An eclectic group of Tennis Professionals, Coaches and Instructors converged at the Cheyenne Country Club Tennis Complex on August 9 to participate Wyoming’s first ever PTR Workshop devoted exclusively to coaching the 11 to 17 aged group. The cool cloudy weather was overshadowed by the energy and knowledge of Clinician Brian Parkkonen.
A total of 18 participants from the states of Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska were in attendance. Participants included NCAA Div I coaches, high school varsity and JV coaches, teachers, PTR teaching pro’s, parks and recreation instructors, and some up and coming high school kids that want to pursue careers as teaching professionals. The entire event was conducted on-court with non-stop drills and games, some of which were planned and produced by the participants themselves. Interspersed with all the activity was plenty of question and answer sessions.
The Wyoming High School Coaches were given a basic framework of how to structure their practice sessions given the Wyoming School’s relatively short season and the corresponding time restraints. Other topics ranged from the “ice-cream cone” ball toss to the “Wardlaw Directionals”. Lesson planning with time breakouts and post practice evaluations was emphasized. In short, everything for participants to hone their craft on court in real life situations was covered.
One of the youngest participants, Chase Anderson, who is still in High School said: “I really learned a lot today, and for me, I had a great time, it was fun.”
"PTR should be applauded for putting together their 11 to 17 programming; they are not only making the game better for the attendees, they are making Tennis better for all in Wyoming." Ken Yamada PTR Pro and Director of Tennis, Cheyenne Country Club and host of the PTR Training.