A Day at Sanchez-Casal Summer Camp

Posted on 8 February, 2019

By Susana Zaragoza, Marketing department at ASC Florida

It’s 6:00am and Julia’s alarm clock sounds. Outside it’s still a bit dark and quiet. She prepares her tennis bag and grabs her racquet. She walks five minutes from the house to the club’s cafeteria with some campers to meet the big group and have breakfast by 6:30am. Breakfast includes cereal, toast, ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit juice and milk.

At 7:00am she’s on the court to start her morning practice for three hours. It’s a sunny day as almost every day is in Naples, Florida. After tennis practice, she has an hour of fitness to stretch but also goes through a tennis specific performance training.

“The tennis system was excellent. I improved my technique a lot, I learned how to keep my forehand hand up during my back swing and to move my feet more”, Julia explains.

Sanchez-Casal system at summer camp

Julia is a 12-year old girl from California. She came to ASC Florida Summer Camp in 2018 for five weeks from June to August. “One of the things I liked the most is the friends I made. One of them, Valentina is now my best friend”.

Summer camp and friendship

In the afternoon, she would play one more hour of tennis, have an optional language course, and then go out to do an activity. On the weekends, she would continue her training and compete at USTA and UTR tournaments.

Sanchez-Casal tournaments

“One of my favorite activities was when they took us to the movies. We watched Jurassic Park. That was really fun”, says Julia. “Something I really liked is the way the coaches interacted with us not only on court but also in the activities we did”, she remembers.

When summer camp was coming to an end, Julia didn’t want to leave. She wanted to convince her parents to allow her to attend school that year as part of the ASC Annual program.

“I loved the tennis instruction and I was also part of the school in the summer, and I enjoyed the way they taught there. Back home I couldn’t devote so much time to my tennis practice, while the annual program lets me train every day, while attending school on campus”.

We asked her how she convinced her parents. “I was begging and begging them. I prepared a Powerpoint explaining what I liked about the Academy and the academic school to convince them.” And it worked out!

Summer camp at ascflorida

Attending a tennis camp has some key benefits for players in this age of development, such as:

You can make new, long-time lasting relationships.

You can learn a new language and practice it outside the classroom with other campers.

Campers engage in outdoor, healthy activities away from the technology induced sedentary lifestyle.

You can perfect your tennis game, and build up your ranking at the weekend tournaments.

You can develop a strong, focused mind-set.

You will have the chance to disconnect by engaging in leisure activities.

Tennis camp will help you develop as an independent individual.

You will likely grow your passion for tennis, professionally or as a sport to play in high school and college.

You will learn from positive role models.

You will have a memorable experience!

At Academia Sánchez-Casal, we believe that the summer holidays are a great opportunity to for children to develop in the sport they love while having fun in a safe environment. Our summer camp runs from June to September in our headquarters in Naples, Florida, and Barcelona, Spain.

Only until March 1, you will save 20% off any summer camp week. More information here We would love to see you this summer at Sanchez-Casal.

Susana Zaragoza

Marketing department at ASC Florida

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TENNIS IS TOO MUCH

Posted on 30 January, 2019

Photo credit: ATP Tour

By Emilio Sanchez, CEO and Founder of the Academia Sanchez-Casal.

The big day had arrived. The dream final: Rafa against his archrival. Rafa spent months changing his game to be more aggressive and had created great expectations: a more compact serve with a better grip, more acceleration on impact for more precise placement and directionality and, above all, more depth. Then, continuing the play trying to close spaces with his forehand eventually coming into net and setting up a volley. The whole world of tennis predicted a great battle, even I thought it would be another epic final that would ultimately depend exclusively on the mental pillar.

When I was asked about it, I explained my doubts about whether Rafa could maintain this level in these moments. The hardest thing about tennis is to create a new habit and use it in moments of tension against a rival who dominates you. But tennis is too much and this past Sunday, Rafa had a player in front of him who was perfectly adapted to his game. Even on the days when he plays badly, Novak manages to hurt him (imagine if, like this time, he only commits nine unforced errors).

