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ATACP Psychology Students Present Work During Rainy Practice

The rain washed away any hope of hitting a ball this afternoon, but the Academy students and coaches were still hard at work in the fitness center. The coaches led the group through 1 hour of fitness, followed by two 30 minute presentations from ATA College Prep Psychology students Alejandro Rodriguez and Bailey Forgus.

The assignment from CP Psychology teacher Jack Newman was to present an element of positive psychology to the group using a PowerPoint and a handout.

“I thought both Alejandro and Bailey did an excellent job correlating the teachings we have learned in class with tennis, and how it can translate on the court,” ATACP senior Abigail Chiu said. “Bailey focused on happiness, and Alejandro chose mental toughness and both were presented with visual evidence that really brought interest to the entire group.”

Bailey titled his presentation Be happy with your journey, not your destination. See the slides below:

[embeddoc url=”http://www.austintennisacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Be-happy-with-your-journey-not-the.pdf” download=”all”]

Alejandro titled his presentation, Pushing Yourself. See the slides below:

[embeddoc url=”http://www.austintennisacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/PushingYourselfProject.pdf” download=”all”]

“It was nice to get to showcase some of the things I had learned in class while giving my teammates some information which could help them,” Alejandro said. “It was fun talking to a larger group, I didn’t feel nervous at all and I enjoy speaking to more people. I hope to get to do that a lot in college and professionally. I think people connected with some of the content that I talked about and because my topic had a very direct correlation to tennis, I think they will be able to apply what they learned (if they choose to) pretty straightforwardly. The group was also a great audience which made it very fun to present!”

Check back later in the week to see more student presentations.

CP Grad Bartlett Brings Energy, Work-Ethic To Hilltoppers

ATA College Prep alum and St. Edward’s University freshman Chase Bartlett wrapped up his first college semester maintaining his high academic standard, earning a 4.0 GPA and claiming a spot on the President’s Honor Roll through 7 classes on the Hilltop.

“While not at all surprised, I am incredibly proud of Chase’s accomplishments and his continued diligence during his first year at St. Ed’s,” ATACP Director Carol Hagar said. “His insatiable curiosity, his dedicated work ethic, and his copious positive demeanor embody the ideal scholar-athlete. Chase was an excellent leader while at ATACP and it is a beautiful thing to see him carry that forth into his college community.”

His work ethic was also evident on the court, as he’s spent the majority of his winter break participating in practices and fitness workouts with his former teammates at ATA preparing for the upcoming season.

“Chase Bartlett’s willingness to be humble and work hard continues when he returns to ATA from college,” ATA CEO Jack Newman said. “This past few weeks he has been in practice a lot. Just like when he trained at ATA full time, for him it’s never about who he is practicing with, it’s about what he brings to the practice. He brings a high level of energy and of course a high level of tennis. He doesn’t come with the attitude that he’s too good for the kids in the academy, he comes with that attitude of wanting to be there and wanting to get a great workout. I think this draws a high level of work and effort from his younger teammates. Consequently everyone gets an amazing practice.”

As a team, Bartlett and his fellow Hilltoppers set the goals to finish top 10 in the country this year while earning the highest GPA out of any athletic team at St. Edwards.

“I’m super excited about this upcoming season because I want to see the work that the Hilltoppers put in the fall season pay off,” Chase said. “A lot of guys (myself included) pushed literally to our physical limit. I remember one practice when the other freshman and I won a relay race against our other teammates and then both of us proceeded to leave the courts and throw up. That happened a few times this season.”

While the team logged long hours working together through the Fall, being apart through the holiday season makes continuing the momentum a challenge for each individually.

“It’s really helpful to have ATA,” Chase said. “During a one-month long break it’s important to keep training to maintain what we worked for in the fall, and for that you need a place to train. I like going to all of the academy practices and fitness sessions because when I was in high school/middle school it was really motivating to see what older, more-experienced people can do.”

As far as his academic success at the college level, Chase again looked back to his ATA College Prep roots.

“ATA College Prep really prepared me well. CP taught me both the time-management skills and academic foundations that are necessary for success at the college level.”

