ParentingAces - The Junior Tennis and College Tennis Podcast

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 39 of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week, we're talking Team Tennis and how our Junior players can benefit from it. My guest is Tammy Anderson, a long-time tennis player and tennis coach who, most recently, coached a team at the U12 Southern Cup ( click here to go to the tournament page). She is also the chief financial officer and executive board member of the Women...

Welcome to Season 8 Episode 38 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's episode, I sit down with veteran tennis journalist Joel Drucker to talk about this year's US Open Junior players and his thoughts on their future prospects in the college and pro game. According to his profile on the Tennis Channel website, Joel Drucker has been writing about tennis since 1982 for a variety of magazines an...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 37 of the ParentingAces Podcast! My guest this week is Coach Todd Widom discussing how he helped his player, Ronnie Hohmann, prepare for the US Open Juniors. A big thank-you to Colette Lewis of ZooTennis for the photo! Of course, it's "just another junior tournament". However, winning the US Open Juniors is often a stepping stone to a successful collegiate and professi...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 36 of the ParentingAces Podcast. In this week's episode, we hear from the 2019 ITA Division I Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award Winner Isaac Perez and his college coach Dan Oosterhous. Apologies for the poor sound quality - we recorded this episode while sitting outside during Arthur Ashe Kids Day and it was just a little noisy out there! Coming from a m...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 35 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's episode, Creator Lisa Stone, gives a brief update on what's happening at ParentingAces and what's coming on the website and podcast during the 2019 US Open. If you are going to be in New York for either Lisa's Tennis Parent Recruiting Session ( click here for more info) or the US Open, please let her know so you can conne...

Welcome to Season 8 Episode 34 of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week, we hear from Todd Widom about the work he's been doing this summer with juniors from all across the US and the developmental shortfalls he's had to work on with them. It turns out, several of you ParentingAces Listeners have reached out to Todd over the past couple of years. Several of you have even sent your kids down to Flor...

Welcome to Season 8 Episode 33 of the ParentingAces Podcast! Jimmy Bendeck started playing tennis at a young age after growing up watching his parents play at the local courts in South Florida. After having early success as a Junior Player, he developed a serious injury that kept him out of the game for over 4 years. In this week's episode, Jimmy talks about overcoming injury and working to restor...

Welcome to Season 8 Episode 32 of the ParentingAces Podcast! Before embarking on a professional tennis career, Danielle Lao had an outstanding 4 years as part of the women's tennis team at USC . She was an All-American in Singles and won multiple doubles titles throughout her time in college. She wrote a book about her experiences entitled THE INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE . Since graduating in 2013, Dani...

Welcome to Season 8 Episode 31 of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week we are discussing Division III recruiting with Jordan Brown. Jordan Brown is Assistant Dean of Admission & Coordinator of Student-Athlete Recruitment at Occidental College . In his role he works with both coaches and prospective student-athletes as they navigate the college admission and recruitment process. Jordan is also...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 30 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's episode, I chat with Jeff Puhan about how junior players can best prepare to play at the National Clay Court Tournament. Coach Jeff Puhan has been in the tennis business for over 25 years and has worked alongside of some of the best coaches, fitness trainers, mental coaches, and players in the tennis world. Throughout his...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 29, of the ParentingAces Podcast! My guest this week is Coach Bill Patton, and we discuss the concept of the athlete-centered coach. Most Tennis Parents struggle with identifying the "right" coach for their child and may make several "wrong" choices along the way. In this week's episode, Bill talks with us about what an athlete-centered coach is, why these coaches may...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 28, of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week, my guest is Marianne Werdel. Several weeks ago, I read an article on Marianne's website discussing Toni Nadal aka Uncle Toni and his approach to developing his nephew's tennis game. Marianne had shared her article on the ParentingAces Facebook Group, and it sparked several communications between the two of us regarding junio...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 27, of the ParentingAces Podcast! This week, things get personal! My father, Carl Goodman, started playing tennis in New Orleans when he was a kid. He has continued playing throughout his life with a short hiatus from the sport while he was in medical school in the early 1960s.  He has seen the game change and develop over many decades and has some very definite opinio...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 26 of the ParentingAces Podcast! I have been traveling - A LOT! - and have not been able to schedule podcast recording sessions the past few weeks. So, in this week’s show, we throw it back to my conversation with former World #1 and current Tennis Parent, Tracy Austin. Please note: this episode hails from my days broadcasting on BlogTalkRadio, so you will hear a diffe...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 25 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's show, the topic is High School Tennis. Corey Aldridge and Troy Simonek both grew up playing junior tennis then college tennis, and went into coaching after getting their degrees. Their commitment to growing High School Tennis in Texas has been nothing short of phenomenal. As you'll hear, they have worked alongside Univers...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 24 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's conversation, I chat with Sid Newcomb, lead tester for the USPTA. For those unfamiliar with USPTA , it is one of the most highly-regarded certifying organizations for tennis coaches, and its offices are located directly across the street from the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Florida. The organization was founded in...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 23 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this episode, I discuss the NCAAs with coach - and former University of Miami standout - Todd Widom. If you follow ParentingAces on any social media, you are well aware the NCAA Division I Championships just concluded down in Orlando at the USTA National Campus. I was fortunate enough to be there for the team finals as well as the fi...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 22 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's episode, I chat with Cory Brooks, the ITA Senior Director of Championships, Rankings and Membership about the 2019 ITA Summer Circuit. The Summer Circuit is one of my favorite series for junior players as well as incoming college freshmen and other college players looking for quality competition during their time off from...

Welcome to Season 8 Episode 21 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this episode, we chat once again with Coach Todd Widom as a follow-up to last week's episode with the parents of 2 of Todd's players. The focus of this week's conversation is the importance of following a step-by-step plan in junior development. Todd discusses the dangers when coaches and players try to rush the process, oftentimes le...

Welcome to Season 8 Episode 20 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's episode we hear from two Tennis Dads who have seen their sons rise to the highest levels of junior and college tennis. Ron Hohmann lives in New York. He grew up playing both tennis and volleyball then played Division I volleyball in college. His son, Ronnie, is choosing the tennis path instead.  You may remember my podcast...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 19 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's episode, we talk about the NCAA rule regarding a grace period between high school graduation and the start of college. Ken is a San Diego-based coach who works with many top-level junior players, including his own niece who has committed to play her college tennis at University of California, Berkeley, starting Fall 2019....

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 18 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's episode, we discuss summer tennis camps with Ohio State Men's Assistant Coach and founder of Wilson Collegiate Tennis Camps, David Schilling. If you've been following ParentingAces for a while, you know what a huge fan I am of sending your child to tennis camp in the summer. Not only is it a fantastic break from their reg...

Welcome to Season 8 Episode 17 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week's episode, we hear from two families who have chosen two very different pathways for their junior players, both with the same coach. Over the past couple of years, I have interviewed coach Todd Widom many times. Instead of talking to the coach this week, though, I chose to speak with two sets of parents whose children are co...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 16 of the ParentingAces Podcast! I hope you've used the last couple of weeks to catch up on any episodes you may have missed! Matt Knoll had an incredible career as the Head Coach of Men's Tennis at Baylor University. A 2008 Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Matt was the Bears' head coach since their first season of Big 12 Conference competition in 1997. Before r...

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 15 of the ParentingAces Podcast! In this week’s episode, we chat with Cindy Brinker and Carol Weyman of the Maureen Connolly Brinker Foundation and Little Mo series of junior tennis events. Not only will you hear about one of my favorite junior tennis events, but you will also learn some Tennis History!  Maureen Connolly, or Little Mo as she was fondly dubbed by a jour...