YOUTH tennis in the region is currently thriving as more and more opportunities for elite level training are being presented to the young Lleyton Hewitts and Ash Bartys around.
The Sunraysia Academy of Sport proved this last weekend after hosting a high-performance tennis clinic led by Tennis Australia qualified professional coach Matt Gregory who also possesses international accreditations through both the United States Professional Tennis Association and the Global Professional Tennis Coaching Association.
Gregory brought his wealth of experience and vast knowledge of the sport to local courts as a benefit to the development of Sunraysia’s aspiring servers and backhanders.
His impressive résumé includes leading player development program for Tennis Victoria, including state selected squads and regional academies.
Gregory has served as a zonal coach for the United States Tennis Association, guiding under-12 boys and girls across seven Midwestern states.
He coached Taiwanese player Jimmy Wang, a top 100 ranked ATP world tour player who competed in every grand slam competition, even making the third round of Wimbledon in 2014.
Gregory was also the travelling coach for the Chinese Taipei Davis Cup Team, competing in Asia Oceania group one.
The elite tennis mind has trained over 20 state and nationally ranked junior players across the past three years at Royal Park.
“Matt’s clinic with our Sunraysia Academy of Sport tennis athletes was of a high-performance calibre and something that instilled huge takeaways for our athletes,” said Sunraysia Academy of Sport executive officer Zac Pullman.
“The clinic was a jam-packed full day that included a warm-up with high performance habits and high intensity drills, off court player education, player development pathway game styles, on court match play and finished with off court design of long-term training program planning.
“This was an incredible opportunity for our local athletes to learn from someone with such extensive experience and knowledge who not only taught the athletes on the day but also left them with training drills to further develop as they go.
“The clinic was not only a great opportunity for our athletes but also for our local Academy coach Cameron Phillips to take in and learn from someone who coaches at such a high level.”
The response from clinic participants and their families was overwhelmingly positive and provided a valuable opportunity for Phillips to take in the lessons of Gregory’s expertise.
“Feedback from the clinic was outstanding with parents and also our local coach Cameron being incredibly impressed with all the learnings and takeaways for our athletes who were taken through so much in just the one day,” said Pullman.
“We are incredibly grateful to have had Matt up for the day to work with our athletes and we hope to have him back in future.”
Pullman also credited the work of his colleague at the Sunraysia Academy of Sport, Harley Cole for locating a coach of Gregory’s ilk.
The academy continues to be a hub of providing Sunraysia athletes with high-performance opportunities to expand their sporting abilities.
A great job was done by SAS manager of programs Harley Cole who researched to find a high calibre coach in Matt who then was happy to run the clinic,” said Pullman.
“Also, a big thank you to our sponsors for the weekend, SIXT and Mildura Inlander Resort.
“Without the support of local businesses, we would not be able to afford to bring such quality people to the area.”
