the Family Team Tennis Championships Home Page

theFTTC isn't a typo. it stands for The Family Team Tennis Championships Inc. a new Community Tennis Association. Led by Cesar Andrade, the organization's president. Its mission is to promote and increase participation of family members as doubles partners in local, regional and championship tournaments,

"Like its model, the Pilot Pen Family classic in New England, now in its seventh year, theFTTC creates a unique platform for family teams to enjoy tennis," Andrade said. "Many local tournaments serve as fundraisers for important causes. As an example the Santa

Barbara theFTTC local tournament, run by Fernc Hodosy of the Beachside Tennis Club at the Fess Parker's Double Tree Resort, benefits the Santa Barbara Tennis Patron's Match Point program for disadvantaged youth in the area. theFTTC support will expand tournament participation and correspondingly increase its fundraising capacity"

Local Tournaments are played with a format and schedule of their own choosing. Finalists in the various brackets scoring gold, silver and bronze medal wins advance to theFTTC Regional

Championships and a chance to become associated with events that are part of the

Olympus US Open Series in California "Besides family fun, theFTTC offers tennis professionals and leaders, sponsorship and marketing support with player gifts and rewards, recognition and event amenities," Andrade said. "CTA's that become involved will be direct beneficiaries of theFTTC sponsorship funding, program staff opportunities, special vendor considerations and other benefits.

For more information about The Family Team Tennis Championships, visit www.theFTTC.org

theFTTC is proud to embrace the Family Team Medal Challenge At Avila Bay - Aug 1-2-3 2008

NOW A LOCAL AREA TOURNAMENT EVENT OF theFTTC SERVING FAMILY TEAM TENNIS PLAYERS FROM THE ENTIRE CENTRAL COAST REGION.

Your chance to advance to great new regional events!

Winners in the various divisions of the Family Cup Challenge will advance to participate in theFTTC Regional Tournament planned in conjunction with ATP/WTA/USTA U S Open Series Pro Events. More about theFTTC Regionals and Invitational Championship events

The tournament offers families who love tennis the opportunity to play together in your local area tournaments advancing to world-class pro tennis-affiliated regional and championship events. theFTTC is allied with the USTA/Southern California Section leadership and expects to release exciting news about FTTC Regional Tournament Events related with major ATP & WTA tournaments in California.

Special photo plaques sent to our winner’s local club/tennis organization and the local press for community praise and sharing.

Regional and Championship A | B | C levels winners will have their "center court moment" much like the New England Family Classic players are recognized at the Pilot Pen U.S. Open Series event at Yale.

The Pilot Pen Tennis Family Classic winners are recognized on Stadium Court after the first night match. Connecticut native and fan favorite James Blake, who had just won his match in a tight three-set victory, presented the winners their trophies. © Brian Bahr/Getty Images

theFTTC Santa Barbara Tennis Patron's & Beachside Tennis Club Match Point Benefit Family Cup Challenge and build upon such great Local Area family tennis team tournaments, providing registration and information services plus official FTTC logo K3 tennis balls, player t-shirts and marketing support!

Wimbledon For Two Tennis Vacation Of A Lifetime*** raffle tickets and other exciting prizes for multiple match and sportsmanship winner categories
theFTTC creates a unique new platform for you to advance and play in pro-event affiliated Regionals & Championship Finals
As Local Area family players you now can become associated with USTA/ATP** affiliated marquee FTTC events where you will enjoy a party atmosphere, a celebration of family tennis plus rubbing elbows with the world of professional tennis and enjoy very special treats from theFTTC and its sponsors.

The Pilot Pen Tennis Family Classic winners are recognized on Stadium Court after the first night match. Connecticut native and fan favorite James Blake, who had just won his match in a tight three-set victory, presented the winners their trophies. © Brian Bahr/Getty Images

Like our mentors at the New England Pilot Pen Family Classic, where stars like Lindsay Davenport or James Blake have been doing the honors for now several years, theFTTC players will also have a "center court moment" and will be recognized by FTTC sponsors and marquee pro-tennis partners.

The Santa Barbara Tennis Patron’s Match Point Program has been a highly recognized and honored after school program that reaches out to “at risk & under privileged youth” in the Santa Barbara area by using the great sport of tennis as a model for healthy living

Santa Barbara Tennis Professional, Ferenc Hodosy, founded and has directed the Match Point Program for over 14 years. He and his staff of school teachers and other leading local tennis professionals have worked closely with these needy children as tutors, tennis teachers, and mentors. They are cared for in a fun and supportive environment that emphasizes personal responsibility for their daily choices and actions.

