Written by: Christopher Simnett

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***Chris grew up playing tennis in B.C. and was ranked as high as No. 2 provincially in the U12 and U16 divisions. He played in two junior national championships in the 80s. Now 39 years old, he is the “community champion” for the Tennis Canada Building Tennis Communities strategy in Airdrie, AB, where he lives with his wife and eight-year-old son. Chris spent 15 years as a journalist writing about sports for newspapers in B.C. and Alberta. He now works in public relations in Calgary. To learn more about Chris and his blog, please visit www.alltennis.ca***

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Courtesy of Tennis Manitoba

Kyla McNicol, former Manitoba Open champion and NCAA University of Central Florida tennis team member, joins Tennis Manitoba as Tennis Development Manager

Winnipeg, MB (TM) – With the recent national position promotion of Rufus Nel, former Prairie Tennis Alliance Director, Tennis Manitoba needed to fill the leadership void in order to continue the growth of community tennis programs.  Kyla McNicol answered the call in hopes of improving the state of the game in Manitoba.  Taking advantage of the many Tennis Canada initiatives already available like Le Petit Tennis, Building Tennis Communities, Progressive Tennis and a variety of other developmental programs, Kyla will be given the task of increasing the number of kids and adults that take up tennis.

Kyla will also be responsible for the competitive pathway which includes the under 12 provincial team.  Her goal here is to ensure good communication amongst the team and to build successful competitive players for many years to come from Manitoba.  Starting with under 8 players, the training then goes up to under 10 and then under 12 using different tennis balls so it’s easier to play and learn at each stage.  By the end of this program, we hope to see nationally competitive players and feeding into our under 14 provincial team.

Kyla brings a communication degree from Central Florida and previous experience with the National Basketball Association’s, Orlando Magic.  Tennis Manitoba is confident that here on court and off court skills will help to lead Tennis Manitoba into a solid decade of success.