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1 it’s your turn to play!
issue no ° 5 | march 2015
march
NEWS
letter
in this issue:
1 What’s New at Elite
1
2
Elite Travels to India
Elite Students Compete
in Asia ITFs
Spring Break Camps
3 Elite Tournament:
Elite Hosts Orange Round
Robin Tournament
4 December Feature
Student
Kiran Phaterpekar
5 What Elite’s Reading:
The Champion’s Mind by
Jim Afremow, PhD
6 March Tournament
Schedule
Tennis BC
Tennis Canada
USTA PNW
ITF
+
What’s New at
Elite?
What’s New @ Elite
Elite Travels to India
Follow us on Facebook
and Twitter for the latest
updates and news:
Facebook Page:
Elite Tennis Academy
Twitter:
@EliteTennisVan
We’ll follow you back!
Elite coach Khristina Blajkevitch spent the month of February in India!
The first two weeks she competed at two ITF professional tournaments:
the $125,000 New Delhi Open and the $25,000 Endurance ITF
Tournament in Aurangabad. In Delhi, after winning her first round
qualifying, Khristina fell to third seed and WTA #443 Marie Benoit of
Belgium. The next week in Aurangabad, Khristina drew the 14th seed
from India, Bhuvana Kalva. After battling back from 6-2 4-2 down to win
the second set 6-4, she lost the third 6-2. Khristina also made it to the
main draw of doubles in Aurangabad with partner Aranxta Andrady of
India.
While in New Delhi, Khristina was able to visit and coach at the Eden
continued on page 2
2 it’s your turn to play!
Sports Academy. Hopefully we’ll see some of
those faces this summer here at Elite through
our exchange program.
issue no ° 5 | march 2015
Elite Students Compete in Asia ITFs
Michelle Lim and Jessie Gong will be competing
at a pair of U18 ITF’s in Asia this month. Jessie
will be traveling as part of a Tennis Canada team
to the Nan Ying International Junior
Championships (ITF G3) and the Speaker Cup
International Junior Championship (ITF G5). Both
will be on outdoor clay in Taiwan. As of this
moment, Jessie will be competing in the
qualifying draw for both events.
Michelle will be traveling with Elite Coach
Khristina to the 51st Brunei ITF (G5), as well as, to
the second ITF in Taiwan previously mentioned.
Michelle has been automatically accepted in
main draw of the Brunei ITF!
Entrance to Eden Tennis Academy, New Delhi, India
Elite wishes Michelle and Jessie (pictured
below) the best of luck in their upcoming
tournaments!
Elite Coach Khristina explains a drill to the academy’s students.
After her tournaments, Khristina traveled to
Ahmedabad for her last week in India. There she
coached at another academy, the Ahmedabad
City Tennis Foundation, alongside Head Coach
Narendra Kankaria. She is there until March 4th,
so check out the next newsletter to hear about
Khristina’s last week in India!
Elite would like to extend its best
wishes to Coach Sandy who recently
celebrated his birthday on February
23rd. Happy Belated Birthday!
Spring Break Camps
Staying in town for Spring Break? Make sure to
check in with your coach regarding which
camp would be best suited for you! You can
also contact [email protected] or
(604) 273-7366 ext 227.
Wishing everyone a great Spring
Break and a Happy St Patrick’s Day!
- Elite Tennis Academy
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issue no ° 5 | march 2015
Elite Hosts Orange Round Robin
On February 9th (10 AM – 1 PM) Elite hosted an exclusive Orange
Round Robin Tournament. Directed by Coach Nelly, and assisted
by Coach Helen, 16 Elite players participated in the orange ball
event. Divided into four flights, the match format was best two out
of three tiebreakers. The winners of each respective box then
competed in a play-off round. Flight 1 winner Daniil played off
against Flight 2 winner Gabriel, while Flight 3 winner Simran
played Flight 4 winner Tamanna. The tournament day wrapped
up with a pizza lunch for everyone who participated!
For many of the players, this was their first tournament
experience. Playing this type of event is a great introduction
to competitive play. It’s a safe environment with familiar faces
around, while simultaneously introducing the young athletes
to dealing with pressure and the various situations that come
up in matches; more importantly, learning to handle it on
their own. An event like this is a great stepping-stone from practice to
playing sanctioned Tennis BC tournaments and beyond.
Elite would like to kindly remind spectators that while being present courtside for purposes such as
photography are welcomed, coaching is not and is against the rules at sanctioned Tennis BC events.
Elite would like to exercise the same guidelines to best prepare players for future tournaments.
With the success of this event, Elite will be holding another orange ball tournament during the Easter
long weekend. “I strongly encourage kids to sign for the next one as it’s great preparation for BC
events, it’s fun and competitive” advised Coach Nelly. Stay tuned for more information on the next
Elite Orange Round Robin.
Kiran Phaterpekar
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issue no ° 5 | march 2015
Meet Kiran Phaterpekar, Elite’s
March Featured Student!
In 2015 thus far, Kiran reached the
finals of the U16 Selections Series
#1. With U16 Provincials at the
start of this month, we hope to
see this up and comer
competing at the U16 Indoor
Nationals!