Follow along while Chase and the Hilltoppers begin the season in the coming weeks. The St. Ed’s Men’s and Women’s teams are scheduled to play multiple matches on the ATA courts, offering many opportunities to see college-level tennis right here while supporting some ATA alums, including Charlie Shin, Men’s and Women’s head coaches Estevam Strecker and Kendall Brooks, as well as Bartlett.

Next up:

St Ed’s vs ATA All Stars – Jan 27^th 4pm

St. Ed’s vs Southwestern U – Feb 3^rd 4pm

St. Ed’s vs UTRGV – Feb 11^th 2pm

Hagar Voted Irish Captain, Joins Distinguished Group Of ATA Alums

ATA College Prep graduate and life-long Austin Tennis Academy member Josh Hagar was recently voted Captain of the Notre Dame Men’s Tennis Team. Entering his senior season, Josh joins teammate Eddy Covalschi as co-captains at the helm of a strong Fighting Irish squad.

“Being voted a captain is an accomplishment I’ll remember forever,” Hagar said. “To be voted a leader of the team by my peers is the highest compliment I can think of. It’s one thing to accomplish something on the court or in the classroom, but to be recognized by my teammates, who know me better than anybody, to me that speaks volumes.”

Hagar joins a distinguished group of Austin Tennis Academy alums who went on to serve as Captain of their college tennis teams.

“It’s very humbling to join the list of past ATA players named captain of their team,” Josh said. “They embody the culture of ATA, which translates very well to a college team environment. It speaks to how important character, work ethic, and other off-court attributes are at ATA.”

Here are a few of the former ATA and ATA College Prep graduates who went on serve as team captain:

Trey Phillips – University of Texas

Blake Davis – Florida State University

Claire Cahill – Washington & Lee University

Santiago Montoya – Notre Dame

Brent D’Amico – Notre Dame

Lindsey Periera – University of Virginia

Matthew Bain – Texas A&M

Brandon Davis – University of Illinois

Whitney Waters – Redlands

Brent Werbeck – Boise State

Adam Slagter – Penn State

Jenn Wencel Werbeck – Boise State

Roger Gubser – The University of Texas

Kendall Dabaghi – Duke – Not Captain, but was President of his Class and Fulbright Scholar

Josh Hagar – Notre Dame

“It is exciting to see Josh Hagar named captain of the Notre Dame men’s tennis team,” Josh’s long-time coach and CEO of ATA Jack Newman said.

“Over 25 ATA players have been captains of their tennis teams. This is the accomplishment of which I am most proud.”

Designed Learning Experiences – The Math Mindset

It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. ~Einstein

Neuro-targeted teaching methodologies are implemented by ATACP instructors throughout the curriculum to build stamina and perseverance in our student-athletes. Primary goals are encouraging students to think critically and creatively, to develop and explore new topics of interest, to be willing to take risks, and to build confidence through failing and trying again. Much like Thomas Edison’s and Albert Einstein’s approaches to inventing, a failed attempt is simply another opportunity to gain new knowledge and master a better understanding for the next attempt.

In the following article, math instructor, Linda Dobbs, explains ATACP’s growth mindset approach to problem-solving.

_______________________________________________________

First day of classes at ATACP. Algebra and PreAlgebra students enter the room. Pumped up to be learning new math skills? Unfortunately, not. The disclaimers begin. “I can’t do math.” “Math is hard.” “When will I use this stuff, anyway?” What to do?

Teach a new mindset. One component of this year’s Algebra and PreAlgebra classes is a weekly problem-solving session inspired by Jo Boaler’s Mathematical Mindsets (Jossey-Bass, 2016). The book explores the commonly uneasy relationship that many people, child and adult, have with mathematics and proposes ways of altering attitudes toward math. In particular, six questions from the book have helped shape the ATACP problem-solving sessions.

