February was a great month for King Daddy Sports as far as results go, from the ZAT events to the National level events. But before we get to those results, we have to acknowledge a great feat that was accomplished last month. Mia Matuszak placed third in the doubles event at the Winter Nationals, thus winning a coveted USTA National Bronze Ball. Way to go!

In February National Open competition, there were a number of King Daddy players that posted some outstanding results. Ashok Narayana, competing in the boy's 14's, won the doubles title, and finished 6th in singles. Nick Caledonia won some tough matches en route to placing 6th at the boy's 18's event. Amanda DiCarlo and Carlene Leyden reached the finals of the doubles in the girl's 16's, and Carlene went on to win 3 matches in the singles.

At the Championship level, we had seven players qualify for Super Champ competition. Peter Leung won the boy's 12's draw. Andrew Legg reached the finals of the 12's, thus earning enough points to qualify. Ryan Sweezey qualified in the boy's 14's. Hannah Byatt and Tarika Khaladkar both won their draws in the girl's 12's division. Julia Hatridge dominated the field in the girl's 16's, and Brody Rodriguez took home the title in the boy's 16's.

In Dallas, at the "Little Mo" Sectional, an event that host the best 11 year olds and younger, Aron Pierce showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come. Aron dominated the draw, not dropping a set on his way to a tournament win.

In Super Champ competition, Stuart Kenyon had a very good result by reaching the semi-finals of the boy's 14's A draw. Bayo Philips reached the finals of the consolation in the boy's 12's A draw. Monica Pieratt reached the semis of the consolation in the girl's 14's A draw, while Stephen Dria did the same in the boy's 16's C draw.

In Missouri City, at the Quail Valley Open, King Daddy had three players win the event. Ernest Didehvar won the boy's 12's draw. Heather Goettee took the title in the girl's 14's draw, and Nick Legg won the boy's 12's. Other results included Elia Suardi and Annat Rabinovich reaching the finals of their respective draws.

Congratulations to all of these players on their results. Remember that good results come from great efforts on the practice court. Keep up the hard work, and you will start to get the results you are looking for.

Looking “Down the Line”

Upcoming Events

ZAT
   - March 3-4, Copperfield ZAT, deadline 2/17, (281-463-2582)
   - April 14-15, Katy ZAT #2, deadline 3/30, (281-579-3508)
   - May 5-6, Deer Park ZAT, deadline 4/20, (832-668-7244)

CHAMP
   - March 3-4, Berry Creek Champ MZ, (512-930-3783)
   - April 21-22, San Antonio Champ MZ, (210-735-3069)
   - May 12-13, Kerrville Champ MZ, (830-896-7955)

SUPERS 12's & 14's
   - March 9-12, Corpus Christi MZ, (361-888-4782)
   - April 13-16, San Antonio MZ, (210-735-3069)
   - May 11-14, Houston MZ, (713-973-7636)

SUPERS 16's & 18's
   - March 9-12, Austin MZ, (512-443-1342)
   - April 13-16, Houston Coca-Cola MZ, (713-973-7636)
   - May 11-14, Dallas MZ, (972-387-1538)

*We will have coaches going to all of the out-of-town events listed above. Please let us know in advance if are going to travel with King Daddy to any of those events. Also, from now on, we must have a credit card on file for you if you travel with King Daddy to an event.

New "ZAT" Schedule

Starting in March 2007, the ZAT class will have 3 workouts per week. Those workouts will be Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 4:30-6:30. We are adding Friday to the ZAT program so that these players have an extra scheduled workout in case of rain days. There will be no extra charge for the added workout, and we encourage all to attend.

Prince Cup 2007 - St. Stephens

From March 15th through March 18th, King Daddy Sports will compete in the Prince Cup, a team competition between many of the top tennis academies around the country. Each academy can bring as many as three teams (eight person teams - 2 players from each age division) that will compete against the other academy teams. King Daddy is going to bring three teams of course. We are looking forward to a very competitive weekend, and we are also looking forward to bringing the "cup" back to Houston. Our teams are set, and our players are ready to go. Your King Daddy Sports team is as follows:

Boy's 18's: Nick Caledonia & Mason Harrell
Boy's 16's: Jonathan Chang, Nick McCollin & Sam Barnes
Boy's 14's: Ashok Narayana, Terrance Celestine & Michael Reichmann
Boy's 12's: Terrell Celestine, Grant Reichmann & William Jou
Girl's 18's:
Girl's 16's: Amanda DiCarlo
Girl's 14's: Mia Matuszak, Annat Rabinovich & Monica Pieratt
Girl's 12's:

Tip of the Month - Confidence is a Precious Asset

Things are easier when you are confident in your abilities, no question about it. Many of you don't have to think back that far to come to a time when you were on a roll, and good thinks were happening to you every time you stepped on the court. When you have belief in yourself, and belief in your abilities, wins come more frequently, and the desire to compete swells inside of you. Confidence in yourself might be the most important mental aspect of the game of tennis. If you "know" you are going to compete hard and play well, there is great chance that you will. The problem is that most of you don't realize that when you have confidence, you have to work to keep it. And when you don't have the confidence in yourself, you have to work even harder to get it back. The key to doing this, is to run with the positives, and get rid of the negatives. If you are doing something well in practice, notice it, and keep doing it. Every time you do something well, you are practicing good habits, habits that will enable you to play at the level you want to. You will start to feel good about your ability to perform that certain something in your game, and the more things you do that with, the better your belief will become in your overall game.

On the flip side, many of you have trouble coming out of hole once you are in it because you harp on the negatives that are happening to you. If you lose a match, you think 'great, here we go again.' Or if you are not hitting the ball well in practice, you focus on how bad you are playing instead of trying to find something positive in your game, no matter how small it might be. If you keep beating yourself up over every little thing, you will keep struggling with your game. The longer you stay negative, the longer your slump will last.

The mind is a powerful thing, and if you help it to work FOR you rather than AGAINST you, you can reap the rewards. Great feats don't happen if you don't believe they will. If you think back to some of your best results, you will find at the core that you believed you could accomplish the task. Just like when you are struggling, there is always that little voice telling you why you can't get it done. Shut that voice out and stay positive. Run with good things, and eliminate the bad.

King Daddy Sports – Monthly Awards

Site	Hardest Worker	Most Improved
Westside	Sam Barnes	Julia Hatridge
Bay Area	Adriana Ocon	Ryan Sweezey
Austin	Austin Garrard	Phillip Allen