NJTP SMASH TALK Newsletter Summer 2010   PRESIDENT’S CORNER By STEVE TSCHERNE FEAR Our biggest fear is fear itself. Franklin Roosevelt said that. I often find that to be true of children. Some of the NJTP children are afraid to compete, are afraid of summer camp and fear the unknown. It’s often easier to ignore things than to deal with them. As President of the NJTP I could have been frozen in my tracks by fear many times along the way. We often play the what if game. What if I fail? What if someone thinks I’m stupid, or what if my idea was stupid? I say the only failure in life is lack of trying! Fail to try is the ultimate failure in life; so give it a try, take a chance, you can only succeed if you try!!! Good luck on your adventure!!! CHATTING WITH JOSE HIGURAS On April 16th and 17th NJTP coaches, Steve Tscherne and Hugo Nuño, were honored to attend the 4th Annual Hispanic Coaches workshop held at the Home Depot Center in Carson. The coordinator was Gustavo Granitto, former director of the Argentine Tennis Association. He has been the speaker and seminar coordinator for ITF conferences worldwide. The keynote speaker was Jose Higuras who oversees all USTA player development along with Patrick McEnroe. Jose has worked with Roger Federer, Michael Chang, Jim Courier, Jennifer Capriati, and Mary Joe Fernandez. He won sixteen ATP titles and was ranked as high as #6 in the world. What was so impressive about him and the workshop was his commitment to tennis, his humility, and his work-ethic as a player and coach. In his presentation he discussed, the role of Hispanics’ in tennis. He spoke honestly and freely about the challenges of coaching Hispanic children. Since the NJTP serves primarily these families, his insights were truly relevant. It was a great weekend and coaches, Steve Tscherne and Hugo Nuno, brought back many useful ideas which can be applied to the NJTP program.   HOLIDAY BREAK The NJTP will take its Holiday break from Sunday, December 19th, 2010 (the day after the pot luck) until Monday, January 10th, 2011. Classes will resume on that day. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from the NJTP!!! BIG BROWN DELIVERS AGAIN NJTP gives a huge THANK YOU to all UPS drivers, management, and clerks who directed their United Way donations to the Neighborhood Junior Tennis Program. The bond between the NJTP children and UPS brothers and sisters is strong, beautiful and very appreciative. Thank you so much!!! RECREATIONAL WORKSHOP HELD A recreational Coaches Workshop was staged at El Cariso Park by the NJTP in conjunction with LA County Parks and Recreation on Saturday, April 24th. The all day workshop was led by Karen Rooney. Participants came from all over Southern California to attend this tennis workshop. It was attended by NJTP coaches and assistant coaches and focused on “quick start” and “beginner” teaching strategies. It was very successful and we hope to do it again next year.   Ryan Nuño – Finalist - Santa Barbara Open – Boys 10’s Ryan Nuño - Finalist - Northridge - Boys 12’s Joey Tscherne - Champion - CSUN Sat. - Boys 12’s Joey Tscherne - Champion - West Coast Sat - Boys 14’s Sarah Nuño - Finalist - Santa Barbara - Girls 12’s Ryan Nuño - Champion - Burbank - Boys 12’s Sarah Nuño - Champion - Burbank - Girls 14’s Ryan Nuño ranked #5 Boys 10’s Southern California Sarah Nuño ranked #6 Girls 12’s Southern California Sarah Nuño won 4 rounds Girls 14’s USTA Nationals Dianne Sarmiento made it to the Granada Hills High School team Ryan Nuño Team Champions CTA Southern California 2009, 2010 Sarah Nuño Team Champions CTA Southern California 2009, 2010 Joey Tscherne Team Champions CTA Southern California 2009, 2010 Sammy Nuño Team Champions