Can you open the task to encourage multiple methods, pathways, and representations? Instead of teaching a single method of solution for each problem, we present problems that encourage multiple approaches.
Can you make it an inquiry task? Instead of asking the student to reproduce a particular technique for figuring out a type of problem, we present a problem that encourages new ideas from the students.
Can you ask the problem before the method? Rather than present problems paired with solutions, we present a problem that allows students to arrive at the method through exploration.
Can you add a visual component? Instead of simply writing equations, we incorporate drawings, color, and movement as a problem-solving tool.
Can you make it low floor and high ceiling? Instead of one problem fits all, we create problems that have easy entry (low floor success) but can provide increasing challenges (high ceiling success).
Can you add the requirement to convince and reason? Instead of demonstrating the ability for rote memorization and formulaic solution, we ask the student to show WHY the math works.

Throughout this semester, each week problems are placed in front of the students that incorporate these goals. The Create a Jack-o-Lantern exercise met many of these goals. Students were given a set number of eyes, noses, and mouths and asked to explore how many unique jack-o-lanterns they could create. Parameters were changed, and the students were asked to figure out how the changes impacted their jack-o-lantern total. The students were exploring permutations and combinations, but without knowing that was a mathematical concept with established solution methods. (Q3) They approached the solution in a variety of ways (Q1) Some of them drew choice trees, some of them drew jack-o-lantern faces, some of them zigzagged lines through the elements on their worksheet.(Q4) The task began with small numbers and relatively simple combinations, but continued with more features and qualifications.(Q5)

Another challenge involved exploring Voronoi diagrams, a way of partitioning a plane into subsets. The students were given a grid and 2 points (pizza parlors) and asked to partition the grid so that each location in the partition was closer to that partition’s pizza parlor than any other pizza parlor. They were then asked to place the points to create equal partitions. Then they moved on the 3 points. The students were given no system for a solution and they worked together in teams. They had to convince each other that their solutions were accurate. Since they did not expect to receive a solution method, they created their own amazing solutions.

Students still can find math hard or irrelevant. However, over the semester, their mindsets have begun to change. They have become increasingly comfortable attacking problems. They spend less time trying to figure out the “right way” to solve a problem and more time finding their own solution. They are even, at times, enjoying math.

This is an excellent example of inspiring students to utilize computational, critical, and creative thinking strategies – all proven through recent research to increase logic, confidence, and resiliency. ATACP is neuro teaching for the future.

Sign Up For Winter Tennis Camp At ATA

2016 Winter Tennis Training Camps

This Winter, your child can take advantage of the Austin Tennis Academy’s Winter Camps to progress at a rapid rate. The camps are designed to provide the greatest development of your child’s physical, mental, technical, and tactical performance levels.

Dates:

December 26th, 2016 – December 30th, 2016

Times:

QuickStart Camp 9:00am – 10:30am (age 5-8)
Morning Camp 9:00am – 12:00pm (All levels)

Tournament Tough Training Camp 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Cost:

QuickStart Camp $150/week ($40/day drop-in)
Morning Camp $275/week ($80/day drop-in)

Tournament Tough Training Camp $375/week ($90/day drop-in)

Quick Start Camp

9:00am – 10:30am ($150 per week or $40 per day)
The Quick Start tennis format used by the Austin Tennis Academy gives kids the opportunity to rally a ball over the net and learn to play points as quickly as possible – all in a fun environment. Our coaches recognize the importance of starting kids off well, and with success. The ATA was instrumental in developing this groundbreaking nationwide program and served as the pilot program for the USTA. This program uses the appropriate size racquet, court and ball to allow kids to do more – faster! Suggested Age: 5-8 years old

Morning Camp

9:00am – 12:00pm ($275 per week or $80 per day)
Players will improve their game by learning fundamental skills, practicing game situations, and improving overall movement. Using the latest techniques and international innovations, players learn valuable athletic skills for tennis and other sports.

Afternoon “Tournament Tough” Camp

1:00pm-4:00pm ($375 per week or $90 per day)
Tournament players will improve their game by using competitive game situations, technical training and point play, as well as movement and flexibility training. ATA Academy players will be training at this time.

