TENNIS PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION HONOURS TENNIS EXCELLENCE

Toronto, February 26, 2015 – Tennis Canada and the Tennis Professionals Association (TPA) announced Thursday the recipients of the 2014 TPA Excellence Awards at the 10th annual TPA Conference’s awards lunch. The TPA annually recognizes excellence in Canadian tennis and coaching development with awards presented for Club Professional Excellence, Coaching Excellence, Year Round Facility Excellence, Seasonal Facility Excellence, and Course Facilitator Excellence.

Ontario’s Ken Crosina has been presented with the Club Professional Excellence award for displaying the highest standard of conduct and service to tennis both on and off the court. Crosina is a certified Coach 2 and for the last three years has been the head pro at Mayfair West, where he has significantly increased court bookings and registration numbers. Prior to that, he was racquets director at Oshawa Racquet Club for 14 years, a travelling provincial coach for six years, and technical director at the Ontario Tennis Association. Working with Durham College and UOIT in Oshawa, he also designed Campus Tennis Centre, a high performance program where he has helped over 50 kids move on to NCAA scholarships.  

The Coaching Excellence honour goes to Bill Cowan of Ontario. This award is presented to a coach who has demonstrated the highest standards and character in the coaching of his/her players. A certified Coach 4 and Club Pro 2, Cowan is currently the assistant tennis pro at Donalda Club. He has a long history of working with high performance players, going back to 1989 when he started working with Rene Simpson as she hit the Top 100 rankings. While with Players Edge, Cowan assisted players like Peter Polansky, Daniel Nestor, Maureen Drake, Gloria Liang, Carol Zhao, and Brayden Schnur. Most recently, he worked with Sofiya Babych who was crowned both U12 indoor national champion and U14 outdoor national champion in 2014.

Donalda Club in Toronto was recognized as the winner of the Year Round Facility Excellence award, which is presented to a tennis facility which demonstrates a commitment to the promotion of tennis and is supportive of the TPA by hiring only active and certified instructors, coaches, or club professionals. Donalda Club has over 500 tennis members, six indoor bubbled courts, and 12 outdoor courts. The club has hosted many events in the past, including senior indoor and outdoor national championships, ITF senior events, and provincial tournaments. In addition, Donalda Club has hosted the Daniel Nestor Charity event and a TPA workshop, and provides tennis programs to local school Bayview Glen.  

The Seasonal Facility Excellence award was presented to Alberta’s Calgary Tennis Club, the province’s oldest public tennis club having been established in 1898. The club has three clay and six hard courts which are enjoyed by over 500 members each summer. Run by a volunteer board of directors and paid summer staff, the Calgary Tennis Club offers a vibrant atmosphere full of social and competitive opportunities. It also is host of the annual ITF Futures event in Calgary and introduces kids to tennis via elementary school programs.

Brian Myers was the winner of the Course Facilitator Excellence Award, presented to an individual who has consistently demonstrated excellence in delivering certification courses in Canada. Myers has been involved in course facilitation for 12 years and has led or co-led over 30 courses. He is known as an excellent communicator, someone who makes all candidates feel at ease, and who will go the extra mile to help them succeed.

The TPA also presented two annual $2,000 scholarships, which are awarded to help offset the costs of professional development courses and seminars, including international, national and provincial conferences, seminars, or certification courses approved by Tennis Canada.

The Paul & Joyce Chapnick Under 10 Development Coaching Scholarship, presented to a TPA coach under the age of 35, was given to Ontario’s Kyrylo Tabunshchyk. He is the director of progressive tennis at ACE Tennis in Burlington, one of the biggest academies in Ontario with about 200 players between the ages of four and 10. He has coached more than 10 U8, U9, and U10 Ontario provincial champions and finalists and has organized more than 40 tournaments for those age groups. He also spearheaded the first U8 and U9 provincial tournaments.

The Gary Caron TPA Scholarship, in recognition of a tennis coach aged 30 and under who displays the potential to reach the highest level of coaching and teaching excellence in Canada, was presented to Carson Bell of Alberta. Bell has been a coach at the Saville Community Sports Centre since 2002 and has acted as Alberta’s coach at various provincial junior events. He is a certified Coach 2, Club Pro 2, and wheelchair coach and is talented on the court as well, having been named the 2011 Tennis Alberta Male Athlete of the Year. In addition, he founded the Owen Schlosser World Team Tennis fundraiser.