Two Questions; ITF Launches Online School for Juniors; Cecil Wins Family Circle Qualifying Spot
Marc Lucero poses two interesting questions today at The Tennis Recruiting Network. Is there a more effective way for coaches to evaluate talent and is the USTA deserving of the public's criticism that it receives for not producing champions? As I mentioned in my review of Moneyball a few years back, there just aren't the numbers available in tennis that there are in other sports, so coming up with objective evaluation tools is difficult. I think service games won, as Lucero mentions, might provide some insight, but there is no way that number is going to be collected at tournaments, unless the coaches do it themselves. As for the USTA, Lucero points out that the monopoly that any federation enjoys is not likely to produce the competition that leads to innovation and enterprise, and serving solely as a bank has its downside too.
The ITF Junior website has details on their newly launched online school, which provides education modules relating to the sport, from "injury prevention, anti-doping, player protection and the role of the agent. There is even a module dedicated to parents and to the important role of looking after talented children,” according to Luca Santilli, ITF Manager of Junior Tennis.
Mallory Cecil, the top seed in the SMASH Junior Cup, won the wild card into qualifying at the Sony Ericsson WTA Family Circle Cup in April that goes to the girls 18s winner. In what appears to have been a great final today, Cecil defeated No. 2 seed Nadja Gilchrist 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5. James Beck of the Charleston Post and Courier wrote this story about the semifinals, where Cecil beat Keri Wong and Gilchrist defeated Alison Riske. The timing of the Family Circle Cup qualifying makes its unlikely that Cecil will be able to play the Easter Bowl this year. For complete draws, see the TennisLink site.
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