Policies

Registration must be made online.
Payment in advance is required to reserve your slot. An administrative fee of $50 will be applied for cancellations.
ATA camps are held rain or shine. Indoor sessions are held in the event of inclement weather.
No refunds or make-ups for days missed.
Weekly rate applies to that particular week only (no carryover).
Medical Release and Hold Harmless must be filled out online.
Players may leave credit card on file to cover pro shop purchases, lunch, etc.
ATA does not offer housing. Private housing may be available. Email info@austintennisacademy.com to inquire.
Prompt pick-up is expected. Early drop-off and late pick-up is available upon request for $50 per week.

Former Newman Student’s Story of Success Featured In FW Weekly

Carla Rosenberg, a former student of ATA CEO Jack Newman and active member of the ATA community, recently spoke to a group at the North Texas Food Bank. Her talk so moved Rush Olsen, a writer for the Fort Worth Weekly, that he featured her in his column, Sports Rush.

Here is an excerpt:

Something got Rosenberg to the point where she is this successful, and it was clearly either in spite of sports or because of them. In a recent talk she gave to employees at the North Texas Food Bank, she explained the role sports, and especially tennis, played in her development as an executive.

“The tangibles that come through playing athletics stay with you,” she said. She turned those tangibles into a series of philosophies she finds crucial to success.

Coach Newman, who has impacted many generations of students over the past 3+ decades, expressed his pride in seeing his former students succeed in life.

“As coaches, we often don’t get to see the real fruits of our labor until long after our students graduate from ATA. The lessons we impart can often times be long term life time skills that don’t reveal themselves until our students are well into their careers.

It’s incredibly rewarding and fun when you get to see something you taught, actually stuck to your student and that they use it in their everyday life.”

Read the full article about Carla here.

Coach Newman Recommends – College Tennis And Career Development

‘Being good at tennis can offer players more than just an array of life lessons. It can encourage some kids to go to college and help others get accepted into college. For many, college tennis can facilitate career development beyond the court.’

This is an excerpt from an article recommended to you by Coach Jack Newman. Take a look at the full article on Universal Tennis by clicking here to learn how and why college tennis benefits career development.

November SuperChamp Major Zones Academy Highlights

The fabric of junior tennis in Texas is woven with the monthly major zone competitions. Players from across the state in each age division converge on a city to put their hard work on the line.

This past weekend, ATA’s top junior athletes competed in major zone tournaments, with the 16s and 18s playing in the BCS Georgetown Super Champ Level 4 while the 12s and 14s went to Wichita Falls for the Echometer Super Champ Level 4.

In the Boy’s 18s division, Bailey Forgus reached the finals in both Singles and Doubles.

“This was a good step for Bailey into the 18s,” Coach Jack Newman said.

In the 18s A draw, Roger Chou worked his way to a consolation title.

In his first Boy’s 16s A draw singles, Max Schmidhauser earned an encouraging win on his way to the quarters by upsetting the #5 seed (Austin Lee) who is ranked #15 in Texas.

In the girl’s 18s division, Alexandria Mjos won the A draw singles consolation draw by earning 4 wins.

Kristin Kerrigan took home the title in the doubles B draw. Georgia Wright won the singles B consolation division.

In the Boy’s 16s A draw, Juan Abboud went undefeated in doubles to claim the championship crown. Also in 16s, Jack Lum logged a storybook comeback, digging out of a 4-7 hole and a 7-9 hole to win a 10-point tiebreaker.

In Wichita Falls, Denver Holden claimed a spot in the quarterfinals of the singles A draw with 2 straight victories.

“Denver competed extremely well all weekend and got better throughout the event,” Coach Brian Notis said. “His improved serve and ball quality were the keys to his success this weekend.”

Santianna Chrysopoulo won her doubles draw in the girl’s 14s.

“What impressed me the most was her no fear mentality,” Coach Josh Rifkin said. “Staying aggressive and going for shots to always keep pressure on her opponents.”

Check back here for more tournament results. Many more ATA athletes were in action this weekend in the National Open.