CTA Southern California 2009, 2010 Joseph Reyes (coach) attending Cornell Iowa University, playing on the tennis team Kim Alballat (coach) attending Sonoma University, playing on the tennis team Sheena Johnson (former NJTP student) attending Sonoma University, playing on the tennis team Stephanie Arellano attending Kennedy High, playing on the tennis team Sammy Nuño Sarah Nuño Kendric and Alex Nick and Joseph Diego and Kiana NJTP Pot-Luck in the Park THE NEIGHBORHOOD JUNIOR TENNIS PROGRAM PHOTOGRAPHS OF SUMMER 2010   Lobbers and Future Aces Pee-Wees and Future Aces The Challengers Challengers II Rising Stars + Challengers RIVIERA FUN DAYS HELD The Riviera Foundation continues to support the NJTP and two other local junior tennis programs with their Fun-Days. The two Fun-Days occurred on Sunday April 1st and Sunday, August 1st, 2010. As always, it was a great day for the children including a lot of tennis, lunch and a silver dollar gift at the end of the day. The Riviera Foundation, with the blessing of the Riviera Tennis Club, continues to support the NJTP. We are lucky and blessed, and we know it!!! THANKS AGAIN!!! QUARTERLY LIGHTNING TOURNAMENT Mark October 17th, Sunday on your calendar! Our tournament starts at 1:00 p.m.; there will be four divisions —Challengers, Rising Stars, Achievers and Adults. Trophies will be awarded to champions and finalists in each division. NJTP students will pay $5.00; $10.00 for non-NJTP players. Please note, this is a first time Sunday event, make it success by attending. WINTER LEAGUE Stay tuned for the always fun Winter league which will begin in early November and run until Saturday, December 18th, our last day of the year. A potluck and trophy presentation will conclude the event. MARATHON FUNDRAISER This event is mandatory for all NJTP families that are currently receiving fundraising fees. Kids are encouraged to participate. This one day commitment is critical to the NJTP’s growth and success. The day of the Pasadena 5K, Half-Marathon, Marathon, and bike Marathon is February 20th, 2011, a Sunday. The NJTP will pay your entry fees, hold a dinner party, and give all those involved a participation gift. Let’s make this a smashing success. Any questions, call Steve Tscherne at (818) 362-1068 or (818) 294-2671. LEAGUE FUN The NJTP held its summer league play over six Saturdays in June and July 2010. The league finished with a huge trophy presentation and potluck on July 17, 2010. Sixty-seven children including Rally Ball, Rising Stars, Future Aces and Challenger II and III participated. Andres Cardenas won the Challenger division over second place, Kendric Marcy, and third place finisher Eddie Mercado. Andreas used perfect attendance, great singles results, and solid doubles to capture the first place award. The league includes Rally Ball players who excelled and did such drills as rallying with their coaches, hitting backhands, forehands and serves and the ever fun rally races. This group of talented players, mostly under 8 years old, have tremendous talent and a bright future for the NJTP. For all you parents of these children, please continue to bring your children because their talent and love of the game is very obvious. The Rising Stars division used the quick start formula which called for low pressure balls and a shortened court. This led to longer rally point strategy and fewer errors. The quick start formula for league play and lessons is here to stay. Thank you C for Chocolate (Bruno & Celine for donate wonderful T-shirt). LIGHTNING TOURNAMENT RESULTS April Lightning results saw Joseph Reyes (NJTP teaching assistant and Cornell bound college student) defeat Nick Araujo (NJTP teaching assistant and #1 