Malaysia’s 14 & U Boys and Girls tennis team start the New Year in style after an impressive showing at the ITF Asia 14 & U Development Championships 2012 - Division 2 in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, from 7 January to 15 January, 2012. Thirteen Nations, including Malaysia were invited. It was held at the HOANG TIEN TENNIS CLUB, in Ho Chi Minh, City. Malaysia was represented by Koay Hao Sheng, Khairil Anas Abdul Rahim, Talhah Rahizam, Yus Syazlin Yusri, Nurin Nabila Roslan and Loo Shi Pei. The team was led by Mr Taisto Sinkkonen.

The Championships consisted of two tournaments, back to back. The first being, 7 to 10 January and the second, from 12 to 15 January, 2012.

In the Boys Category, Koay Hao Sheng, displayed a creditable  performance where he not only won   the singles in the first tournament, beating Raahil Doshi, from Singapore, 62,75,  he also took  the doubles title partnering  Khairil Anas Abd Rahim upstaged Talhah Rahizam and Doshi, 64 ,75.

Meanwhile, Khairil Anas was a semi finalist in the boy’s singles in the first tournament and runner-up in the second. Talhah Rahizam also performed well where he reached the semi final in the singles and was a runner up in the doubles.

In the Girl’s division, Yus Syazlin Yusri was equally impressived when she emerged champion in both the singles and doubles. In the singles final, in the first tournament, Yus Syazlin beat Nethmie Waduge, of Sri Lanka, 60, 64.. Due to health reasons, she had to give a walk over (with Nurin Nabila) in the doubles in the second round. The other player in the Malaysian team, Nurin Nabila Roslan put up a gritty performance and entered the semi final before losing to Waduge in the first tournament. In the second, she emerged runner up. Nurin compensated her loss in the singles by winning the doubles, partnering Yus Sazlin, in the second tournament beating Waduge and Dada, a Sri Lankan and Pakistani combination, 61, 64.  The third player in the team,Loo Shi Pei, after winning her first round against a Singaporean,Izabella Tan lost in the second, to Tiffany Nguyen in a three setter. In the second tournament, Loo had to face Yus Sazlin in the semi finals and lost, 26, 26.

In the Boys category, the overall winner in the nine day championships, top of the list out of 33 participants is Koay Hao Sheng followed by Khairil Anas Abdul Rahim at number two and in fourth place, Talhah Rahizam.

In the Girl’s category, Yus Syazlin Yusri topped the 26 participants.   Nurin Nabila Roslan in third place and third   Loo Shi Pei placed seventh.

For the first time, Malaysia who was represented by 3 boys and 3 girls were awarded a trophy which can be kept in Malaysia for 1 year. With that win, Malaysia was promoted to Division one.

Based on the concluded results, four players, namely, Koay Hao Sheng, Khairil Anas Abd Rahim, Yus Syazlin Yusri and Nurin Nabila Roslan , upon confirmation by the ITF, qualified for the ITF Asia 14 & U Development Championships 2012 - Division 1, in Manila, Philippines, from  5 March to 16 March, 2012. 

In this issue:

• Upcoming coaching courses in Korea and Kuwait 
• Coaching and Sport Science Review- Issue 55 is published 
• Completed courses and events in Togo and Nicaragua
• This month's latest iCoach releases and ITF store items
• The rules of tennis have changed-ITF press release
• Article of the month: Tennis 10s court marking manual
• Job vacancies in China and Egypt for Tennis and Conditioning coaches

UPCOMING COACHING COURSES AND EVENTS                                                                                    18 - 29 January

ITF/OS Coaching Advanced Players Course (Level 2)- Seoul, Korea 
26 January - 6 February

ITF/OS Coaching Beginner and Intermediate Players Course (Level 1)- Kuwait

ISSUE 55- COACHING AND SPORT SCIENCE REVIEW

Issue 55 of the ITF Coaching and Sport Science Review, which was the final edition for 2011 is available to view on the ITF Coaching weblet. This issue contains a range of interesting and brand new articles on overtraining, coaching styles, parenting, conditioning and visual imagery amongst others. Academics, authors, trainers and coaches are reminded that papers can be submitted for review and potential publication throughout the year.

The ITF CSSR is published tri-annually in the months of April, August and December.Papers should be submitted to the Associate Editor, Merlin van de Braam at merlin.vandebraam@itftennis.com. Please click the thumbnail image to be redireced to the journal page.

COMPLETED COURSES & EVENTS

Togo hosts Regional Coaches Conference
The Fédération Togolaise de Tennis (FTT) with the assistance of the National Olympic Committee of Togo and Olympic Solidarity organized this year's ITF/OS Regional Coaches' Workshop. A total of 40 coaches from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Niger and Togo spent the 5 days (12 - 16 December) trying to master all aspects of beginner players which included topics such as the Play & Stay program, communication, technique and tactics, etc.

Candidates were required to demonstrate a unique understanding of modern tennis and the ability to execute modern tennis strokes. Every candidate rose to the challenge and showed great enthusiasm and a hunger to learn the new information on offer, which made the course exciting and fun for everybody involved.

The course tutors were Jean François Blanco and Renaud Dujeu from the French Tennis Federation and Amine Ben Makhlouf, ITF Development Officer for West & Central Africa.

