Club Med Academies Tennis Wraps Up Canadian Media Tour

Early this month, a team of representatives from Club Med Academies Tennis took the concept to Canada during a media road show. Several Canadian media outlets picked up on the exciting story of a brand new world class tennis training and academic facility bearing the renowned Club Med name.
Representing Club Med Academies tennis were Gabe Jaramillo, director of Club Med Academies Tennis, Greg Breunich, Director of Club Med Academies, and Kevin Batt, Director of Club Med Sandpiper Bay. Among the print outlets that picked up on the story were Le Lezard, Tourisme Plus, Journal de Quebec, Journal de Montreal and Famille d'Aujourd'hui (Today's Family). An interview also ran on Canal Argent.

First Graduation for Club Med Tennis Academies

On Friday, May 27, six accomplished Club Med Tennis Academies seniors graduated from nearby Morningside Academy. This international group of students, hailing from places as far-flung as India and Oman, share a passion for tennis, but their other interests are as diverse as the students themselves.

At 15, Sohil Singh of India is the youngest of the group. The honors graduate will continue his tennis training while exploring his college options, plans that are also shared by fellow young honors graduate, Adil Al-Siyabi of Oman, 16.

Dario di Martino, of Germany, hopes to play tennis at Marist College near New York City, a Division 1 school. His plans include studying finance and working on Wall Street.

Jordan Harris of Jamaica, 17, will continue working on his game and hopes to attend Anderson University  in South Carolina, a Division 2 school, in 2012.

Joaquin Marquez of Mexico will be walking on at Division 1 Sacramento State, where he plans to study communications and pursue a career as a tennis journalist, while Takeshi Morita, also of Mexico, will be playing tennis at Northwood, an NAIA school in West Palm Beach, Florida. He hopes to study business.

Two Club Med Tennis Academies students, both from the US, are also in the process of graduating from online programs. They include Ester Goldfeld, who will be attending Duke University on a full tennis scholarship. Ester, who was ranked as high as the 27^th best junior in the world, will play for a Duke team that made it to the quarterfinals of this year’s NCAA Championships and was ranked number three nationally as of May 30. Ester, who plans on studying medicine, is also the recipient of the first annual Club Med Academies Student-Athlete of the Year, the highest honor an Academies student can earn. The official trophy will have Ester’s name engraved on it and remain in the Tennis Academies’ pro shop forever, with each year’s Student-Athlete of the Year honoree having their name added to the prestigious hardware.

Her fellow potential online graduate and good friend, Fatya Amiri, has a tennis and academic scholarship to another Division 1 school, St Bonaventure, where she hopes to eventually earn her way into the very competitive St. Bonaventure/George Washington University Combined Degree Program in Medicine.

Club Med Academies Student Awards

Official honors, such as the prestigious Student-Athlete of the Year, were not the only ones awarded to students at the Club Med Academies Annual Awards Ceremony. Students also chose, and voted on, their own awards as a way of recognizing (and, in some cases, poking fun at) each other. The winners include:

1.      Most Likely to Change the World (Male & Female)

TUAN NGUYEN,  FATYA AMIRI

2.      Best Role Model (Male & Female)

GERMAN SANCHEZ, ESTER GOLDFELD

3.      Friendliest Person

NADIA RAVITA

4.      Happiest Person

ALAN VALDEZ

5.      Grouchiest Person

COCO XU

6.      Most Caring Person

AUGOSTINA MASOTTA

7.      Best Leader

ESTER GOLDFELD

8.      Best Public Speaker

ESTER GOLDFELD

9.      Most Improved English

MAYUKA AIKAWA

10.  Funniest Person

ELIO LIVI

11.  Most Sarcastic

ALEX LOVERA

12.  Most Talkative

ALEXANDRA ESCOBAR

13.  Biggest Facebook Junkie

JEANNIE LOZOWSKI

14.  Biggest Video Game Junkie

SIMONE COTE

15.  Loudest Laugh

JORDAN RUCKS

16.  Most Likely to be on TV for Something Other Than Athletics

TAKESHI MORITA

17.  Messiest Room

SIMONE COTE

18.  Messiest Person

SIMONE COTE

19.  Biggest Prankster

ORLANDO PUELO

20.  Biggest Ego:

LUKE HOOVER

21.  Passion Award :

ALI AMIRI

22.  Hothead Award:

BASTIAN MALLA

Winners of the 2011 Club Med Academies Tennis Awards

Club Med Tennis Academies recognized standout students at its 2011 Club Med Academies Tennis Awards. The top award, Student-Athlete of the Year (Male or Female), went to Ester Goldfeld, a senior who will be attending Duke University on a full tennis scholarship. The award of male Athlete of the Year went to Roberto Cid, 17, who is the 28th ranked junior in the country and is playing professionally. Female Athlete of the Year went to Di Zhao, 18, of China, who is ranked 822 on the WTA Tour. Kevin Lai, Chinese Taipei and the No. 158 best junior in the world, won the Most Improved Athlete Player of the Year, Male. Lai won both Singles and Doubles titles at Daytona Beach ITF in May and Panama Bowl ITF in March. He also won doubles in March at Costa Rica Bowl ITF. The female Most Improved Athlete Player of the Year went to Flora Amiri, 12, one of four Amiris at Club Med Tennis Academies. Her siblings include Fatya, who will be attending St. Bonaventure on a Tennis/Academic scholarship, Farzin, 16, who won Most Improved Fitness, below, and Ali, 9. The Amiris, whose parents are from Afghanistan, moved across the country from California to train at the CMTA. The Coach's Award was given to Alan Valdez of Mexico, who won a USTA Florida Tournament and made three other finals, playing Boys' 16 Singles. The No Excuses award, for the palyer who gave 100% effort, and got the best out of his/her talent, each and every day, went to Alex Lovera, 17, or Aruba, an upcoming senior who won one USTA Florida tournament in Boys' 16 Singles and two in Boys' 18 Singles. Sohil Singh, 15, of India, received the Good Sport Award. Singh won one USA Florida event in Boys' 14 Singles and one Final in Boys' 16 Singles. The Survival of the FIT-test Award went to Ed Nguyen, Canada, 17, the 142nd best junior in the world, who made the Semifinals of the ITF U10 Canadian World Ranking Event, won two singles maches at ITF 2010 Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final, and made it to Finals once and Semifinals three times in ITF Doubles. For Most Improved FIT-test Athlete of the Year, honors went to Farzin Amiri,16, who recently made his first ITF Singles Quarterfinal at the Copa Cariari. The honor of the Mental Toughness Award was given to Mayuka Aikawa, 13, of Japan, the 81st Best Female 7th Grader in the U.S. and 18th Best in Florida. Aikawa proves that you don't have to be the tallest, the strongest, or the meanest to be mentally tough, because she is one of the smallest, and nicest, players at the Academy. The Most Improved Mental Performer was Joaquin Marquez, of Mexico, who will be playing tennis in the fall at Div-1 Sacramento State.

Club Med Academies Tennis Students Impress at ITF in El Salvador

A group of seven Club Med Academies students had a strong showing at Copa El Salvador ITF Junior 2011 Tournament with Coach Gino Tapia early this month. The group included five boys who competed in the singles matches, including number one seed Roberto Livi, Bastian Malla, a 14 year old who played in an older age group, Michael-John Every, Farzin Amiri and Elio Livi. Livi and Amiri were also paired up in the doubles matches, while Every was paired up with non-CMA player Orantes. The girls included 13-year-old Mayuka Aikawa, who played against an older group of kids, and Luba Vazhenina.

Though Livi and Every were both defeated in the third round, Malla, playing in an older age group, made it all the way into the semifinals before being defeated by Marcelo Plaza 6-2 6-1.

In the Boys Doubles, Amiri/Livi made it through to the Quarterfinals, where they were defeated by Every and doubles partner Orantes, who lost to Gomez Estrada/Trapero in the Semifinals. In the Finals, Malla and partner Barrezueta won the tournament, defeating Gomez Estrada/Trapero.

In the Girls Singles, Vazhenina defeated Aikawa, and then went on to the Semifinals, where she lost to Dhanielly Quevedo.

Scott Del Mastro featured in Stuart Magazine

Club Med Academies' Director of Operations and Tennis Coach Scott Del Mastro, along with fellow CMA coach Heather Gollnick, appeared in a profile of the area's ten leading coaches in Stuart magazine's Power of 10 feature. Del Mastro reveals, not surprisingly, that his favorite way to stay in shape is to play competitive tennis. His greatest accomplishment? "Creating a world-recognized developmental training platform for aspiring professional golf, tennis and fitness athletes who want to be the best at what they do - Club Med Academies at Sandpiper Resort."