Welcome to Season 10, Episode 25, of the ParentingAces Podcast, a proud member of the Tennis Channel Podcast Network. With all of the craziness with USTA so far this year, I thought it would be interesting to hear how Junior Tennis - specifically, for the 10-and-under set - is being managed elsewhere in the world. To that end, please welcome this week's podcast guests, Shayne Tabb and Jay Deacon.

These two coaches live and work in Australia and have focused their efforts in recent years on growing the game of tennis and making sure new players have a positive experience from Day One. They created a system of competitive opportunities called the ROG Gold Coast Circuit which is being replicated around the country.

Both Shayne and Jay felt the coaches in Australia should come together to develop an effective and fun way to introduce tennis to children. Because their system originated with the coaches then made its way to the governing body, Tennis Australia, there has been a very high level of buy-in from coaches as well as parents and players for this method of devising a competitive structure. It is suitable for players who want to keep tennis fun and casual as well as for players who have loftier goals for their sport. I think you'll be impressed by how the Gold Coast Circuit works, the core competencies that must be met for advancement, and the stories these coaches share.

For more information on the Gold Coast Circuit, visit these websites:

Red Ball: https://www.tennis.com.au/qld/regions/gold-coast/red-ball-tournament-circuit

Orange Ball: https://www.tennis.com.au/qld/regions/gold-coast/orange-ball-tournament-circuit

Green Ball: https://www.tennis.com.au/qld/regions/gold-coast/green-ball-tournament-circuit

To reach this week's guests:

Jay Deacon – jay.deacon@tennis.com.au

Shayne Tabb - shaynetabb@yahoo.co.uk

As always, a big thank you to Morgan Stone, aka STØNE, for our intro and outro music this season. You can find more of his music at SoundCloud.com/stonemuzic. If you’re interested in House Music, please be sure to check out his social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

If you’re so inclined, please share this – and all our episodes! – with your tennis community. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via your favorite podcast app. If you haven’t already, be sure to become a Member of ParentingAces by clicking here. And check out our logo'd merch in our online shop (Premium Members received FREE SHIPPING every day!).

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