4 Qualify for Champs and 2 Qualify for Superchamps!

Over the last couple of months, ATA has had 4 players qualify for champs. ATA’s youngest academy players Jacob Golden and Lucas Riezebeek qualified for boys 12s. While, Sarah Schaal G14 and Alex Sheddan B16 also both qualified.

Savannah Baptiste and Keana Moon won the Girls 14’s doubles CMZ and qualified for superchamps and earned some ice cream!

Congratulations to all the players!

Designed Learning Experiences – Surprising Stoichiometry

ATA College Prep instructors strive to develop dynamic and stimulating content that is relevant to each student. Learning experiences are designed to engage students through information while adding intellectual, creative, emotional, and physical layers. Focusing on the goals of opening students’ minds and equipping them with the tools to succeed academically, lessons address the HOW and WHY of each learning activity in addition to the WHAT. This article is the first in a series titled Designed Learning Experiences and will feature unique activities that take place within the CP classrooms.

In example, the students in Mr. Rutherford’s Chemistry class use “stoichiometry” (quantitative chemistry) to predict the amount of baking soda needed to fully neutralize a certain amount of vinegar.

Mr. Rutherford explains, “The kids did the math and then tried measuring in the amount of baking soda they predicted (Alex added it so quickly that the fizz overflowed)… and found, to their surprise, that they had predicted way, way more baking soda than necessary because they didn’t realize that “vinegar” is really mostly water and contains only a small amount of acetic acid (the active ingredient).”

Using skills of analysis, prediction, experimentation and calculation, students adjusted their math for the observed revelation, tried again, and correctly predicted the amount of baking soda that would complete the process.

“An important piece of teaching the sciences is surprise,” explained Mr. Rutherford. “By the time kids are in secondary school, they already feel like they have a pretty good intuitive sense of how the world works. Experiments and demonstrations in which something surprising happens shake them out of their complacency and allow them to feel a little wonder and mystery, which is the motivation for studying science. It’s also very satisfying for them to resolve the mystery and incorporate new information into an updated worldview, which is a decent summary of the scientific process.”

Check back in the coming weeks for more examples of the Designed Learning Experiences at ATA College Prep.

Dwayne Hultquist Visits ATA

Dwayne Hultquist Head Men’s Coach at Florida State University for the pasted 17 years visited ATA on Tuesday. He talked to the academy about what he looks for when he recruits. Recruiting is not always based on results and skill but the athlete’s character and will they fit in with the team. He talked about perks from being a college athlete (food, laundry, and equipment). What a great opportunity for academy players to receive direct info and get a chance to ask questions about college tennis from one of the most elite college coaches!

November David Benzel Webinar and Article

David Benzel’s latest article, “Is Your Child Fearful or Fearless?” is on teaching kids to have faith rather than putting them in fear of making mistakes. Teaching children with fear basically makes them into an obedient puppet rather than a responsible citizen. Click here to read more.

Join for the webinar on Thursday Nov 17th at 8:00pm “What Your Child Needs to Succeed – Ten Life-Changing Strategies.”

Click here to sign up

Last Year’s Seniors Check In From College

Each Fall, the previous year’s Seniors and current college Freshman send us an update of how things are going. Below, please enjoy the check in’s from Payton Holden at Princeton, Jake Berber at Claremont, Hunter Bleser at the University of Virginia, and Chase Bartlett from St. Edward’s University.

JAKE BERBER – CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE

Thinking back on my time at ATA, I can’t help from getting a smile on my face. It’s such a special place and you’ve done an incredible job at making it a place of such family. As I’m writing you from my room in Wohlford Hall, room 111, there are a few things that come to mind when I think about what I would love to tell the current players at ATA.

First of all, try your best to make life long friendships. Personally, I was blessed with an incredible class of 2016 and I consistently keep in touch with many of my fellow peers. Obviously, the tennis is unbelievable and is the reason why everyone is there, however, the people there are just as special. Take some time to worry less about how poorly you are hitting your forehand and actually ask someone how their day/week/life is going.

Second of all, try your best to get to know the coaches. They may be annoying at times but each and every one of them has an incredible story to tell. Some of my favorite tournament trips were when I was rooming with a coach because they’re all extremely interesting and smart people.

