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| Capital Kids at Owl Park with Bosco Fernandes |
Capital Kids is off to a great start this season, running at 7 different public parks across the city and introducing tennis to over 500 kids so far. Our team of experienced coaches are welcoming new families and kids in the game, and helping them purchase new racquets and balls and learn basic skills that will enable them to enjoy success when they take to the courts.
We can feel Ottawa's interest in tennis gaining momentum as we see families out on the courts from Gloucester to South Keys to Bayshore enjoying the sport recreationally in Capital Kids, as well as many grassroots tennis programs filling up at our member clubs this season. According to a recent study, tennis in Canada has seen a 30% increase in participation over the past 2 years, much to do with the success of our young stars Milos Raonic, Eugenie Bouchard, and Vasek Pospisil. This poses an important question: how do we ensure that the kids and families we introduce to tennis will stay interested in the sport? After kids finish a session at Capital Kids, or a program at a local tennis club, what is the next step? I believe introducing them to an environment which prioritizes play and learning simultaneously will captivate kids with the competition aspect, and allow them to continue improving and developping skills in the process. Kids do not need to train for many years before they play their first game. Introducing juniors to play and competition at the early stages of development not only allows them to have fun playing and competing, but also allows them to develop court sense and tactics based on trial and error. This aspect of learning is crucial for skill development and instilling a passion for the game, as well as a long term drive to improve and compete. New programs such as Little Aces Minor League Tennis and Rogers Rookie Tour Tournaments are a great place for kids to experience competition at an introductory level.
The OTA, along with it member clubs and coaches, have set up many "Rogers Rookie Tour" events this season to help introduce our rookie juniors to competition that is friendly and accessible. The purpose of the tour is to engage youth as young as age 6 in tennis competition and provide a vehicle for skill development and a pathway to a competitive tennis future, or simply to have fun playing and hanging out with friends. The first event of the season took place at the Craig Henry Tennis Club on May 31st with over 50 kids attending in a single afternoon. Most of the kids were from the local Capital Kids hub of Tanglewood Park across Woodroffe Avenue and had never played in a tournament before. Brian Briggs had the BBQ steaming and everyone enjoyed the experience immensely (except for maybe Brian, who, while very proud, was a little overwhelmed!). The Barrhaven Tennis Club and Challengers Tennis Academy at Colonel By Secondary School followed up with similar Rogers Rookie events the following weekend on June 6-7, which also had good turnouts. We hope to build on the success of these events with a schedule of over 10 events remaining in the outdoor season and more being added every week by Capital Kids coaches and clubs alike. The Rogers Rookie City Championships will be held at St. James Tennis Club in September and, like all events, are open to any player who doesn't hold a competitive ranking in the top 50 in Ontario.
Please visit https://ncta.ca/rogers-rookie-tour for season schedule, registration and any questions you might have.
The next event on the schedule will be held at the Orleans Tennis Club - see poster for details.
Rogers Rookie Tour clubs are supplied with t-shirts, welcome letters and other prizes to give out to all of their participants. They are OTA sanctioned events supported by Tennis Canada and Rogers Communications. There are hundreds of events held every year across the country with thousands of participants in the Rogers Rookie Tour, which is seeing steady growth every season. We are proud to add over 10 events in our region this season and hope to build this Tour and get more young kids interested in playing tennis.