As a result, hundreds of Match Point students over the years have beat the odds and stayed clear of drugs, gangs, and other social problems by carrying over the increased focus, discipline and determination they learned from being part of this unique program.

The Match Point Program relies largely on private contributions. Your support will make a dramatic impact on the lives of our local “at risk youth”. Your support is so needed in helping us reach more needy students with our winning formula.

YOU CAN HELP!

If you are interested in volunteering or want more information on making a special donation to this program please contact Ferenc Hodosy at (805) 452-7516 or at beachsidetennis@gmail.com

The Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons is a 5013C non-profit organization and your contribution is fully tax deductible.

To donate on line to Match Point Program, please click the ball which will take you to a Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons website where you can designate your donation to got to the Match Point Program. Thank You!

and donate to Match Point!

Articles

Family matters at Wimbledon

Agnieszka Radwanska
©BPI / J. Garcia

Thursday, 26 June 2008

Written by Byron Vale

First a disclaimer, the following players are not related: Benjamin Becker is no relation to Boris Becker. Yes he is from Germany and they share a last name and a first initial but that is it. Please do not ask again.

Having said that, Wimbledon 2008 is still turning out to be a real family affair. Among the relations taking part in this year's tournament are three sets of sisters, four sets of brothers, a brother and a sister, a set of twins and a married couple. more...

theFTTC can be your ticket to the Championships

semifinals!

Our members, our players, our volunteers, our tournament directors and tennis pro partners, are entered into theFTTC Wimbledon For Two Tennis Vacation of a Lifetime raffle** as part of the benefits of joining, entering and running theFTTC Local Tournaments. Winning players receive additional raffle tickets as prizes! more...

** PER CALIFORNIA GAMING REGULATIONS, RAFFLE TO BE HELD AT THE END OF THE 2009 US OPEN. RAFFLE PERMITS UNDER APPLICATION WITH THE CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.

theFTTC INTRODUCES THE MEDALIST TOURNAMENT PROGRAM. FAMILY TEAMS TO WIN GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE MEDALS IN LOCAL, REGIONAL AND CHAMPIONSHIP FTTC TOURNAMENTS

SANTA BARBARA, CA. January 21, 2008 - "theFTTC is all about inclusion and participation opportunity" said FTTC Director Marco Andrade announcing the program, "we decided to follow the ideals of the Olympic movement that rewards not only the absolute best competitors but expands recognition to include additional winners in their medal program. While fostering a challenging competitive environment, we celebrate and reward player support and participation so we provide the classic sports opportunity to take home the Gold, the Silver or the Bronze medals plus exciting prizes and awards from our sponsors and tennis partners"

theFTTC Tournaments will recognize three medal wining teams for each of the 12 brackets at the Local, Regional and Championship FTTC Tournaments:

GOLD, the winning finalist team
SILVER, the runner-up finalist team
BRONZE, the winner of the other two semi-finalists playoff

theFTTC forms Partnership with premier sports events on-demand registration services activeNetwork

FTTC teams signing up to play in theFTTC tournaments will enjoy easy and efficient online registration and payment services starting February 2008.

SANTA BARBARA, CA. January 15, 2008 - Commenting on the partnership agreement with the San Diego, California based activeNETWORK online registrations services organization, Cesar O. Andrade, theFTTC President and CEO noted that he had "been impressed with the positive comments by several Southern California Community Association tennis leaders who have recently adopted activeNETWORK online registration services and migrated from other methods and systems. They were all pleased with good player reaction and adoption of the service. Plus, given our state-wide player and tournaments activity the online services perform a special role in unifying the process and reducing overall tournament administration costs" Work is currently in progress to complete the website services in time to start local FTTC tournament signups for the 2008-2009 season of Local tournaments from March to July leading to California Regionals and Finals in the July-August timeframe.

The SC USTA Welcomes The Family Team Tennis Championship Inc. as its Registered Community Tennis Association

Taking a moment from the SC USTA CTA Meeting at UCLA, SC USTA CTA Land FTTC leaders met Zach Fleishman fresh from his upset Countrywide 2007 US Open Series victory against Fernando Gonzales of Chile. Cesar Andrade, President of theFTTC and Melanie Bischoff Community Development Coordinator, Southern California Tennis Association are next to Zach and Philip Friden, Director of theFTTC is pictured next to Melanie.

theFTTC mission is to promote and grow the participation of family members as tennis doubles partners in fun local, regional and championship tournament events. Local tournaments may be run as fundraisers.

