Roland Garros has just ended in Paris and Rafa Nadal has won his 10th (La Decima) French Open! An incredible and historic feat and one we will probably never see again in our lifetime. Perhaps one of the most important part of Nadal’s ability to accomplish this record setting deed are his coaches and the professionals that have helped him with his game since he was a child growing up on the island of Majorca. It is the Tennis Professional that makes a difference in our games and are one of the main delivery systems of tennis in our state.
USTA and USTA Kentucky both understand the importance of developing and providing continuing education for the Tennis Professional. One such program offered by USTA is the High-Performance Coaching Workshop held over four days at the National Tennis Campus in Lake Nona FL. Kentucky was proud to have two Pro’s selected for admission by the coaching department at USTA: JJ Bogusewski and Danny Schmidt from Lexington. They both received grant monies from our own “Raise A Racquet” Foundation and USTA, along with funding from their employer, Lexington Tennis Club. A collaborative effort by all who want to see an exceptional quality of tennis instruction delivered to every corner of this state! When asked about the workshop, Danny Schmidt said “I loved the process and long-term plan of players looking to compete at a high level. We want to rush to results so much, we have a hard time seeing the big picture. It was good to see the focus at the highest levels on long term and not short-term results.”
Jj agreed and added “The facility alone was simply amazing. The high-performance side where Danny and I took the high-performance course is staffed and run with the best of the best. The technology and resources that the up and coming elite American tennis players have to use is unlimited.”
It is these types of collaborations to make tennis better in our respective communities that make USTA the progressive organization it has become. It is also the extraordinary tennis community of this state that enables the delivery of tennis programming to Juniors, Adults, and Special Needs that makes such a difference. I am so very proud of these two tennis Professionals for taking advantage of an opportunity that furthers their careers and more importantly, through education, enhances their teaching and training efforts and provides them with a vehicle for transmitting this knowledge to the champions of tomorrow.
Dell
President
USTA Kentucky
“Tennis…It All Matters!”