American Junior Advances to Junior Final: Of Course He’s Not a USTA Product

Yes thats right, American Andrea Collarini has advanced to the final of the French Open juniors. But there’s a catch, at the age of 3 Collarini moved to Argentina. His game was developed there. Now the USTA is funding him and his training, but only after he was developed by the Argentines. Why can’t the USTA get it right? Where are the homegrown champions that the Americans crave?

Each year millions of dollars are spent with no result and the reason is because everything is run like a business in the United States. Tennis players aren’t businesses, but they are human beings who need attention and a proper environment to grow with guidance. Collarini wasn’t raised in an academy and he wasn’t nurtured by thousands of dollars, instead the young man learned key pieces to being successful in Argentina: patience, hardwork, discipline, and mental strength. If you go to your next National junior tournament in the US look around and you’ll be hard pressed to find a young man or woman with those qualities… Its time that the USTA stops looking at results and starts to look at the people who have the right personality traits to be successful.

- Parsa Samii, GEM Tennis

http://www.gemtennis.com/2009/07/31/gem-tennis-coaching-the-person-not-the-talent/