OCEANIA TENNIS FEDERATION BI-ANNUAL REPORT 2007-2008 Oceania Tennis Federation 2007 - 2008 Officers President Mr G Pollard AM (AUS) Vice-President Dr W So‘onalole (SAM) Secretaries General Mr F Coull (AUS) Mr J Shannon (FIJ) Executive Committee Mrs J Aguon (GUM) Mr C Mainguy (VAN) Mr P Perelini (ASA) Mr S W alker (NZL) Auditor Mr B McMillan Administration and Development Mr P O‘Rourke œ Executive Officer Mr D O‘Connell œ ITF Development Officer Pacific Oceania M ember Nations American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of M icronesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, M arshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, New Caledonia Norfolk Island, Northern M ariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu Oceania Tennis Federation Bi-Annual Report 2007-08 OTF Executive Officer‘s Report 2006 œ 2007 Overview Junior player development has continued to be the major focus of OTF over the past two years. The ANZ Bank Tennis Development Program continues in 14 nations and the calendar of ITF W orld Junior Circuit events in the region provides opportunities for players to take their first steps on the international stage. Our ITF development officer Dan O‘Connell, assisted by an enthusiastic group of OTF development officers, has been instrumental in continuing the grassroots development of tennis. The various activities are covered in depth elsewhere in this report. After two earlier attempts to move forward with resurfacing the courts at the regional tennis centre in Lautoka, the project finally got underway in May 2008. The RTC is the focal point of tennis development in the Pacific, hosting our biggest junior events as well as being home to the ITF Regional Training Centre. W ith funding from ITF, the Grand Slam Development Fund, support from California Products (US manufacturers of Plexipave) and a new sponsorship from Goodman Fielder, OTF committed all its reserves to ensure the new courts were ready for the international events from late June. Players and coaches have all been very positive about the new surface as have centre owners Fiji Sports Council. It has been a tough two years for Oceania nations in Davis Cup and Fed Cup with Oceania no longer represented in the top division of either competition. At the end of 2008 there are three women in the top 70 and two men in the top 100 of world rankings from nations in Oceania. Congratulations to Samantha Stosur (AUS) (52), Casey Dellacqua (AUS) (53), Marina Erakovic (NZL) (66) and Australians Lleyton Hewitt (67) and Chris Guccione (96). During 2008 Michael Leong (SOL) became the first player in OTF history from a Pacific Oceania nation to gain an ATP ranking reaching 1139 at the end of the year. Executive The executive committee met twice in Fiji during the period, in November 2007 and August 2008. In between times many of the committee have assisted with the various programs and administrative tasks throughout the region. In particular Joint Secretary General John Shannon has shouldered the responsibility of organising the events in Fiji, has been pivotal in the search for sponsorship and took an active role in overseeing the refurbishment of the RTC. After 10 years as Secretary General of OTF Fenton Coull stepped down in mid 2008 when he left Tennis Australia to take up a new position. In his volunteer role for OTF Fenton provided leadership in managing the organisation and provided expert guidance on the development of tennis activities and programs in the Pacific. Thank you Fenton for 10 exceptional years with OTF. Oceania Tennis Federation Bi-Annual Report 2007-08 Finance The finances of OTF continue to be under severe pressure with a deficit in the costs of administering the programs and the record low value of the US dollar against local currencies, the Australian, New Zealand and Fiji dollars in particular, during 2008. As a result the cost of resurfacing the courts at RTC soared from 2006 estimates and OTF was forced to commit all its reserves to the project in 2008. As a result the year end position for 2008 will see OTF‘s finances at their lowest ebb since the organisation began. Funding Support In 2008 OTF welcomed a new sponsor, Goodman Fielder International, to join existing sponsors ANZ Bank and Air Pacific. Goodman Fielder‘s sponsorship was very timely as it allowed the RTC redevelopment to proceed and they will continue to support the centre and events across the Pacific for the next two years. ANZ Bank continued its support for the mini tennis program in schools in the Pacific in 2007 and 2008. Grants continue to be given to nations to provide a coordinator for their ANZ mini tennis programs and ANZ Tennis Ambassador visits to nations to provide training and coaching. The support of ANZ Bank has led to over 30000 youngsters in schools being exposed to tennis on a yearly