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Jaime McDonagh. F o r s t e r
T e n n i s
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Jaime McDonagh – Tennis Australia certified head coach and facility manager at the Forster Tennis Club located on Lake Street, Forster explains the many benefits of tennis. If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to work on your fitness, Cardio Tennis may be just the ticket! i Jaime. What’s your position with the club, and what does it involve on a day to day basis? My position with the Forster Tennis Club includes facility and office/pro shop management in addition to my passion which is daily coaching of senior and junior members as well as the general public that may be residing or visiting the Great Lakes. What’s your background with tennis ... have you played from a young age? At age 10 my parents, Carmel and Gerry, gave me a private tennis lesson birthday present and I had my first instruction with the coach at the time, Danny Biancardi. I live in Forster and the courts are close to school and home, so I could play and practice as much as I liked. How and when did you first become involved with the club? From as long as I can remember, I’ve always enjoyed tennis and started to play competitively as a child out of the Forster Tennis Club. I also played cricket and other sports in our region. After finishing my junior and open ranking state and national tennis tournament career, I wanted to get involved in coaching and became certified through Tennis Australia in 1993 at the Club Professional level. I worked under Ron Lee in 1993 and then took over the head coach position from Alan Fing in 1996 to continue to present day. I also hold certification from the University of Queensland in Applied Science – Sport Coaching. I look forward to the being part of the club daily. 40 manning-great lakes focus.
I am primarily on court coaching approximately 35 hours a week, which includes private lessons, children’s group lessons, elite junior’s training and Tennis Australia’s Cardio Tennis registered program. I also have a pro shop, and manage the day to day operations of the Forster Tennis Club that includes the 14 court facility and surrounding structures. I have several assistant coaches to help with the programs. Describe the tennis cardio training program you currently offer ... The Tennis Australia registered program Cardio Tennis is tennis based fitness activity that is used in over 30 countries worldwide. Participants wear a heart rate monitor that is preset to their target heart rate for their age. The one hour long program has a fun and active warm up followed by equal time of drill based and play based tennis. The program uses special decompression tennis balls that are lighter and easier to hit than a regulation tennis ball. There’s music pumping in the background and players keep their feet moving and hit lots of balls under the guidance of their coaches. We wrap up the session with a nice cool down and stretch. What age group and skill levels does this program cater for? The age group we cater for starts at 16 years of age and our most senior Cardio Tennis player is member Carol Roper, who is just a bit over 60! The beauty of Cardio Tennis is that anyone who can run a little, and swing a racquet can have a go. There is no ability standard that is required. How is this program unique from
anything else offered locally? We are the only licensed and registered Tennis Australia Cardio Tennis program in the Great Lakes. Cardio Tennis is different to most fitness programs and is a high intensity cardio workout that offers great feedback with the use of Sunnto target heart rate monitor watches. It’s also outdoors in the fresh air, which is great.
competitions that are ongoing throughout the year. Cardio Tennis is held over three times a week, with the possibility of more classes in 2014. Privates are all booked on request and fit into the busy week.
Why would you encourage people to play tennis – what are the benefits? There are many health and social benefits being part of the Forster What other Tennis Club. It’s a tralia programs/classes The Tennis Aus great environment ram registered prog does the club to be part of, and tennis Cardio Tennis is ity offer? At the Club we have one of tiv based fitness ac we offer many the best facilities 30 er that is used in ov e. ” different programs, in NSW to play at. id w countries world with the youngest Our Forster Seniors being our 3 and 4 year Tennis Tournament old Dynamic Champs’ competitors and many Friday morning sessions junior tournament players that run for 30 minutes. love to come back to play We offer our Hot Shots after here each year because of what school program for primary aged kids on we are so fortunate to have. Monday and Tuesdays from 3.30pm to What are the club’s days/hours of 4.30pm. operation, and whom do people contact
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On Tuesday evenings, the Dynamic Elite Junior Squad trains from 4.30pm to 6pm, and these are our kids that are competing in tournaments or have achieved the standard of play that is needed to be part of this group. On Wednesdays we have our Developing Competition Juniors play, and these kids have graduated out of our Hot Shots program. On Saturday mornings we have the Dynamic Challenge for juniors run by club assistant Darcy Duggan. There are also many senior
to find out more information? The Forster Tennis Club is open daily, with a one day closing on Christmas. We open each day early in the morning and have 10 flood lit courts for evening play; our hours are flexible, depending on demand. We can be found through Google at Forster Tennis Club Inc. or Facebook at Forster Tennis Club, by telephone on (02) 6554 9120 or email to myself at jmmcdongah@bigpond.com Thanks Jaime.