‘Netters to face great challenge from Guam’

The CNMI junior tennis program will be facing a big challenge from Guam this year, prompting coach Jeff Race to call on more parental support and extra effort from the Commonwealth’s young guns.

Race, after accompanying 12 CNMI players to the 2008 Guam 2008 Guam Junior Championships last week, said Guam is doing a lot of things to catch up with the CNMI as far as the junior tennis program is concerned.

In the past several years, the CNMI had dominated Guam in the North Pacific Qualifying Tournament sending more junior players to the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji than its neighbor.

Even in Guam’s home turf, CNMI bets still find ways to overpower their foes.

But after seeing how Guam junior players performed in last month’s championship and the support they are getting from the community and the association’s officials, Race said Guam is showing significant improvements.

“The trip was instructive for me to see that Guam is making a lot of changes designed to improve their junior tennis program. The Tennis Academy of Guam is bringing in a second coach from Texas to complement Lency Tenai,” Race said.

“Also they have formed a national junior and senior team. These teams meet twice a week and the juniors work out with the seniors for the first 1 1/2 hours of the session,” he said.

The CNMI coach added Guam National Tennis Federation has a new president in William Camacho, whom according to Race is “pulling the tennis community together in many ways and they have an active board which supports him.”

“Put that together with a much larger and affluent population, along with more facilities, and that constitutes a great challenge for us,” Race said.

“I believe we will have to make changes, too, push our kids harder and garner greater parental support if we are going to stay ahead of them,” the CNMI mentor added.

Race said if the CNMI tennis community will not make a move and allow Guam to catch up, the latter will not enjoy the benefits it has been gaining in the past several years.

This include getting many slots on the North Pacific Team, which is competing annual in POJC and in other tournaments in Fiji, and spots on the ITF Pacific Touring Team, which participates in junior events in New Zealand and Australia.

Thea Minor, Christian Miller, and Rafael Jones went to New Zealand last year and competed in three tournaments. Last year’s trip to New Zealand was Minor’s second stint there.

Ji Hoon Heo is now in Australia to participate in two tournaments and he will also go to New Zealand for three more tournaments, which offer Junior ITF ranking points.

“If we fall behind, it will be the Guam juniors who are going to Fiji for the POJC and enjoying the benefits, such as going to New Zealand and Australia. This trips are moving our players forward toward their goals,” Race said.