We have to put this in perspective: Rafa lost the last seven finals on hard court; he lost his serve 27 times and only broke serve twice in all these matches. The superiority is overwhelming and this is where Djokovic took advantage. The auguries of Rafa’s new serve did not scare the Serbian, because we are looking at the best returner on the circuit. If he continued play with Rafa stuck inside the court, Djokovic served out wide on the side of the drive. Rafa, in that new position, was not able to receive the ball and maintain initiative. Out of the zone, even out of place, Rafa fell short, and there was the best dealer in the game today.

It was a clear match: Djokovic pulling Rafa out of his comfort zone and shaking him. On the other hand, for Rafa it was like having a wall in front of him. What works against practically all the others, does not work against Djokovic. Most recently it has not hurt Djokovic because Rafa abandons his natural game pattern, the one that allowed him to win in New York, in 2013: Novak dominated him initially, but by grinding and working each point, Rafa managed to get Nole out of position, finally winning in a comfortable way. This Sunday was the worst of sensations: doing what you do well but playing someone against whom nothing works well and when you change your game, you take risks and usually make more mistakes.

In any case, we have to congratulate Rafa and his team. His improvements will help him battle in other finals. I think that winning all the previous sets in the two weeks of the Australian with such superiority did not benefit him. Sometimes, winning hard matches helps you order and prepare for those difficult moments against your toughest opponents. And Rafa must also have a memory: he used to have this kind of superiority with Federer, and the Swiss made changes that equalized everything. Rafa must persevere, because the changes he has made can allow him to equalize everything with Nole.

Emilio Sanchez
CEO and Co-Founder of the Academia Sanchez-Casal

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Eva Guerrero, the young Spanish Under 23 champion, who dreams of making it in the WTA

Posted on 25 January, 2019

By Daniel Muñoz Pozo, Head of Communications & Media at Sánchez-Casal Academy.

This is the story of Eva Guerrero Álvarez (19 years old, from Almería) who since 2017 has been a player in the Sánchez-Casal Academy. It is the story of a girl who at the age of 5 fell in love with tennis, who has a passion that she lives for 365 days a year, and who dreams of becoming a professional tennis player: something that requires immense amounts of effort, and full-time dedication.

“When I was 5 years old, I used to attend the after-school tennis program in my city, and I liked it: I wasn’t a bad player. With the support of my family, I got more involved with tennis. Nowadays, tennis is both my job and my passion: I have dedicated, and continue to dedicate, most of my life to it,” Eva says.

The National Champion of U-14 and U-16, Eva has an incredible junior record despite having to overcome injuries in 2016, and having to live the hardships of the tennis life. She faced these challenges with courage, and learned many lessons in the process. In her words “it’s hard when you’re injured, it’s a real blow, but you have to think that it will make you stronger, that you will value everything more afterwards, and that it is simply another part of the sport that you love”.

Since the end of 2017, Eva has been training in the Sánchez-Casal Academy, at the ASC Barcelona headquarters, under the supervision of coach Antonio Capella. She describes this as a great opportunity, because “they support me all year round, they try to help me, and I only have words of gratitude. It’s a really nice experience to live on campus and be able to share your stories with others on a daily basis”.

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In 2018 she reached 312 in the WTA ranking, reaching the final and three semifinals of $25,000 each. She earned a bronze medal in doubles in the Mediterranean Games, and became the Under-23 National Champion. Her goal is to get into next year’s Australian Open Qualy, maybe even the top 150 WTA, and she’s focused every day on giving her best performance in order to help her achieve these goals.

“My win at the National Masters was very special and the final was extremely hard. My goal is not necessarily to get a specific ranking, although I’d love to be in the top 150, but my real goal is to reach the Qualys of the next Australian Open”, Eva affirms.

That 5-year-old girl who fell in love with tennis and made a successful career for herself on the Junior Circuit shows signs of maybe following in the steps of other top Sanchez-Casal Alumni, like Sveta Kuznetsova, Andy Murray, or Grigor Dimitrov.

Daniel Muñoz Pozo
Head of Communications & Media at Sánchez-Casal Academy.