Lastly, enjoy the amount of free time that you have now. Even if you are feeling overwhelmed with school, tennis, or whatever is taking up your time, trust me, it only gets more hectic. For the last 3 weeks, I had 6-8 am practice Monday-Thursday and midterms all of last week. Start working on your time management skills now before you get to college so that you aren’t feeling as if you have negative time to work with once you get here.

Hope all is well back home,

Jake

PAYTON HOLDEN – PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

“The tennis aspect of Princeton is very tough and hectic. Practices are always super fun, loud and competitive. My practice schedule for the fall is MWF 7:15am lifts with 4-7pm practice and Tuesday Thursday practices from 1:30-3:30ish. Then on top of that, in order to receive our warm ups (Sweat pants and sweatshirts) we have to complete certain things in our free time. For instance, to earn one of our pairs of sweats we have to play 4 singles sets, 4 doubles sets and 5 extra ab workouts on our own time. As far as tournaments go, I have played 3 out the 5 fall tournaments we have scheduled this fall. College tournaments in the fall feel equivalent to matches at grand slam; technically it is an individual tournament but the cheering and support is still extremely high. One of the highlights of the fall thus far has been the ITA grass court tournament. Luckily I was able to compete against players from Michigan and TCU in the first ever collegiate grass court tournament. Overall, ATA and more specifically ATACP prepared me very well for the rigorous practice and tournament schedule, it also taught me how to manage my time on the road, which is a crucial skill to have for college tennis.

Academically it is challenging but not impossible. As long as I am diligent with my work and study consistently it isn’t too bad. This semester I am taking Spanish, Micro-Econ, Calculus and a Writing Seminar. CP classes prepared me very well for all of my classes, I feel like I know all of the pre-requisite material needed for all of my classes.

One piece of advice I would give the younger players is to really focus on doing the little things, especially when they are tired. For instance, I wish I had done all of my homework right after practice/dinner when I was still tired, because there is hardly a second here where I feel “ready” or “energized” to do work. Often I am super tired and just have to grind through it.

Well I hope everyone has a great and best of luck to everyone,

Payton”

HUNTER BLESER – UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

Hey ATA!

I am about to finish up my sixth week at school now and I just wanted to check in with yall and let you know a little bit about what college is really like and what ATA has taught me.

First off, time management is the major key component when trying to balance your academic and athletic life at school. You will not only have to schedule your days around classes and practice, but you will also have to take into consideration tutoring, conditioning, weight training, homework, etc. Those free hours that you have between classes at CP now, use them to get homework or readings done early. Make this a habit so that you when you move off into the next chapter of your life you won’t be overwhelmed.

Secondly, take advantage of CP’s environment and work on your communication skills. Professors and coaches really appreciate and idolize someone who communicates with them 24/7. Get in the habit now of “over communicating”. I promise it will help you out in the long run!

Lastly, take advantage of the advice and instruction your coaches at ATA are offering. They truly want the best for you and want to see you succeed in your endeavors. It may seem somewhat annoying now, but trust me, when you get to school, you’ll miss having them there every step of the way. The coaches and staff at ATA are truly your second family, whether you realize this or not right now. Love your family, because soon you’ll have to leave the nest and grow up.

I hope you guys are doing great! I still keep track of almost all of your results not twitter! Feel free to call, email, or text me if you guys have any questions about the college process or need some advice about anything! Can’t wait to see you guys here in a few months! Miss y’all like crazy!

Take care,
Hunter Bleser
Wahoow

CHASE BARTLETT – ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY

Hey Coach,

Midterms are coming up, and since it’s almost halfway through the year I thought I would give you an update on how college life at St.Edwards has been so far. Fall semester has been interesting so far – I have changed roommates (my first roommate would get back at 4am on weeknights and wake me up, and I think he was selling drugs out of the room when I wasn’t there) and I now live with a good friend on the tennis team. Life is very similar to college-prep life. I set my alarm for 6:50am when I was in CP, and I still set my alarm at 6:50am in college. I feel like CP was a very smooth transition into a liberal-arts college – some of my classes are around 14 students, which is actually pretty similar to Coach Tommy’s English class. Additionally, the content is similar; this year there is an emphasis on community, which is really similar to CP’s focus on what it means to be a good citizen.