basis. W ith the main focus of OTF being development in the Pacific, the extensive programs would not be able to operate without the support from ITF and Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC). The matching grant program funded by these organisations supports Davis Cup and ITF Junior teams competitions, ITF junior events, OTF development officers and a host of other activities run by OTF. ONOC over the last two years has made a very significant contribution towards the fees for scholarship holders at the Regional Training Centre in Lautoka, removing the burden from parents and national associations. ITF through the Grand Slam Development Fund also provided a major grant towards the resurfacing of the regional tennis centre in Lautoka. OTF offers its sincere thanks to ITF and ONOC for their ongoing support. International Tennis Federation OTF continues to work very closely with ITF Director of Development Dave Miley and his team in London and with ITF Development Officer Pacific Oceania Dan O‘Connell on a variety of projects including the Regional Training Centre, ITF Oceania Tennis Federation Bi-Annual Report 2007-08 development tours and the ITF Pacific Oceania Junior Championships. These activities are outlined in detail elsewhere in the report. Dave Miley visited Fiji at the end of January 2008 where he met with OTF officials and Dan O‘Connell to review programs and hear first hand about the challenges faced by OTF. The visit was instrumental in getting the tennis centre project underway. Dan O‘Connell continues to provide the inspiration for the tennis development program in Pacific Oceania and his enthusiasm for the ANZ program has ensured the renewal of the sponsorship over the past two years. Communications OTF maintains a website and regular email communication to the member nations. There is also an annual ANZ Development newsletter and the bi-annual report. For the past two years the newsletter has been sent in electronic form greatly reducing costs. Dan O‘Connell has continued to provide an excellent ITF development newsletter in both hard copy and email forms. M embership Tahiti joined as an associate member nation in 2007 bringing the total number of members to 21. Sadly however Nauru became the first Oceania nation to default on fees to ITF and was suspended from ITF membership at the 2008 AGM. This will have consequences at OTF level as well. Obituary In late February 2008 Nicole Angat (PNG) died tragically in a motor vehicle accident in Suva. At the time Nicole was assistant coach at the ITF Regional Training Centre in Lautoka. Nicole was a cornerstone of the OTF/ITF development programme, mentoring the young players as well as doing development work in a number of nations as one of OTF's ANZ tennis ambassadors. On court she represented Pacific Oceania in Fed Cup in 2000 and 2001. She was captain of the PO Junior Fed Cup team in 2007 and had been appointed again for 2008 in Thailand. Nicole also still played to a high level winning the doubles silver medal at the South Pacific Games in Samoa in 2007 for Papua New Guinea with Abigail Tere-Apisah. Patrick O‘Rourke Executive Officer Oceania Tennis Federation Bi-Annual Report 2007-08 Senior Tennis Pacific Oceania Davis Cup The Pacific Oceania Davis Cup team draws its players from the 17 Oceania associate member nations of ITF and competed in Asia/Oceania Group 2 in 2007 and 2008. A great win over Pakistan in Samoa in 2007 gave the team a fourth straight year in the group but two away losses in 2008 will see Pacific Oceania back in Group 3 for 2009. 2007 œ New Zealand and Pakistan New Zealand beat Pacific Oceania 5-0 The fast indoor surface and cool temperatures provided the New Zealand team with the ideal conditions to outplay Pacific Oceania. W est Nott was a surprise selection for the opening singles and started well against his much taller and more powerful opponent breaking serve to take an early lead. However he conceded his serve twice late in the set and then once in each of the next two sets to give New Zealand an early lead and they never looked back. Michael Leong was unable to cope with the fast surface and serve-volley tactics of Simon Rea and was never in his singles match. Leong combined with Juan Langton in the doubles but the pair was overpowered and New Zealand had secured victory after two days. In the first reverse singles Langton played a good first set against Rubin Statham and Brett Baudinet then completed the tie with an entertaining three set loss to Adam Thompson. Results: Daniel King Turner beat W est Nott 63 64 64 Simon Rea beat Michael Leong 63 62 62 King Turner/Rea beat Leong/Langton 61 63 63 Rubin Statham beat Juan Langton 76(4) 61 Adam Thompson beat Brett Baudinet 62 67(1) 61 Pacific Oceania beat Pakistan 3-2 Local star Juan Langton was first on court against Pakistan number 1 Aqeel Khan.