Seles with OTA Past President Michel Lecavalier

OTA Presidents' Day (Aug 5)
This is the 8th year the OTA has been holding this event and we always get great attendance, especially since it is held on the holiday Monday. Club executives from about 90 member clubs attended this year (200+ participants) and it is our way of recognizing the hard work of all the volunteers in the province. A continental breakfast was served, followed by some short updates from myself and ED Jim Boyce. In particular, we are proud to say that due to the strong support by the NYTA and Ottawa regions, our club membership grew by about 10%, to 240 clubs (from 220). That represents over 36,000 adult players and 14,000 junior players. A full 70% of our member clubs are seasonal community clubs which are run by a strong volunteer base. Photos from the day can be found on our Facebook Page.


Aug 9-11 - Coupe Rogers ATP

I was off to Montreal over the weekend to not only attend meetings with Tennis Canada and the Council of Provinces (COP), but to witness history in the making. Who could have planned a better outcome than to have two Canadians play in the semis, and have a Canadian play in the finals! Check out the OTA's Youtube channel to view three videos taken showing all the Milos, Vasek and Rafa fans in Montreal.



Tennis Alberta President Glen Scott and I toast Milos for making Canadian's proud

Alas I think nerves got to both Vasek and Milos as they weren't playing up to their usual high standards during this event. Regardless, we are proud of all our Canadian players and know they will continue to improve with each new tournament.

On a lighter note, one incident sticks out in my mind - it was when Rafa exited the stadium after winning the final against Milos. As he started signing autographs, a star-struck young lady wanted to get a picture with him but kept fumbling with her iphone camera. Rafa began to laugh, ran out of patience and simply took the phone from her hands, set it into camera mode and took the picture for her! Priceless.


Council of Provinces (COP) Meets during Coupe Rogers

The COP meet about four times a year to discuss business of mutual interest between the provinces and Tennis Canada. Meeting in person during Coupe Rogers gives all of us a chance to interact and share issues and concerns. Two particular items I'd like to share because they came as a direct result of the province's good working relationship with Tennis Canada and our desire to encourage better communication and transparency.

 

The first is the publication of a new High Performance Handbook on Tennis Canada's website (look under Programs ... High Performance, Resources and Policies). The handbook has had extensive input from the COP and from various coaches and includes sections on key HP programs, policies and support available. The handbook is not a static document and will be updated as changes and enhancements to programs and policies are made. Thanks to Hatem McDadi, Debbie Kirkwood and the entire HP team for spearheading this.

 

The second is a new US College Recruiting Guide to supplement information on the TC website (under Programs ... US College Tennis). Tennis Canada’s College Program helps Canadian players obtain university scholarships that fit their academic, athletic, social and environmental goals and needs. The handbook brings together all the important information for parents and players to better plan their pathway for future athletic and educational opportunities.

 

Ontario Open & Roman Cup

Once again the Ontario Open and Roman Cup took place July 31 to August 5 in Ottawa at the Rideau Club and the Ottawa Athletic Club (OAC). This year the junior Roman Cup event grew to 190 unique entrants (well above 2012 numbers) because this is the first year it became a Rogers National Qualifier event. Thursday evening was a fundraiser Pro-Am event followed by dinner and silent auction. On Wednesday night, Jim Boyce (OTA's Executive Director) and I attended a meeting with a number of new OTA-member club presidents to gather feedback on services being provided. We also had the Ottawa Parks and Rec manager Ward Cosman there as well as NCTA president Sean Sweeney. A special visit by Peter Bedard from Tennis Canada provided the group an update on the Little Aces program which will be launched in 2014 in a number of Ottawa communities. Thanks to all the staff at Rideau and OAC as well as the OTA staff and officials for making this event another tremendous success!



Mike Cowpland, Dale Power, Marlen Cowpland, Jim Boyce & Anke Magnus at Roman Cup Pro-Am



Charlottetown Tennis Club Celebrates 40 Years

 

Charlottetown Tennis Club in Scarborough celebrated their 40th anniversary on Sunday, July 14th with some tennis, a potluck and visit from councillor Ron Moeser. The club was founded in 1973 and is a member of the STF and OTA. They have three outdoor, lit tennis courts. Shown below is STF president Dianne Weatherby (sitting) with Ron Moeser on the left.

 

 

 





Strat Plan, Davis Cup and More

Only one month has passed us by and already we have some exciting news to share regarding the Ottawa tennis scene. OTA Executive Director, Jim Boyce and I spent a day in sunny (and relatively warm) Ottawa on Jan 10th to attend a joint NCTA AGM and Presidents' meeting. We had some lively topics for the Presidents’ meeting, with a great turnout of clubs with at least 15 in attendance. We started with City Park & Rec manager Ward Cosman discussing the role the city has in administering insurance, programs and activities on city-owned property, followed by the OTA (Jim and I) presenting and gathering feedback on a value proposition which would see most if not all the Ottawa area clubs (about 26) joining the association, something that has never happened in the history of the OTA. This topic took the bulk of the meeting, and in the end, lead to very positive support for joining the OTA. We will get full confirmation on how many clubs plan on joining by mid March, but we remain optimist that this could be a banner year for tennis in Ottawa with a strong partnership with the OTA. Many thanks to NCTA President Sean Sweeney and the entire NCTA board for supporting this effort; it has been a long time coming but we can see the light now.

 

Ottawa Clubs attend NCTA AGM

 

The OTA Strategic Planning Committee met again on Jan 21 to review all the club input received in December. There were a handfull responses, and those that did respond provided some useful input that we used to tighten up some of the strategy wording and make it a more effective document. I look forward to presenting some of the detail at a seminar at the April 13th AGM, and beginning with my March blog, I will begin outlining some of the initiatives the OTA is taking to achieve the strategies outlined in the plan.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend some Tennis Canada meetings in Vancouver over the Feb 1-3 weekend and also enjoy some great Davis Cup matches. The results were beyond expectations. Milos did a great job against Spain's #2 Ramos to win the first match, but Frank's match against Spain's #1 Granollers was simply amazing. Canada finally clinched a spot in the quarterfinals with Italy (to be played April 5-7) by winning the 4th rubber: Milos vs Garcia-Lopez in an easy 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win! Check out Milos' winning point below:

 



 

 

 

Business wise, a lot of ground was covered, including a review of TC's strategic results from 2012, their 2013 operational plans, and a number of ongoing project updates. A common theme and priority for most provinces is the implementation of the new ranking system, Visual Reality, improved communications with its members and facilities advocacy. More to come on these topics in future blogs.

 

L-R COP Presidents: Stephen Kimoff (BC), Pawan Chugh (NWT), JF Manibal (QC), Scott Fraser (ON), Bruce Waschuk (MB), Glen Scott (AB), Nancy Taylor (NL), Dana Brown (NB), Craig Bethune (NS), Tim Makahoniuk (SK). Missing is Lorne Acorn (PEI)