I’m not going to say that I find St. Edwards easy – I find it very challenging actually – but, I do think that it is do-able. I’m pretty happy with my choice of school; I think that going to a different school just because of a brand-name diploma would have been a bad choice, because the work load here is hard enough already and because I can’t imagine how much of a “better education” would be possible. I have a 4.0GPA so far, and have worked very hard to do so (I study between 3-5 hours daily). I get assigned about 8 writing assignments per week, and about 200 pages of readings. It seems like a lot, but when you get in college and you HAVE to do your work to get A’s, you figure out that there is a lot of time in the day that usually goes to unimportant things.

Tennis is good; the guys on the team are a lot of fun to be around, and Coach Strecker cares a ton about us and our program, which I think is the most important thing for a coach to have. Fall season was okay for me and for our team, I won one tournament in singles and doubles, but had to pull out of one because I had some sort of virus which lasted a week, and I went into regionals without having trained more than once. I’ve seen the level of competition though – I definitely belong here and have a strong shot at winning regionals next year. Training is interesting though, we are only allowed 25-something days of official practice (which means that we have been doing a ton of running and a ton of lifting). I have probably only spent 6 hrs on court for the past week or two, which is tough. I would tell anyone who is in CP right now to enjoy court time and have fun with it, because it’s much more pleasant to play tennis for 5 hours a day than to run until you throw up or write papers until your eyes hurt.

Overall, school has been good. I’m pretty happy with my choice so far, and hopefully I can hold on to my 4.0 through midterms!

Hope you are doing well and that everything is going well at the academy.

Chase Bartlett

Challenger Tournament Schedule

Click here for a listing of the 2016 Challenger tournaments. Click on the tournament code link for more information or to register for a tournament.

Note:

Players may play multiple Challenger’s per month in 12-18 and only one per month in 10’s. Parents, click the link and choose the event that works best for you.

College Prep Students Entered In Children’s Business Fair

The Kids in Business class at ATA College Prep introduces students to entrepreneurial practices and processes, business and marketing plans, and allows them to develop their own products for sale. Implemented through project-based learning, students have free-reign of choice and are guided by exploration and careful questioning to redirect.

“Project-based learning is a powerful and enjoyable way to develop metacognitive skills – such as confidence, decision-making, self-regulation, and autonomy – which are known to increase motivation and self-directed learning,” said ATACP Director Carol Hagar.

Products and businesses designed by entrepreneurial CP students:

JAK’S

JAK’S creates colorful spin art on vinyl records. You can design your own by picking your colors or buy a colorful record that is already made. Also, vinyl record bowls will be for sale. They make great pots for succulents! Come help support Austin Pets Alive and get homemade dog treats!

-Jordan, Abigail and Keana

SCS Designs

SCS Designs makes handcrafted colorful decor for your home. We have a variety of decorated letters that you can hang or stand up, painted canvases with inspirational words and coasters with colorful designs. Come out and help us support A Glimmer of Hope with each purchase made!

-Sasha, Caroline and Sydney

ATACP students Abigail, Sasha, Sydney, Jordan, Keana and Caroline invite YOU to visit and shop their stores this Saturday at the Children’s Business Fair at Pease Mansion, 1606 Niles Road, Saturday, October 25th 10:00am – 12:30pm.

Please come out and show your support for this entrepreneurial event. The students have designed, created and will be marketing unique products. You will be amazed!

ATA Coach Lucie Schmidhauser Inducted into UTexas Hall Of Honor

ATA’s Lucie Schmidhauser accepted her induction into the University of Texas Sports Hall of Honor last week alongside fellow Longhorn athletics standouts at the Frank Erwin Center.