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Sánchez-Casal Pyramid®, the path to success

Posted on 11 January, 2019

Sánchez-Casal Academy, information extracted from the full text “ASC Pyramid”®

At Sánchez-Casal Academy, the development of our long-stay players is very important to us. That is why we created the ASC Player Development and Competition Plan, summarized in the Sánchez-Casal Pyramid®, which shows players the path to success in the professional world of tennis.

Each stage of the Pyramid relates the approximate age of the player with the aspects that must be consolidated during each stage, and the objectives that must be reached. In the Academy, the entire process is supervised and evaluated by the player’s tutor, who creates personalized objectives for improvement every season.

In addition, specialized coaches in each developmental area work on specific aspects in order to help the player achieve these objectives.

Pirámide

Sánchez-Casal Academy ensures that each player achieves appropriate progress and is in the right position to maximize his/her competence at all times.

KINDER TENNIS, Afterschool, 3-4 years old
At this age, kids discover Tennis. The students play with foam balls and red balls. It is a stage of discovery; the students get familiar with the ball, racket and court in their own way.
They learn about space and location. They get familiar with the tools to work with (rackets, balls, cones, lines…)

MINITENNIS, 4-6 years old
The foundation for working on stroke technique begins at this stage. Technical tennis-specific terms, however, are not used with the students at this time. Instead, they are given clear, simple commands to avoid confusion and frustration. The key at this level is to encourage fun engagement, with the goal of getting the youngsters to want to come back for more. The objective of this stage is just to differentiate between the forehand and the backhand.

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PRE-INITIATION, 7-9 years old
Assimilate the technical concepts. Adjust and improve technique from the back swing to contact to finishing the shot from the waiting position after doing the split step.
Initiate the exchange of balls between players without the participation of the coach. Basic competition, with adapted rules, can start to begin.

INITIATION, 10-12 years old
When our players arrive at this stage, they have been sharpening their strokes, their agility, balance and coordination. Now, they learn how to place the ball intentionally and position themselves properly in the court.
They should start rallying with a partner, and they’re encouraged to play at least 1 tournament per month. They should know how to keep score and the basic rules of tennis. At the second part of this stage, they start executing different shots, and they are introduced to all different areas of the court. They start learning to play points with a purpose, building and closing the point.

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PRE-FORMATION, 12-13 years old
At this point, players should become consistent, have good technique and know how to place the ball successfully in all areas of the court. This stage also requires a significant amount of competition. Players learn how to incorporate tactics and strategies into their game.
Players learn the importance of mental toughness and the need to set their own realistic goals in order to enhance performance on the tennis court.

FORMATION, 13-14 years old
During this stage, players are trained mainly on the tactical, physical and mental aspects of competition. They must have balance with their body, accuracy with their shots, and adjust to the appropriate height, depth and distance from the ball.
Players will learn how to play in offensive and defensive situations, improve decision making skills, and find solutions on their own. They will set up goals for daily training and matches, manage emotions and analyze matches to identify what worked well and what were mistakes. Players should play tournaments regularly and participate in ITF tournaments.

PRE-ADVANCED, 14-16 years old
Work continues here on tactics. Match situations are repeatedly stressed. More emphasis is also placed on the physical/mental pillars, since the player’s growth in previous stages has been key. Now they start to compete at a level where the physical and mental development of their opponents is becoming more consistent. We work on developing the pattern of play that will allow the player to compete with the tools he/she possesses.

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ADVANCED, 16-17 years old
This period is special to many players, especially the ones that develop more slowly. Suddenly they start to see their potential and feel more confident about challenging anyone. Work continues on the tactical pillar with lots of match situations starting in drills, continuing with control exercises, and trying to use them both in matches. The Athlete Body and Athlete Mind pillars remain crucial to leveling the ‘mind and body’ playing field.

PRE-TRANSITION, 18-19 Years Old
In the Pre-Transition stage, the real battle begins. Players are now able to truly recognize if they can successfully compete at a high level, or not. At this point, it becomes crucial for the player and coach to start building up a pattern of training and competing that is steady and effective. Strong communication is also key when the joint goal of player and coach is to take the player’s game to the next level of performance. It’s time to become a physical athlete, time to become a mental competitor. The player must determine if college tennis or the professional tour is the best path.

