International Tennis Federation Tennis Development Department
ITF Monthly E-Mail Newsletter for Coaches, Year 5, Issue 1, January 2004 ------
The ITF Development Department is pleased to welcome you to the January 2004 edition of its ITF Monthly Email Newsletter.
In an effort to keep you informed and updated on ITF coaching matters worldwide, in this issue of the newsletter you will find:
* Third 2003 Issue of the ITF Coaching & Sport Science Review
* 14th ITF Worldwide Coaches Workshop 2005: Guidelines for prospective host nations
* Development Events
* ITN Launched In India
* News Around Europe
* African Tennis News
* IOC announces administration restructure
* News from National Associations and others
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THIRD 2003 ISSUE OF THE INTERNATIONAL TENNIS FEDERATION COACHING & SPORT SCIENCE REVIEW
The third 2003 issue of ITF Coaching & Sport Science Review can now be accessed on the ITF website. Click here to take yourself directly to it This issue includes the following contributions: Serving strategy by Howard Brody (USA), Ten ways to improve your sleeping habits by Babette Pluim (NED), Miguel Crespo and Machar Reid (ITF), A general overview of contracts in sport; a tennis perspective by Nick Jones (ENG), Planning and periodisation for the 12-14 years old tennis players by Piotr Unierzyski (POL), Progressive tennis, cool-ourful tennis by Olivier Letort (France), How to become a model by E. Paul Roetert (USA), Miguel Crespo and Machar Reid (ITF), Circuit training for tennis by Richard González (Uruguay). Recommended books. New release: ITF Biomechanics for Advanced Tennis. It also includes photos of the 13th ITF Worldwide Coaches Workshop. Remember, if interested in receiving the Review, the ITF Website also provides information and subscription forms in English, Spanish and French. If you wish to subscribe, please fill in the Payment and Personal Details Forms and return them to us on fax number 44 20 8392 4742. ------ 14th ITF WORLDWIDE COACHES WORKSHOP 2005: GUIDELINES FOR PROSPECTIVE HOST NATIONS The ITF is now seeking a host nation and venue for the 14th ITF Worldwide Coaches Workshop to be held in late October / early November 2005. The Worldwide Coaches Workshop is the ITF's Flagship coaches' education event and takes place every two years. The weeklong conference consists of on-court and lecture room presentations from over 30 internationally renowned experts from the field of high performance tennis. This years event, hosted by the Portuguese Tennis Federation in Vilamoura, saw presentations from among others Bob Brett, Javier Duarte, Niki Pilic, Louis Cayer, Dr Bruce Elliot and Emilio Sanchez and attracted more than 300 coaches from 100 different countries. Any national association interested in hosting this event in 2005 should contact the ITF Development Department for a copy of the official guidelines for prospective host nations. Closing date for applications is 1 April 2004. Please note that applications to host can only be considered from national associations. For further details please contact [email protected] ------ DEVELOPMENT EVENTS 3 - 12 January 04: North-East European Regional Training Camp for players 14 & Under,Estonia 5 - 13 January 04: 27th ITF/CAT African Junior Championships Southern/East African Qualifying event, Pretoria, South Africa 13 - 24 January 04: ITF/OS Regional Level ll Coaches Course, Cuba. ------ NEWS AROUND EUROPE Lawn Tennis Association LTA goes Ahead with National Tennis Centre and Signs up a new sponsorship deal with Barclays. The Lawn Tennis Association of Great Britain has been given the go-ahead to build a £40-million ($70-million) National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, London. The LTA's planning application to build on a protected 'green belt' area of land was approved on 10 December by local authorities. The application now requires final approval by Greater London Authority and Office of Deputy Prime Minister. The facility, which is expected to open in 2006, will be used by leading British players and elite juniors and will comprise 16 outdoor courts, six indoor courts, a gym and physiotherapy and rehabilitation areas, as well as temporary accommodation. In a separate announcement the LT A launched a Performance Trust with Barclays Captital. Designed to offer support to financially disadvantaged British players, the Trust will be supported by Barclays Capital in a three-year deal. The Performance Trust, which will support the players by funding their coaches, will be managed by David Felgate, the LTA's Director of Performance. It will form part of the LTA's Performance Plan designed to ensure that Britain's leading players have the levels of support and funding required. Barclays Capital will also become a corporate partner of the LTA's City Tennis Club programme. ------ ITN LAUNCHED IN INDIA India, with a population of one billion and one of the largest nations in the world, has become the fifth ITF member nation to adopt the ITF International Tennis Number (ITN) as their official rating system. Dave Miley, ITF Executive Director for Tennis Development, presented an ITN Rating of seven (7) to the Hon. Chief Minister of the State of Karnataka Mr. S.M. Krishna, an avid tennis player, thus officially launching the ITN in India on the 26 November 2003. The function was held in Bangalore, the Garden city of India and was well attended by All India Tennis Association (AITA) officials, coaches, players & sports journalists. While launching the ITN in India, Dave Miley said, "The rating is a number which corresponds to the general competitive level of a player. People generally enjoy playing tennis against those