13 May 1993: Photo Credit: Stephen Dunn /Allsport

“It was my pleasure and honor to attend coach Lucie Schmidhauser’s induction into the University of Texas hall of honor last week,” ATA CEO Jack Newman said. “Her group of inductees was especially strong and I thought coach Lucie gave a fantastic speech.”

Coach Lucie Ludvigova Schmidhauser (1993-95) was a two-time All-American, 1994 SWC Player of the Year and was a catalyst for the 1995 team that won the NCAA championship.

See her inspirational speech here:

Around The Classrooms At ATA College Prep

We are well into the school year at ATA College Prep! From the first test in Psychology, to presentations in English, vocabulary in Spanish, French and Chinese, to origin stories in History, the ATA CP staff is striving daily to challenge the students academically while inciting the curiosity within each. Here are a few pictures from around the classrooms.

The MS English group worked through a fun creative group writing activity. Each student wrote the first paragraph of a short-fiction story where he or she set the scene and introduced a character, then passed their story to the right. Each student contributed one paragraph with different parameters to each story such that at the end, the class had nine complete short stories with a section from each student to share with the group.

The Algebra and PreAlgebra classes used pennies to test the strength of spaghetti strands (first one strand, then two, etc.). The purpose was to discover a linear relationship through experimentation.

The History students got outside to work on their class timeline projects.

Max and Jack lead a team chant at the end of morning practice last week.

Check back here for more pictures and updates from around the campus and as always, see more on our Facebook page!

David Benzel Article and Sign Up for Webinar Oct 18

David Benzel’s newest article: When a Sport Chooses Your Child is about how your child chooses to start a sport and try it out. “Creative parents find ways to expose their children to a variety of activities, while at the same time having no agenda or preconceived notions about what their child “should” do.” Click here to read more

David Benzel’s Webinar on: How to Discuss Performance Issues with Your Child and Remain Friends

Tuesday, October 18^th, 2016 at 8:00 PM Click here to sign up

Pictures From The 2016 ATA Scholarship Shootout

The 2016 Austin Tennis Academy Scholarship Shootout unfolded last weekend with a dinner event on Friday evening followed by a pro-am style tennis tournament on Saturday morning. It was a fun weekend of community and philanthropy that supported the Austin Athletic Scholarship Foundation. See some pictures of the action below.

ATA CEO Jack Newman springs into a kick serve during the finals with partner Bailey Forgus at the net.

ATA College Prep student Callie Creath and partner Chad Loup are all smiles after winning a long point.

ATA College Prep student Juan De Dios Abboud and his father teamed up at line 1 doubles.

Academy player Marcus Sweeney joined forces with his father to create a dynamic duo on the court last weekend.

ATA’s Brian Notis joined forces with his student and Academy player Blaine Kanak for the doubles event.

To see more pictures from the event, check out the ATA Facebook page!

A Look Inside The Start of ATA College Prep

The ATA College Prep school year is underway! While barely two weeks in, so much has already unfolded. Beginning with Orientation, the students and teachers of the 2016-2017 school year set off on what is sure to be an amazing journey.

At orientation, students enjoyed team building activities and games to get to know each other a little better. After a shortened version of the class schedule to meet with teachers and get accustomed to room assignments, the group enjoyed a trip to the Austin Panic Room. After, they stopped at local favorite Gordough’s for lunch.

Director of ATA College Prep Carol Hagar was excited about what she witnessed at Orientation.

“In the two days of orientation, I witnessed the following character attributes from the CP students: kindness to others, respect for others’ ideas and opinions, willingness to try new things, excellent abilities to work together in a group, and an eagerness to learn.”

The group starts each day with tennis and fitness before transitioning to breakfast and classes. Below, Mac locks in on a forehand volley during a game of ‘105’.

ATA’s Dio Miranda discusses the importance of nutrition with the group and offers some tips on how to improve.

Mrs. Linda and her math class pause for a quick picture.

Psychology students begin work on a self-awareness project.

Students have ample time throughout the week to collaborate and receive additional support during daily group Study Halls.

To see more pictures from the beginning of the year at ATA College Prep now and throughout the year, check out our Facebook page!

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