USTAnorthernNEWS march/april Martina Navratilova and Lindsay Davenport Headline Tennis Festival Of The North TENNIS FESTIVAL TENNIS FESTIVAL of the north of the north et your tickets now as 18-time Grand Slam singles cham- will have a chance to play QuickStart Tennis, the new play format pion Martina Navratilova joins three-time Grand Slam for beginning tennis players ages 5-10. There will be many local Gsingles champion and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Lindsay community programs participating, as well as assorted media Davenport in headlining the inaugural Tennis Festival of the personalities. Highlighting the event is Davenport appearing in an North April 9-11 at Eden Prairie High School in Eden Prairie, Minn. on-court session open to the public from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Formerly the Tennis & Life Clinic, the Festival features both on- Saturday night is the exhibition featuring Davenport and court and off-court sessions, a vendor fair, a fan interaction Navratilova. This is your chance to see two of the greatest tennis play- area, equipment demos, an exhibition featuring Davenport and ers of all-time compete in an intimate venue which seats only 3,000 Navratilova, prizes and more. people. Others scheduled to play include Wheaton, former French The weekend kicks off Friday night with two Demos and Drills Open doubles finalist Jeff Tarango, USTA Sr. Director of Talent ID & clinics at Life Time Fitness – Eden Prairie where players can try the Development Martin Blackman and many of the top juniors from latest in tennis equipment while participating in group drills with USTA Northern. Fans also have the opportunity to purchase tickets 2 local teaching pros. The first session is for adults and seniors, while to a VIP reception featuring Davenport prior to the match. the second session is for high school players and teams. Navratilova opens Sunday’s activities with a sit-down interview. 0 Saturday’s events begin with the opening session featuring Formerly of the Czech Republic and now a United States citizen with Davenport. Davenport, of Palos Verdes, Calif., is one of only four dual citizenship, she is arguably the greatest women’s tennis player in 1 women since 1975 (the others being Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and history, winning 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam women’s Navratilova) who has been year-end No. 1 at least four times in her doubles titles (an all-time record) and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles 0 career. She finished her career with a singles record of 753-194 and titles. Navratilova is one of just three women to have accomplished won 55 singles titles. She claimed her first Grand Slam singles title a career Grand Slam in singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles in 1998 at the US Open. She followed that by taking Wimbledon in and she holds the open-era record for most singles titles (167) and 1999 and the Australian Open in 2000. She also won three Grand doubles titles (177). She and doubles partner Pam Shriver won 109 Slam doubles championships. Currently retired and a television consecutive matches at one point and won all four Grand Slam titles analyst, Davenport is married to former All-America tennis player in 1984. Tennis legend Billie Jean King said Navratilova is “the great- Jon Leach and has two children – son Jagger (2) and daughter est singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who’s ever lived.” Lauren (5 months). The Minnesota High School Coaches Association Annual Meeting The clinic continues on Saturday with sessions ranging on a wide will also be a part of the Tennis Festival of the North on Saturday variety of topics from many of the top professionals in the tennis afternoon prior to the exhibition at 4:30 p.m. All high school coaches industry including Minnesota native and Wimbledon semifinalist are encouraged to attend and bring their teams for the weekend David Wheaton, former WTA champion and Minnesota product festivities. Ginger Helgeson-Nielsen; Gustavus Adolphus coaching legend Tickets are on sale for this exciting event now at www.tennisfes- Steve Wilkinson; Tennis Corporation of America Director of Tennis tivalofthenorth.com. USTA members receive $10 off on All-Inclusive Ajay Pant; On-Court Off-Court President Joe Dinoffer, Tennis (clinic and general admission exhibition) tickets and $5 off on exhi- Canada’s Wayne Elderton and many, many more. bition general admission tickets. The VIP reception packages are QuickStart Tennis will be featured on Saturday from 10 a.m.-4:30 $125 and $150 each. For more information, please contact the USTA p.m. at the Mall of America Best Buy Rotunda. Children and adults Northern office at 952-887-5001. 