A few weeks ago we caught up with Ryan Neale, winner of the South Metro Boys Tennis Player of the Year award (see article here). This week, we chatted with his father, Barry Neale, to learn about tips he has for parents of aspiring tennis player. Ryan cited that Barry is his inspiration and role model. Barry has been a role model to Ryan by teaching him the meaning of hard work. Barry’s first piece of advice for parents of aspiring tennis players is to budget and create a plan to commit to the trainings and practices. Barry explains, “The path to success involves a lot of hard work and commitment. Winning in the 10s, 12s, and 14s is a sign of progress, but the real test is the 18s. The
Similar to my last blog post about the path to playing college tennis, the benchmarks that junior players need to meet in order to be on track to play college tennis are not straightforward.. Consider that there are different divisions within the NCAA (D-1, D-2, and D-3), as well as the NAIA and NJCAA (junior colleges). Each division differs in terms of standard of play, scholarship availability, and vary in level from the top teams in the division to the lower level teams. There are also differences between the various divisions, and within each division, in terms of academic expectations, school entrance requirements, and emphasis on other factors such as sportsmanship, teamwork, leader
