Canadian Wheelchair Tennis News
High Performance Development
2007 National Team/Development Team Named
Tennis Canada recently named the 2007 National and Development Teams. The following athletes met the published selection standards:
National Team
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Men’s Division
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Women’s Division
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Quad Division
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Yann Mathieu
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Yuka Chokyu
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Sarah Hunter
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Phil Rowe
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Helene Simard
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Lee Carter
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Claude Brunet
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Jeff McBride-injury clause
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Development Team
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Men’s Division
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Women’s Division
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Corey Blatchford
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Annie Morissette
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2007 National Team Program
The 2007 National Team Program kicked off with the National/Development Team training camp held from February 15-17 at the National Training Centre in Montreal. The camp was led by National Coach Severine Tamborero as well as sport specialists Andre Parent, Marie Claude Boisselle, and Geneviève St-Martin.
2007 World Team Cup Selections
Selections will be made April 10, 2007 for the 2007 World Team Cup scheduled for June 11-17 in Stockholm, Sweden.
New Athlete Representative
The new Athlete Representative is Annie Morissette. She will be the voice for the national team members to Tennis Canada, sit on the Wheelchair Tennis Committee, and conduct an annual player meeting at the national team training camps. Annie can be reached at anymorissette@hotmail.com.
Canadians on the International Scene
Here’s how our top Canadians rank on the ITF Circuit as of March 5, 2007
Men’s Open Singles:
#30 Yann Mathieu (QC)
#37 Phil Rowe (BC)
#46 Lee Carter (MB)
#53 Christoph Trachsel (QC)
#81 Claude Brunet (QC)
#102 Corey Blatchford (SK)
#118 Joel Dembe (ON)
#189 Jonathan Tremblay (QC)
#235 Nissim Louis (QC)
#237 Laurie Zalmanowtiz (AB)
#268 Denys Lapointe (QC)
#269 Eric Gilbert (QC)
#318 Georges Rousseau (QC)
#346 Frank Iannuzzi (ON)
#359 Jerome Bouvier (BC)
Women’s Open Singles:
#10 Yuka Chokyu (BC)
#17 Helene Simard (QC)
#52 Annie Morrissette (QC)
#132 Cyndy McLean (ON)
Quad Open Singles:
#5 Sarah Hunter (BC)
#26 Adrian Dieleman (ON)
#60 Ken Bartel (BC)
#64 Bert Blokker (ON)
Community Tennis Development
2007 Provincial Team Program
The Provincial Team Programs are moving into their second year of operation under the direction of Tennis Canada and the Provincial Wheelchair Sports Associations. Uros Budimac, Alain Mansuela, and Adam Kivell are the coaches responsible for the programs in BC, QC and ON respectively.. They will offer selected athletes regular training sessions and coaching services at the Birmingham Nationals as well as one ITF event.
Quad Classification
If you are a new quad division player and wish to be classified to compete in ITF sanctioned tournaments please forward your name to Janet Petras, Manager, Wheelchair Tennis at petras62@aol.com.
Available Funding
Tennis Canada supports the growth and development of wheelchair tennis at the community level through the Participation Development Grant Program. Grants are available for coach education, wheelchair tennis promotions, facility upgrades, new training programs and introductory clinics. For applications please contact Janet Petras, Manager, Wheelchair Tennis at petras62@aol.com.
Competitive Structure Development
2007 Canadian and International Tournament Schedules
Tournament schedules can be found on the Tennis Canada website at www.tenniscanada.com. It includes 8 ITF sanctioned tournaments, the Birmingham National Championships, Abbotsford Open, and Ontario Paralympic Championships.
For a complete international tournament schedule please visit the ITF website at www.itftennis.com.
2007 Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships Bids
Tennis Canada is accepting bids for the 2007 Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships. If you are interested please contact Janet Petras, Manager, Wheelchair Tennis at petras62@aol.com for a bid package.
Technical Leadership Development
Wheelchair Tennis Instructor Certificate Course
The next Wheelchair Tennis Instructor Certificate Course is scheduled for May 19, 2007 at the Grant Connell Tennis Centre in North Vancouver, BC. To register, please visit the Tennis BC website at www.tennisbc.org.
Resource Development
Petras Attended IWTA Management Committee Meetings
Janet Petras, Manager, Wheelchair Tennis attended the IWTA Management Committee meetings November 18-19 in Amsterdam held in conjunction with the Singles Masters.
Athlete’s Corner
This section is managed by the Tennis Canada Athlete Representative, Annie Morissette, and will feature reminders and articles of interest for all players. If there is a topic you would like to see included in this section in future issues please contact Annie at anymorissette@hotmail.com.
This year I will be the new player's representative. Being fairly new to the National Team Program, it will be a learning experience for me and I hope that everyone will feel comfortable to approach me with all things related to tennis. We have a big year ahead of us. The World Team Cup in Sweden is coming up and further down the road will be th qualifications for the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. We have a great team and I hope that everyone will reach their personal goals. I want to wish everyone a great tennis year!