ITF ANNOUNCEMENTS

Tennis iCoach new releases this month:

• Performance player development through red orange and green tennis- by Max de Vylder (Worldwide Coaches Conference, Egypt, 2011). View now.
• Long-term conditioning development plan by Beni Linder (Worldwide Coaches Conference, Egypt, 2011).
  View in English Ver en Español

Click on the hyper links to be directed straight to these new articles among many others (iCoach membership required). Become a fan of iCoach and track its following- Icoach-on-facebook.

WCC 2011 proceedings available now
Presentation summaries and abstracts are now available on CD for purchase from the ITF store. The CD details the over 55 presentations and research projects that were presented in 2011, at the Worldwide Coaches Conference in Port Ghalib, Egypt.Click here to be directed to the ITF Store. (Available in English language only)

THE RULES OF TENNIS HAVE CHANGED

Regular tennis ball eliminated from ten-and-under competition

- Only the fifth ever change to the Rules of Tennis has been implemented-

The ITF announced that its new rule for ten-and-under competition came into worldwide effect  on January 1st 2012. The rule states that ten-and-under competitions can no longer be played using a regular yellow tennis ball, with the mandatory use of slower ‘red', ‘orange' or ‘green' balls on the appropriate size court. The new ITF rule was approved at the 2010 ITF AGM in Washington. This was only the fifth occasion the ITF Rules of Tennis have been changed in the history of the sport, following on from the foot fault rule, introduction of the tiebreak, introduction of set breaks and the new optional scoring methods.

The rule change is a key part of the ITF's Tennis10s programme, which promotes the use of slower and lower bouncing balls, shorter and lighter rackets, and smaller courts to make it easier for children to take up the game.

Tennis10s is a supporting programme of the Tennis Play and Stay campaign, the ITF's global initiative launched in 2007 aimed at increasing tennis participation worldwide. Tennis Play and Stay centres around the slogan of ‘Serve, Rally and Score' and seeks to promote tennis as an easy, fun and healthy sport. Fundamental to the campaign is the use of slower balls by coaches working with starter players, ensuring that their first experience of tennis is a positive one by serving, rallying and scoring from the first lesson.

The three types of slower balls are intended to be used at different stages of a player's development. The ‘red' ball, made of foam or felt, is 75 per cent slower than a regular yellow ball, and aimed at children aged five to eight on a court sized 12 x 6m. The ‘orange' ball is 50 per cent slower and aimed at eight-to-ten-year-olds on a court sized 18 x 6.5m. The ‘green' ball is 25 per cent slower and aimed at more advanced nine-to-ten-year-olds on a full sized court.

The Tennis10s programme has already seen strong support from the ITF's 210 National Associations, some of whom have created promotions involving top players and other famous personalities to help communicate and implement the new rule change nationally.

Dave Miley, ITF Executive Director of Development, said: "Nations that have already adapted their competition to use the balls for this age group have not only seen a significant increase in participation, but are also witnessing large increases in sales of kids' rackets and the slower balls. There has also been a big improvement in the technical and tactical quality of the ten-and-under players coming through into their high performance junior programmes. As the rule change takes effect in all of the ITF member nations, we expect to see high growth in the number of ten-and-under children playing tennis worldwide."

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: "The rule change is a great step forward for tennis. Tennis10s is improving the way we introduce tennis to young children and follows similar changes made in other sports. It is great to see such great results already in terms of increased participation."

Details of the rule change and further information on Tennis10s can be found on the ITF's Tennis10s website: www.tennis10s.com

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Article of the month
The article of the month for January will link you to "Tennis 10s- Marking Red and Orange Courts: A Guidance Manual". This manual will act as a guidance document for coaches and tennis facilities regarding how different types of lines can be used to establish Red (36' foot) and Orange (60' foot) courts. The manual details the many variations in which smaller courts can be set up more effectively. Click here for manual. The aim of this feature is to direct readers to material that is already freely available on the worldwide web. Readers will be directed to an educational article, paper or resource on a monthly basis.

Coaching vacancy in Beijing, China
The 6th Sense Academy in Beijing, China, is looking to appoint an individual for the position of Director of the Tennis School and Team Competition. The 6th Sense Academies are based in Belgium and China, and have been operating since 2007. For more information on this role which is based in the Beijing academy, please contact Mr. Andrés Bruno at; andresbruno@hotmail.com

Coaching vacancy in Egypt
Tennis Coach:
1- Well experienced tennis coach: - minimum 8 years in the field of tennis coaching & development.
A minimum of ITF level 2 coach or equivalent ( level 3 is a plus).
2- Specifics: very experienced in Under 10s development (red, orange & green stages) & Junior tennis Performance coaching (12 to 18 years).

Fitness & Health Coach:
1- Age: between 25-35 years.
2- Experience: minimum 5 years in the field of physical & conditioning , good knowledge in health & tennis related nutrition.
3- Specifics: very experienced with Under 10s and Junior performance players as well as excellent knowledge for planning the Fitness Program.

Note:
1- The above positions need to filled by 1st February 2012
2- If applicable, the above two positions could be filled by a coach & his/her partner.

Visit the website: www.pata-tennis.com. Applications to Amira.Hamza@phdint.com