singles at Sylmar High) 6-3 in the Achiever final. Alex Zunigo squeaked by by a score of 7-6 (5) over Kendric Marcy in a beautifully played match in the Challenger event. The July Lightning results were pushed back to August 21th because of such a packed summer schedule. The newcomer, William Chung (#1 singles player for Granada Hills High School), defeated an 8th grader, Joey Tscherne by a score of 6:2. Kendric Marcy looked impressive all day including the final as he defeated Anderson Park 6:0 to capture his first Challenger title. Adult Paul Kedrick brought home his first Adult title after several tries with an entertaining 6:3 score over a wilting Celine Soprano. WHY PLAY TENNIS? By Jack I. Groppel, Ph.D. THIRTY-THREE REASON TO PLAY TENNIS Tennis helps your: 1. Aerobic fitness by burning fat, improving your cardiovascular fitness and maintaining higher energy levels. 2. Anaerobic fitness by offering short, intense bursts of activity during a point followed by rest which helps muscles use oxygen efficiently. 3. Ability to accelerate by practice in sprinting, jumping and lunging to move quickly. 4. Powerful first step by requiring anticipation, quick reaction time and explosion into action. 5. Speed through a series of side-to-side and up and back sprints to chase the ball. 6. Leg strength through hundreds of starts and stops which build stronger leg muscles. 7. General body coordination since you have to move into position and then adjust your upper body to hit the ball successfully. 8. Gross motor controls through court movement and ball-striking skills which require control of you large muscle groups. 9. Fine motor control by the use of touch shots like angled volleys, drop shots and lobs. 10. Agility by forcing you to change direction as many as 5 times in 10 seconds during a typical tennis point. 11. Dynamic balance through hundreds of starts, stops, changes of direction and hitting on the run. 12. Cross-training by offering a physically demanding sport that’s fun to play for athletes who also specialize in other sports. 13. Bone strength and density by strengthening bones of young players and helping prevent osteoporosis in older ones. 14. Immune system through its conditioning effects which promotes overall health, fitness and resistance to disease. 15. Nutritional habits by eating appropriately before competition to enhance energy production and after competition to practice proper recovery methods. 16. Eye-hand coordination because you constantly judge the timing between the oncoming ball and the proper contact point. 17. Flexibility due to the constant stretching and maneuvering to return the ball toward your opponent. PSYCHOLOGICAL REASONS TO PLAY TENNIS Tennis helps your: 18. Develop a work ethic because improvement through lessons or practice reinforces the value of hard work. 19. Develop discipline since you learn to work on your skills in practice and control the pace of play in competition. 20. Manage mistakes by learning to play within your abilities and realizing that managing and minimizing mistakes in tennis or life is critical. 21. Learn to compete one-on-one because the ability to compete and fight trains you in the ups and downs of a competitive world. 22. Accept responsibility because only you can prepare to compete by practicing skills, checking your equipment and during match play by making line calls. 23. Managing adversity by learning to adjust to the elements (e.g. wind, sun) and still be able to compete tenaciously. 24. Accommodate stress effectively because the physical, method and emotional stress of tennis will force you to increase your capacity for dealing with stress. 