New York, June 11, 2012 – Days after its top junior player, Noah Rubin, reached the quarterfinals of the 2012 French Open junior event, the John McEnroe Tennis Academy announced that it will hold its second-ever open tryout day for young tennis players interested in joining the program, with participants eligible to earn full and partial scholarships. Now expanding, with annexes on Long Island and in Westchester to open in September 2012, the JMTA continues to draw a wide range of talented young people from all walks of life who are interested in learning tennis from its Hall of Fame namesake and from the elite team of JMTA coaches that have been assembled. The third annual session of the Academy will begin this September.
“The Academy is all about giving young people, some of whom may not have had a chance to excel at tennis, an opportunity to do so, in an environment that encourages a balanced lifestyle, and we are proud to be able to offer talented players the chance to join us,” McEnroe said. “The New York area has some of the greatest young people in the world playing a whole myriad of sports, and we aim to give some of those young athletes the chance to embrace tennis and to help us grow the game. It is very exciting to be able to provide the opportunity. I look forward to being there and helping in the process.”
The day-long tryout will be held at the JMTA Flagship location, Sportime Randall’s Island, on Saturday, July 21. Young players between the ages of 8 and 14 will get a chance to work out for JMTA coaches. McEnroe will be on hand that day to observe and evaluate the players, and winners will be offered an opportunity to receive scholarships for a year of training at the JMTA. The tryout day will begin with registration at 8 a.m., and is scheduled to conclude by 3 p.m.
All scholarship recipients will formally be recognized at halftime of the July 25 World TeamTennis match at Sportime Stadium on Randall’s Island between the NY Sportimes, featuring McEnroe and fellow Hall of Famer Martina Hingis, and the defending WTT champions Washington Kastles.
This is the second opportunity for young players to participate in open tryouts for spots in the JMTA. In July 2010, over 300 young people participated in try-outs, with five boys and seven girls awarded full or partial scholarships to the JMTA.
Founded in 2010 at Sportime Randall’s Island, the John McEnroe Tennis Academy provides tennis training to many of NY’s best and highest ranked junior players. Full and partial scholarships are available for qualified and promising young players who could not otherwise afford JMTA participation. JMTA corporate partners Nike and Dunlop provide JMTA students with equipment and apparel for their use, both at the Academy and in tournament play. Lawrence Kleger supervises a team of over 30 instructors, including Associate Academy Director and former ATP player player, Fritz Buehning, former top 100 WTA players Hana Sromova and Martina Sucha, and Assistant Academy Directors Karim Balagh and Bruce Haddad. John McEnroe is routinely involved in the daily program at Randall’s Island, personally supervising and training staff and coaching and inspiring young players. The Academy’s first two years of operation at Randall’s Island exceeded expectations, with over 400 aspiring future champions enrolled.
All interested players will need to pre-register in order to attend the tryout day on July 21. For more information and to get a registration application, email the Academy at Tryout@SportimeNY.com or call 212-427-6150 and ask for Tennis Central. For furtherthe details on the Academy and on the July 21st tryout day, visit www.sportimeny.com/JohnMcEnroeTennisAcademy.com.