2010 Tennis Festival of the North Schedule To order tickets, visit www.tennisfestivalofthenorth.com Friday, April 9 – Demos and Drills– Life Time Fitness – Eden Prairie 4:30-6:30 p.m. - Minnesota State High School Coaches Association (Space is limited to 108 people each session. You must register in Meeting advance to participate.) 5:00-6:30 p.m. - VIP and Reserved Seating Reception prior to exhibition at 5:45-7:30 p.m. - Adults and Seniors Session Life Time Fitness - Eden Prairie (must have separate ticket for this!) 7:15-9:00 p.m. - High School Players and Teams Clinics 7:00-10:00 p.m. - Exhibition featuring Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova. Also participating are David Wheaton, Martin Blackman, Jeff Saturday, April 10 – Eden Prairie High School Tarango and top junior players in USTA Northern. 7:00 a.m. - Registration Opens 8:00 a.m.- 6:30 p.m. - Vendor Fair and Fan Interactive Area Sunday, April 11 – Eden Prairie High School 9:00-10:00 a.m. - Opening Session with Lindsay Davenport 8:00 a.m. - Registration/Check-in 10:00 a.m. -4:30 p.m. - Mall of America QuickStart Event 8:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - Vendor Show and Fan Interactive Area 10:15-12:30 p.m. - Sessions 8:30-9:00 a.m. - Opening Session with Martina Navratilova 12:30-2:00 p.m. - Lunch Break and Vendor Show 9:15-11:30 a.m. - Sessions 2:00-4:15 p.m. - Sessions 11:45 a.m-12:30 p.m. - Closing Session/Prizes www.northern.usta.com 1 USTA Northern Hires Two New Positions 1001 West 98th Street, Suite 101 Bloomington, MN 55431 (952) 887-5001 • (800) 536-6982 STA Northern Executive Director Mike Goldammer section Fax: (952) 887-5061 announced the hiring of Chris Dummermuth as the new UTennis Service Representative for South Dakota and Kelley Okerman as the new Adult Competition Specialist and Twin Cities STAFF DIRECTORY Area League Coordinator. Dummermuth begins her new position in May 2010, while Okerman started January 17. Kristi Bushinski (952-358-3280) A USTA Northern Hall of Famer and tennis legend in South Dakota, Kristi Bushinski (952-358-3280) Adult and Junior Tennis Assistant Dummermuth joins the Section in the newly-created position of kbushinskinorJunior and [email protected] Programming Assistant [email protected] Tennis Service Representative for South Dakota. She will be based Christine Buysse (952-358-3290) out of Sioux Falls, S.D., in an effort to increase tennis participation CBeckyommunity Cantellano Tennis Assist (952-358-3291)ant/Jr. Team TDirectorennis C oordinatorof Tennis Programs and Services by promoting, developing and servicing tennis programs across the [email protected]@northern.usta.com state. She will also establish strong relationships with local tennis and Chris Dummermuth Becky Cantellano (952-358-3291) non-tennis facilities, organizations and volunteers in those areas. CPatommunity Colbert D (952-358-3283)evelopment Specialist She comes to the Section after serving as an elementary and middle school teacher in Sioux cantellano@norAssistant Executivethern.usta.com Director/Director of Junior Competition Falls the past 35 years. In addition, she is a summer tennis instructor at Westward Ho Country [email protected] Colbert (952-358-3283) Club, the tournament director for the SDHSAA State Tennis Championships and teaches pri- Assistant Executive Director and vate lessons to adults and juniors. She is currently a board member of the Sioux Falls Tennis JuniorChris DummermuthCompetition Specialist (starting in May 2010) northern cTennisolbert @norServicethern.usta.com Representative – Association and plays USTA League Tennis and tournaments. PaSouthtty E Dakotagart (952-358-3292) She has worked as the Tennis Director of the Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation Department [email protected] Corporate and Collegiate Tennis Coordinator and was a boys and girls high school tennis coach. She was a member of the High School eJeangart@nor Forbesthern.usta.com (952-358-3297) Coaches Association Board of Directors and a Coaches Representative for the same group MikeJunior Goldammer Teams Assistant (952-358-3284) in her career. [email protected] Director Dummermuth played college tennis at both Augustana College (1974-75) and Utah State [email protected] Mike Goldammer (952-358-3284) (1972-73) and won the South Dakota State High School singles championship in 1971 and 1972 CoExecutivery Haugen Director (952-887-5001, ext. 110) at Washington High School. She was inducted into the USTA Northern Hall of Fame in 2007 usta [email protected] Assistant and is a member of the Sioux Falls Lincoln and Washington High School Halls of Fame, the [email protected] South Dakota Tennis Hall of Fame and the South Dakota High School Coaches Hall of Fame. KarCorya JohnsonHaugen (952-887-5001,(952-358-3285 ext.) 110) AdultAdministrative Competition Assistant Specialist She was the 2001 winner of the USTA Northern Albert Teeter Adult Sportsmanship Award and johnson@[email protected] was named the South Dakota Tennis Coach of the Year seven times.