SANTA BARBARA, CA. March 2008 - As part of its effort to bring awareness for theFTTC program among the tennis leadership of Southern California, theFTTC Leadership Team has been working very closely with Melanie Bischoff, Community Development Coordinator, Southern California Tennis Association and its leadership team led by Executive Director Henry Talbert. At a recent meeting Cesar Andrade, President of theFTTC commented. "The support and mentorship from the SCTA leaders expands the opportunity to introduce theFTTC mission and exciting tennis programs to other CTA leaders who are the force behind the many wonderful community tennis activities in our region, including an already robust parent-child team tennis activity throughout. We are grateful that the SCTA shares our vision and has invited us to its meeting to introduce our program for California family teams - parent-child, siblings and husband-wife in various brackets – to enjoy the same opportunities and incentives as the families in New England who are having so much fun and success with the Pilot Pen Family Classic program."

Like its model the Pilot Pen Family Classic in New England - now in its seventh year, theFTTC creates a unique new platform for tennis family teams to advance and enjoy tennis in what is planned to be USTA-supported regional, state and -in time- national FTTC championship tournaments. Local Family Team tournaments are now being incorporated to theFTTC program throughout California. “Many of these local tournaments are run as fundraisers for important causes, for example, the Santa Barbara FTTC Local Tournament run by Ferenc Hodosy of the Fess Parker Beach Side Tennis Club, is a benefit for the Santa Barbara Tennis Patron’s Match Point program for disadvantaged youth in the area. theFTTC support will expand the tournament participation and correspondingly increase its fundraising capacity” added Cesar Andrade. These Local Tournaments are played on the format and schedule of their own choice, finalists of the various brackets scoring gold, silver and bronze medal wins advance to theFTTC Regionals where theFTTC provides an unique opportunity for local family team players to become associated with major tennis professional events such as the Olympus US Open Series tournaments in California.

theFTTC Directors Philip Friden and Marco Andrade take a moment after the SC USTA CTA Leadership meeting to take in the action at the US Open Series Countrywide UCLA Center Court featuring local Southern California doubles FAMILY TEAM stars Bob and Mike Bryan, the No. 1 men's tennis doubles team in the world. Below, the brothers thrilled the packed house with their classic bump after a hard won point.

While the focus is of course to provide a fun family team tennis program for players, theFTTC also offers tennis professionals and leaders sponsorship and marketing support -- player gifts and rewards, recognition collaterals, event amenities-- for their existing or new local family team tournaments plus opportunity for involvement with theFTTC US Open Series-event regional championships and US Open-event championship finals in Santa Barbara. Thus theFTTC community tennis partners will be direct beneficiaries of FTTC sponsorship funding, program staff opportunities, special vendor considerations, and other benefits

This year, from January through July, more than 4,400 participants

Tournament Director Anne Worcester and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour star Lindsay Davenport assist in honoring the 2006 Pilot Pen Tennis Family Classic champions and finalists

More Than 2000 Parent/Child And Husband/Wife Teams From Connecticut, New York, Maine, Massachusetts And Rhode Island Competed at Local Tennis Clubs

NEW HAVEN, Conn., August 24, 2006 - The champions of the Pilot Pen Tennis Family Classic, the premier Family Team Tennis Tournament in America, and mentoring model to theFTTC Tennis Program Offering, were crowned today at the Pilot Pen. This year, from January through July, more than 4,400 participants competed in more than 80 local events at tennis facilities throughout the five states in order to reach the finals. The event, now in its sixth year, has seen participation double in the past year as the event expanded into more states and added the husband/wife division. Participating sponsors of the Family Classic are USTA New England and AT&T. more about the Pilot Pen Family Classic...

Play tests completed and the theFTTC-logo balls agreement is signed with K3 Tennis

SANTA BARBARA, CA. March 15, 2008 - theFTTC and K3 have reached a three-year partnership commitment to support provisioning of tennis balls for every local, regional and championship tournaments. "all in all theFTTC will be operating a low-to-high estimate of 17,300 to 25,700 family doubles team matches during its 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons; we selected K3 to join us for that entire ride and not only support the premier family team tennis program in the west coast but benefit from the extra-special good will and product adoption our program is expected to instill in our players for the chosen tennis balls..." said Cesar Andrade, theFTTC President in making the announcement today. K3 tennis balls are also to be made available to theFTTC members at special prices through theFTTC eProShop™ in the Members tab on this website.

