Women's tennis gives back to Walla Walla youth

I've posted on this before as it is a project I'm extremely proud of. Yes, it's our team's tennis in schools program where the ladies volunteer their time, energy and expertise with the racket to introduce tennis to local schoolchildren. You can read the PNW tennis times with an article and photo of Emily teaching on page 11 right here.

This year, the men's team has expressed interest in joining us and we'll continue to use the equipment funded by the USTA and start branching out to a second school in Walla Walla. While just providing the lessons and developing hand eye coordination skills while spreading knowledge of the game is enough reward in itself, last week during the first week of Walla Walla Parks and Rec tennis camps, Jeff Northam and I were excited to have a few kids enrolled who were first introduced to tennis at Sharpstein Elementary last year with our team!

Whitman Player Features: Alyssa Roberg

Ok, so putting together some in depth player bios has been on my to do list all season, so now that summer is here, I'll get started and share them with you all. Here goes with Whitman's 2009-2010 freshman female most outstanding performer:

Name: Alyssa Roberg
Real Name: Show Pony
Year: Sophomore (2013)
Hometown: Scotts Valley, CA
High School: Santa Cruz High School
Major: Undecided
Academic Interests: Environmental Studies (Sociology) and Psychology, and Education
Family: daughter of Arlene and Roy Roberg

Life before Whitman: found her way from the beaches and misty coastal mountains of Santa Cruz onto a tennis court by age 7, was playing tournaments by 10…four time singles champion in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League...led her team to SCCAL league championship as a senior…competed in the CCS singles tournament four times… ranked in the top 40 USTA Norcal 18’s

Life as a Whittie: Playing mostly #1 singles and #1 doubles, earned a ranking of #5 doubles and #20 singles in the West Region, alternate for NCAA Individual Nationals, first team All Northwest Conference, Most Outstanding Freshman Female Athlete, tiebreak tournament champion, team leader, rambunctious dancer, a laugh you hear across Ankeny (and more likely notice the absence of laughter as she catches her breath)

Adult Wine and Tennis Camp at Whitman July 22-25

Hello and happy summer (or almost summer) to all!

As the season and school year have both finished up, the team has earned several accolades which I'll share in future postings, but for now I'd like to spread the word about an amazing idea that is coming to life this summer... an adult tennis and wine camp in Walla Walla! Jeff Northam has been talking about this and if you or anyone you know loves wine, food, and of course tennis, you should check this out. I feel lucky to be involved with a tremendous coaching staff that includes one of the best college coaches alive in Greg Patton from Boise State, Pat Dreeves from Spokane who was an amazing college coach at Linfield and Eastern Washington before striking out as one of the premier private coaches in the Northwest with our own superstar Elise Otto on his list of successful students. And yes, Jeff and I will be there too!

Any profits will go to the Men's and Women's teams at Whitman, but really I'm extremely excited to spend time on court with these coaches and our "campers" as well as getting to know some of the finer points of life in Walla Walla (food and wine) a little bit better.

Information on the camp can be found online by clicking here or feel free to contact me with inquiries, and spread the word as summer is fast approaching!

Cheers!

John
heinj@whitman.edu

NCAA Nationals Selections Announced...Whitman on the bubble

Well, as tomorrow marks the first day of final exams and our men's team competing at Regionals in Claremont, CA, we enjoyed a beautiful spring day with the news that our top doubles duo of Elise and Alyssa has been named the first alternate for the West Region in the selections for individual nationals May 28-30 in Fredericksburg, VA (see the NCAA website for information).

I'm really proud of this honor and excited about practicing with these two as they take on court study breaks. There are a lot of very good teams in our conference and the West region is strong in doubles, so to have the opportunity to prepare for nationals is outstanding.

-John