Exactly, it is called junior development not junior winning. Juniors need time to develop but somebody always has to win when it comes to competing. I cannot tell you how many juniors I have seen winning over my years of being a tennis dad, coach and all around lover of the game that simply played the game wrong but were athletic enough to keep getting the ball back until the other player missed. This sounds great but if it was not done with purpose and with specific thought then it was simply winning to win and not to improve. I was fortunate enough to meet a coach from Atlanta about 18 months ago that had the same philosophy as me (Heath Waters) and he is all about doing it right win or lose. I have watched students of his win 0 & 0 and still end up running sprints because they did not recognize and attack short balls.Coaches need to teach this way and parents need to understand that winning at U10-U16 is not that big of a deal as long as the child is mastering the right things.
Do they need to play tournaments? Yes, they need to play under pressure as much as possible.
If you have a child with goals of playing pro or at a top school then they need to play 100-150 tournament matches per year. Now this is tough when you live in Ottawa and have to play in Toronto to acquire these matches, right? It gets even worse if you drive all the way there and your child does not win in the first round (one match $400 bucks). You still need these matches because they need to play top players outside the area not only for the points but also to be under that pressure. What I can tell you is that we at the NCTA believe in development and all of our 2012 events will have a back draw so that kids will play at least 2 matches and if possible doubles will also be available at all events. We will also encourage any OTA run events in our area to include a back draw. If we need courts I know other clubs in the region will help out. there is also a plan to host some week long events this summer that will give juniors tons of under pressure match play.
Sean Sweeney
President
National Capital Tennis Association