With over 300 USTA 2007 tournaments to its credit K3 boasts over 900+ clients plus official ball status for:

USTA Tennis on Campus for:

USTA Florida Section

USTA Southern Section

USTA Midwest Section

USTA Middle States Section

Adidas Tennis

South Carolina High School Association and Middle States & Freedom Collegiate Conference.

From the tenniswire.org Lisa Horan's eLetter to theFTTC President - December 20, 2007

Dear Cesar,

The final numbers on tennis industry growth for 2007 won't be in for a few months, but already the year-in-review numbers are looking very strong.

Research by the Tennis Industry Association, U.S. Tennis Association, Taylor Research, and Sports Marketing Surveys shows:

- Tennis participation grew to 25.1 million in 2007; it's the first time since 1999 that 25 million has been broken.

- Adult league programming jumped from 11.6 hours per week in 2005 to 13.3 hours per week in 2007

- Racquet shipments to retailers are up 37 percent and ball shipments are up 14 percent since 2003

- Youth racquet sales show the biggest gains with a 50 percent increase since 2003

The full results of this year's endeavors to grow the game will be released in April.

Enjoy the holidays, and best wishes for 2008!

more...

Tennis Pro Corner

Abstracts From Downtown LA YMCA Chris Robb's eLetter...

TO: TENNIS TIMES READERS
FROM: YMCA TENNIS PROGRAM
RE: UPCOMING EVENTS/NEWS
11.28.07

Tip of the Week..... How often do we see the pros drill a groundstroke to one corner creating an opening in the opposite corner. These drive groundstrokes are winning points horizontally. Since most of us lack the “big” groundstrokes to to do this, another equally effective way to play is to use the court vertically. Hit the ball a little shorter, force the person up into the court with a low short ball, or angle the ball off the court at the sidelines rather than driving the ball to the baseline. These type of shots create openings in a different but equally effective way......

TENNIS MUSINGS......Great week for Sam Querry, quarter-finals of Monte Carlo and a win over Gasquet......maybe he’ll be the American hope for male success on the dirt, Blake and Roddick both took the week off?.....Seems like Federer has the drive to get his game in top order for the red stuff, playing two weeks in a row and doing well!....now for our FED Cup team in action against Russia this week.....whew........good luck pretty much the juniors vs the adults, with no Williams or Davenport we are down pretty low in the WTA rankings against a top country........As always......”Tennis It’s a Lifestyle!

una plegaria favorita dicha por el gran teólogo y filosofo Americano Reinhold Niebuhr

::

a favority prayer by the great American theologean and philosopher-Reinhold Niebuhr

La Plegaria de la Serenidad

Dios, dadme la serenidad
para aceptar las cosas que yo no puedo cambiar;
valentía para cambiar las cosas que yo pueda cambiar;
y la sabiduría para saber la diferencia.

Viviendo un día a la vez;

Disfrutando un momento a la vez,
Aceptando las dificultades como el camino a la paz;
Tomando como El lo hizo, este mundo pecador tal como es, no como yo lo quisiera que fuera;
Con fe de que El corregirá las cosas
si me someto a su voluntad;
Que sea razonablemente feliz en esta vida
y supremamente feliz con El por siempre en la próxima.

Amen

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next.

Amen.

Visit our Sponsors Site and learn about the high ROI opportunities for marketing exposure to our growing community of tennis playing family members.

About your FTTC Sponsorship ROI

The business of tennis has both the 2008 GDP and the sporting goods category beat! Read on...

Fom the tenniswire.org Lisa Horan's eLetter to theFTTC President APRIL 17, 2008

Dear Cesar,

He's not an economist by trade, but my father says, "By the time they announce that we're in a recession, we've already been in it for a while."

It may be true.

Sporting goods sales were on a nearly 7 percent roll last year when Q4 nosedived, according to the SGMA's 2008 Manufacturers Sales By Category Report released last week. In the end, the entire category increased sales by 3.3 percent in 2007.

Not great, considering that 2007 was 6.8 percent, and 2006 was 5.8 percent.

Not bad, either, consider the Gross Domestic Product sales were reported at 2.2 percent.

The good news is that tennis has both the GDP and the sporting goods category beat with a 6.5 percent increase--not that it's a race, but it shows all the TV coverage, marketing efforts and grassroots work is still paying off, even if consumer confidence and the economic machine are down.

theFTTC MARKET EXPOSURE OPPORTUNITIES

YOUR BRAND HERE...

* REQUEST PERMISSION FOR REFERENCES AND LINKS IN PROGRESS.

* USTA CTA application in process