25. Learn how to recover by adapting to the stress of a point and the recovery period between points which is similar to the stress and recovery cycles in life. 26. Plan and implement strategies since you naturally learn how to anticipate on opponent’s moves and plan your countermoves. 27. Learn to solve problems since tennis is a sport based on angles, geometry and physics. 28. Develop performance rituals before serving or returning to control your rhythm of play and deal with pressure. These skills can transfer to taking exams, conducting a meeting or making an important sales presentation. 29. Learn sportsmanship since tennis teaches you to compete fairly with opponents. 30. Learn to win graciously and lose with honor. Gloating after a win or making excuses after a loss doesn’t work in tennis or in life. 31. Learn teamwork since successful doubles play depends on you and your partner’s ability to communicate and play as a cohesive unit. 32. Develop social skills through interaction and communication before a match, while changing sides of the court and after play. 33. Have FUN….because the healthy feelings of enjoyment, competitiveness and physical challenge are inherent in the sport. LIGHTNING CHAMPIONS JANUARY 2000 —TRISTAN WELLS APRIL 2000 —TRISTAN WELLS JULY 2000 - MIKE DEGUINO OCT. 2000 – ROXANNE PLATA JANUARY 2001 -S PENCER COHEN APRIL 2001 — OSCAR VELEZ JULY 2001 - TRISTAN WELLS OCTOBER 2001 — NATALIE SIORDIA JANUARY 2002 —TRISTAN WELLS APRIL 2002 —TRISTAN WELLS JULY 2002 — TRISTAN WELLS OCTOBER 2002 — TRISTAN WELLS JANUARY 2003 — RUDY CORDOVA APRIL 2003 —TRISTAN WELLS JULY 2003 — ROXANNE PLATA OCTOBER 2003 — SPENCER COHEN JANUARY 2004 — ROXANNE PLATA APRIL 2004 — NATALIE SIORDIA JULY 2004 — ROXANNE PLATA OCTOBER 2004 — JULIO BELLOSO JANUARY 2005 — JULIO BELLOSO APRIL 2005 – BRIAN ROBLES JULY 2005 - SHEENA JOHNSON OCTOBER 2005 - KIMBERLY ALBALLAT JANUARY 2006 - KIMBERLY ALBALLAT APRIL 2006 - KIMBERLY ALBALLATT JULY 2006 - KIMBERLY ALBALLATT OCTOBER 2006 - KIMBERLY ALBALLAT JANUARY 2007 - KIMBERLY ALBALLAT APRIL 2007 - KIMBERLY ALBALLAT JULY 2007 - SAMANTHA NUÑO OCTOBER 2007 - SHEENA JOHNSON JANUARY 2008 - KIMBERLY ALBALLAT APRIL 2008 - ANTHONY DAVISON JULY 2008 - SAMANTHA NUÑO OCTOBER 2008 - SAMANTHA NUÑO JANUARY 2009 - SAMANTHA NUÑO APRIL 2009 - JOSEPH REYES JULY 2009 - JOSEPH REYES OCTOBER 2009 - BRANDON LAM JANUARY 2010 - JOEY TSCHERNE APRIL 2010 - JOSEPH REYES JULY 2010 - WILL CHUNG CHALLENGE MATCH RESULTS 4/28/2010 Sarah Nuno def. Bruno Marcy 6:3; 6:3 Sarah Nuno def. Alex Zunigo 6:1; 6:1 Ryan Nuño def. Kendric Marcy 6:1; 6:0 Diana Alvarez def. Laurel Fish 6:2; 6:2 5/5/10 Sarah Nuno def. Laurel Fish 6:1; 6:0 Sarah Nuno def. Joey Tscherne 6:2; 6:0 Ryan Nuno def. Alex Zunigo 6:0; 6:0 Andres Cardenas def. Robert Tarango 6:1; 6:1 Sarah/Ryan Nuno def. Joey T/J.Reyes 2:6; 6:4; 6:1 E.Alvarado/A.Cardenas def. R.Tarango/A.Alvarado 6:1; 6:1 L. Fish/K. Marcy def. D. Alvarez/A.Zunigo 6:3; 4:6; 6:2 5/19/10 Alex Zunigo def. Eduardo Alvarado 6:0; 6:1 Abigail Alvarado def. Robert Tarango 1:6; 6:4; 6:4 Ryan Nuno def. Bruno Marcy 6:1; 6:4 Joey Tscherne def. Laurel Fish 6:0; 6:2 Kendric Marcy def. Andres Cardenas 6:1; 6:2 6/9/10 Marc Diaz def. Robert Tarango 6:1; 6:2 E. Diaz/E. Alvarado def. A. Alvarado/Y. Alvarado 6:3; 6:0 Andres Cardenas def. Laurel Fish 6:3; 6:4 6/16/10 Diana Alvarez def. Abigail Alvarado 6:1; 6:0 Joey Tscherne def. Andres Cardenas 6:1; 6:0 6/23/10 A.Cardenas/J.Gomez def. K.Marcy/D.Alvarez 6:4; 6:3 Anderson Park def. Robert Tarango 6:2; 6:4 Sammy/Sarah Nuno def. N.Araujo/W.Chung 6:1; 6:2 7/21/10 S.Tscherne/J.Tscherne def. Sammy Nuno/W.Chung 6:2; 6:1 K.Marcy/A.Cardenas def. D.Alvarez/J.Gomez 6:3; 6:3 8/4/10 Joshua Gomez def. Mark Diaz 6:1; 7:5 Eric Diaz def. Robert Tarango 6:0; 6:2