with similar standard and we believe the ITN will help in this regard. In the very near future we believe that every tennis player worldwide will hold an ITN rating and that the rating system will become a common language for tennis players around the world." Miley also added words of praise for India's considerable development in tennis. "Over the last few years we have seen some very positive developments in Indian Tennis. There has been a huge increase in the number of international tournaments being held in India (it currently stands sixth internationally in the number of weeks of international tournaments) and the number of players ranked at the international level in junior and senior tennis has increased substantially. The recent Grand Slam success of Bhupathi and Paes has been followed by the win of Sania Mirza in the girls' doubles at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships. No doubt other young Indian players are ready to make similar breakthroughs at the international level. The coaches' education programme that was started using the ITF Syllabi in 1999 is definitely the envy of many other tennis nations. Tennis courts are being built in smaller places and thus the game is being spread all over. It is certainly an exciting time for tennis in India." Mr. Anil Khanna, a member of the ITF Board of Directors & Hon. Secretary General of AITA also spoke on the occasion. "India has realized the importance of ITN which can help in promoting and marketing the game better in India. With the help of ITN, AITA hopes to register 500,000 players at different levels within the next three years under the ITN umbrella. ITN could not have found a better platform to be launched than at the second AITA National Coaches Workshop in Karnataka, a state which has made tremendous strides in tennis development over the past two years. We are fortunate that the first ITN rating is given to Mr. S.M. Krishna, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, who is also the President of Karnataka Lawn Tennis Association, whose support to the growth of Tennis in Karnataka has been an inspiration to many other states. India will continue to work towards the development of tennis in India and we hope to see top 100 players emerging out of India as a result of our efforts. ------ AFRICAN TENNIS NEWS 2004 Annual General Meeting of CAT The 2004 Annual General Meeting of CAT will be organised in Cairo, Egypt during the 27th African Junior Championships scheduled to take place from 12 to 18 April 2004. The date of Sunday 18 April has been retained for the meeting. Davis Cup in 2004. Groups III & IV / Euro-Africa Zone Namibia and Lithuania will organise each a Euro/Africa zone Group III Davis Cup tournament on 2-8 February 2004. In total 16 nations will participate in this tournament, which will be played on the basis of a Round-Robin format. The two highest placed nations will be promoted to Group II in 2005 while the two last placed ones will be relegated to Group IV in each of the tournaments For Group IV of the Euro/Africa zone, Senegal and Moldavia will host each a tournament respectively on 2-8 February and on 12-18 July 2004. Following the Round-robin matches, the two highest placed nations in each of the two tournaments will be automatically promoted to Group III. ------ IOC ANNOUNCES ADMINISTRATION RESTRUCTURE Following the recommendations of the audits launched by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge after his election, and conducted within the organisation last year, the IOC has now put in place a new organisation chart for its administration, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, which will provide a framework for the future development of its operations. Under Rogge's presidency, all operational business functions of the IOC administration, together with those of the Olympic Museum and the IOC-owned or partly owned companies, i.e Olympic Broadcast Services (OBS), Olympic Games Knowledge Services (OGKS) and Meridian Management, will report to full-time Director General Urs Lacotte. In addition, Lacotte, who took up his post on 3 November, will manage the IOC directors, including those recently appointed, namely Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli, Sports Director Kelly Fairweather, Information Management Director Philippe Blanchard and Olympic Museum Director Frances Gabet. Michael Payne, formerly IOC Marketing Director for 15 years, takes up a new role as Director of Global Broadcast and Media Rights, created in response to the growing importance and complexity of broadcast rights. The IOC's marketing operations, including the Olympic Partner Programme (TOP), are run directly by Meridian Management, which is 100% owned by the IOC. ------ NEWS FROM NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND OTHERS ATP: ATP announces new Advisory Board members. The ATP has announced that Philip Jones and André Lacroix have joined the ATP Marketing Advisory Board of ATP Properties Ltd, the commercial arm of the ATP. Jones currently works with several media companies and serves on the board and executive committee of Hibernia Communications (owners of Disney Radio Stations). Prior to his work with Hibernia, Jones worked with The Meredith Corporation for 18 years and served as President of the broadcast group between 1989-97. Jones is a past joint chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and a past chairman of the CBS Television Network Affiliates Advisory Board. He currently serves on the board of directors of Television Operators Caucus (TOC) and Maximum Services Television (MSTV). Lacroix is the current Chairman and CEO of EuroDisney. Prior to his arrival at