Kiran is most proud of his
U14 Provincial
Championship title, as
well as, his U16 National
Champion Doubles title.
He hopes to use these
accomplishments as
building blocks
towards his future
goals.
In the short term,
Kiran is aiming to
- sodales.
defend his National doubles title,
and make a statement on the international scene by
claiming his first ITF title. In the long term, Kiran’s ultimate
ambition is to compete in all four Grand Slams.
Playing since the age of four, what drives this young man to
keep playing is the freedom he feels when he is on the
court, “Out there playing matches, it is you and only you.”
Too often, young athletes shun away from this
responsibility that comes along with playing individual
sports, Kiran seems to thrive off of it. “I think what has
driven me through tennis is my personality. My personality
is a not giving up attitude until I get what I want to achieve,
and in this case the big goal is playing at the four grand
slams.”
If Kiran could go back in time and give his younger self
some advice when it comes to bad matches and losing to
people he shouldn’t lose to (it happens to all of us), he
would tell 12-year-old Kiran, “[You] should not beat yourself up over it, and instead
[you] should realize that losing these matches will only make [you] stronger. [You] just
have to push through these tough moments, so [you] can become a better player.”
issue no ° 5 | march 2015
5 it’s your turn to play!
What Elite’s Reading:
The Champion’s Mind
By Jim Afremow, PhD
“Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a
desire, a dream, a vision.”
– Muhammad Ali
In his book The Champion’s Mind, sports psychologist James Afremow, PhD dives into the
question of what it takes to become a champion. What does it take to set oneself apart from
others? Afremow believes the answer lies in the mental game. Based on high performance
psychology research, and direct work with Olympians and other champion athletes, Afremow
offers simple techniques in all the mental
battles tennis players face, from lacking
confidence, to finding the “zone”, to dealing
with nerves while playing. The lessons offered
can be directly applied to tennis, or anything
you go after in life. Reading this should be a
part of standard training for any tennis player.
Below is an excerpt from Chapter 1:
What will your life look like when you have
become your own champion? […] Identify
precisely what you do that hurts your own cause
the most. Eliminate that action or viewpoint
immediately. To perform at a champion’s level,
you must break any bad habits, such as a
tendency to arrive late to practice or just going
through the motions when you get there. We are
all champions until we lose to ourselves.
[…] To go a step further, it is good to contrast
the personal pride and peace of mind that
results from having a champion approach to life
with the future pain and regret of knowing in
your heart that you settled for less than your
best. Will you continue to sacrifice what you
most want to achieve in your game for what is
comfortable in the moment? Or will you keep
putting your best foot forward, especially when
you feel like doing it the least?”
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issue no ° 5 | march 2015
Tournament Schedule: February
RO G E R S RO O K I E TO U R
March 1: North Vancouver Tennis Centre, North Vancouver; Register by phone 604-983-6483
FU T U R E ST A R S TO U R U9 & U10
March 1: Future Stars Tour #7, North Vancouver Tennis Centre, North Vancouver; Register by
phone 604-983-6483
March 8: Future Stars Tour #8, Global Tennis Club, Coquitlam; Contact Shayan Mirhosseini
604-939-2959 [email protected]
March 29: Future Stars Tour #9, Hollyburn Country Club, West Vancouver; Contact Steve Tseng
604-913-4529 [email protected]
JU N I O R R A N K I N G E V E N T S
March 5-9: Doubles Selection Series, UBC Tennis Centre; Vancouver; U10 Mixed Doubles, BGd
U12, U14, U16, U18; sign up online at tennisbc.org by March 2nd 9 PM
March 13-16: U14 & U18 Provincial Championships, UBC Tennis Centre (By Invitation Only);
Vancouver; Contact Sarah Kadi 604-961-4027 [email protected]
March 13-15: Junior Spring Break, Oak Bay Recreation Centre; Vancouver Island; BGsd U9, U10,
U12, U14, U16, U18; Contact Ed Bakker 250-370-7109 [email protected]; sign up deadline March
9th 5 PM
March 17-19: Abbotsford Spring Break, Great West Fitness & Racquet Club; Abbotsford; Boys U12
Singles; Contact Adrian Oziewicz [email protected]; sign up deadline March 9th 9PM
JU N I O R NO N -RA N K I N G EV E N T S
March 29: Global Tennis Academy, Coquitlam (U12); Contact Shayan Mirhosseini 604-939-2959
[email protected]
JU N I O R IN D O O R N A T I O N A L C H A M P I O N S H I P S
Mar 29-Apr 4: U12 Canadian Indoor National Championships, Calgary, AB
Mar 29-Apr 3: U16 Canadian Indoor National Championships, Montreal, QC
Do not hesitate to contact Elite Tennis Academy for more information on tournaments.
For more information on Tennis BC Tournaments, visit http://www.tennisbc.org/ (Tournaments tab).
For information and dates on USTA Tournaments taking place in the Pacific Northwest Division
(Washington, Oregon, Northern Idaho & Alaska) visit http://www.pnw.usta.com/.
For information and dates on ITF Tournaments, visit http://www.itftennis.com/juniors/home.aspx.