the Disneyland resort in Paris in July 2003, Lacroix spent seven years at Burger King, where he was President of Burger King International between 2001-03. He also worked for PepsiCo between 1988-1996. Australia: Aussies began preparations for Australian Open 2004. Over 30 of Australia's top young players signed up to take part in the Australian Open Training Camp, which got under way at Melbourne Park on December 10th and was followed ten days later by a cut-throat play-off for a coveted Australian Open main draw wild card. The Australian Open Training Camp was hosted by former World No. 7 Peter McNamara who assembled a group of Australia's top coaches to put the players through their paces. The coaches included Fed Cup team coach and former Wimbledon champion Evonne Goolagong Cawley. Training Camp organiser McNamara commented: "The Training Camp is about ensuring our Australian players are well prepared for the tough season ahead and go into the forthcoming Australian Open with a sharp edge to their play." Bhutan: ITF/OS Level 1 Tutors Course and Level 1 Coaches Course in Bhutan. In their efforts to upgrade the level of their coaches, the Bhutan Tennis Federation (BTF) in cooperation with the National Olympic Committee of Bhutan (BOC) organised an Olympic Solidarity (OS) funded Level 1 Tutors and a Regional Level 1 Coaches course on 1-10 December 2003. The course took place at the Bhutan Tennis Center, a three-court facility in the mountainous capital of Thimpu. The BTF has been working hard to improve tennis at all levels. With ITF and OS funding via the OS World Programme, 'Development of a National Coaching Structure', the BTF was able to obtain the services of Australian coach David Fisher for six months. Fisher is helping the BTF to develop tennis at all levels, especially the talented juniors. Along with two other Level 1 coaches, Fisher participated in the two-day Tutors course. They then assisted ITF expert Suresh Menon in conducting the Level 1 course for a further 12 Bhutanese coaches, giving Suresh the opportunity to work with and also evaluate the tutors in action. This is the third Level 1 course that has been conducted in Bhutan by ITF experts. Colombia: Finalizó con éxito el curso de nivel 2 ITF para entrenadores en las instalaciones de la Federación Colombiana de Tenis. Participaron 23 entrenadores representando a las ligas de Antioquia, Atlántico, Bogotá, Valle, Tolima, Bolívar, Huila, Santander y Norte de Santander. Iván Molina acompañado de Carlos Castellán (Argentina) fueron los tutores enviados por la ITF para seguir preparando a nuestros entrenadores para producir jugadores de alto nivel. También se contó con la colaboración de Sandra Yubelly García en el tema Entrenamiento Mental para jugadores de competencia. A todos ellos nuestras más sinceras voces de agradecimiento. Estamos convencidos que esta es otra forma de propiciar el crecimiento de nuestro deporte. Great Britain: The Lawn Tennis Association has announced Boris Becker as an ambassador for its City Tennis Club (CTC) programme. The former Wimbledon champion joined 100 young players from 12 different CTCs from across Great Britain as part of a tennis clinic organised by the LTA and Volkl Tennis (UK) at London's Westway Centre. The former world number one joins fellow ambassadors Tony Blair and John McEnroe in supporting a scheme that has established 23 clubs throughout Great Britain and enabled over 25,000 kids a week to play tennis. Joint Anti-Doping Programme: re-test of samples for THG is negative Following the ITF's decision to re-test for the steroid THG (Tetrahydrogestrinone), all results have returned negative. THG is a banned steroid that has been deliberately modified to make it undetectable by conventional anti-doping tests. Following the discovery of its existence earlier this year a test was developed to detect its presence in a standard urine sample. With the encouragement of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the ITF decided in early November to re-test for the substance in previously collected samples. The ITF re-tested a selection of random samples taken both in-competition from the US Open and the Davis Cup and also out of competition tests that were collected in association with WADA. Korea: Dong-Kil Cho Appointed new President of KoreaTennis Association. Mr Dong-Kill Cho, former Vice-President of the Korea Tennis Association, was confirmed by acclamation as the new President of the KTA after he ran unopposed for the period of December 2003 - January 2005. The election of the KTA President was the major item on the agenda for Wednesday's Extraordinary General Meeting in Seoul following the former president, Mr. Chong ll Um's resignation on 23 October. In a loyal career spanning over 12 years 48 year old Dong Kil Cho moved from Director to Vice President to Chairman of Hansol Paper Co. LTD. Olympics: Olympic Tennis Finals Sell Out:ITF President, Francesco Ricci Bitti has been informed by ATHOC that Olympic tennis tickets are selling extremely well with tickets for the men's and women's final already sold out. For information on the 2004 Olympic Tennis in Athens visit the ITF Olympic website at www.ITFtennis.com/olympics. ------If you wish other coaches to receive this ITF e-mail newsletter, please forward us their address for inclusion on our mailing list. If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, could you please send an e-mail to one of the addresses below. ------ Dave Miley and Miguel Crespo- Authors Machar Reid - Editor International Tennis Federation Tennis Development Department ITF Monthly E-Mail Newsletter for Coaches is published monthly. 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