TRANSITION, 19-20 years old
This stage is the most difficult of the Pyramid. Players play like the best at times, but lack consistency and make far too many mistakes. They experience times of high level performance, but are still far from achieving steady success. The Top 500 in the world may be reachable, but the truth is, only a select number will ever jump to the top 100. For that, a player needs to be almost perfect in the 4 tennis pillars, both in practice and in competition.
The support and training approach of the coach is key to the continual improvement of the player throughout the ups and downs of improving one’s world ranking. Also, financial needs can become demanding.

PRE-ELITE, 20 years old
This stage is the most challenging one. The player is almost at the top. The competition is ferocious from the top 200 players, and only about 10 players will rotate inside the top 100 pros. The player’s needs are almost the same as the ones in the Elite stage.

The coach plans, personalizes, prepares every detail with the players to maximize performance with the minimum expense. The biggest difference in this stage are the Athlete Body and Athlete Mind pillars, and thus we have to focus on those to make a difference in the fastest way possible, taking advantage of the work done through the pyramid.

ELITE, 21-35 years oldAt this stage players have the knowledge and the experience to excel from the bottom of the pyramid to the top. At our academy we have developed many elite players like Kuznetsova (2), Sanchez V (1), Ivanovic (3), Murray (1), Dimitrov (9) and Monaco (8).

To get to the top of the pyramid, players need to excel in every aspect of sports performance, starting with the technical, tactical, Athlete Body and Athlete Mind pillars.

Success is a state of mind that is only for the ones that have worked very hard, and to accomplish it, the player needs to develop so much in every aspect that is really important to learn, listen and practice every different shot, pattern or behavior that will really make a difference.

Sánchez-Casal Academy
Information extracted from the full text “ASC Pyramid”®

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CASPER’S LEGACY, THE CASPER TOUR

Posted on 26 December, 2018

By Emilio Sanchez, CEO and Founder of the Academia Sanchez-Casal

I accompanied Verdasco to the Rome Masters in May 2017 and when he lost, I got the urge to stop by Madrid to visit Casper, something within me pushed me to visit him instead of going to Barcelona to see my mother. (For those of you who didn’t know Casper, he was a student-athlete at Sanchez-Casal Florida. He came to us at 14 years old from Madrid to pursue his dream of becoming a tennis player). Seeing him upon my arrival made me very happy because he was doing and looking better than he did in December, he had a spectacular light. I was impressed to see how he talked kindly about others and cared about everyone. One afternoon, he said he wanted to become a tennis coach if he healed. His leg had just been operated and he knew he would never be able to run again but that wasn’t going to stop him. He said that if coaching did not work out, he would like to give young players the same opportunity that he was given, the chance to train and attend school in the United States… his parents and I were speechless.

Looking back, I noticed that the light I had seen was that he was already like an angel, thinking of doing good, and that’s when the Casper Tour was born. We decided to organize a series of tournaments for kids between the ages of 9-16, with the proceeds going toward helping kids get rid of that terrible illness. Unfortunately, Casper left us in July 2017, but his mark remains with his teammates, coaches and teachers. Our intention for this tour is that his legacy is transmitted through this series of tournaments that bear his name.

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We presented the Casper Tour at the Mutua Madrid Open with Feliciano Lopez, Miguel Díaz president of the Spanish Federation, the Madrid team, Tati Rascon, Valencia, Antonio Cascales, and Casper’s family. In addition, Feliciano got an ATP Aces donation from the ATP Tour for the ESV Foundation and the Casper Tour, giving us the opportunity to start this journey.

One of the determining factors of the circuit are ages, since it is competed with players born in the same year. Another factor that differentiates us is our use of the UTR (Universal Tennis Ranking), which is a rating based on results and helps players enter American Universities. We have just signed an agreement with them to improve the participation of American and international players.

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This year, the Casper Tour kicked off at ASC Nanjing with over 140 entries during two intense and rainy days. Casper’s legacy began taking shape, it was a resounding success.

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The second stop was in June at ASC Barcelona, we had about 80 participants. The event took part during a difficult week that coincided with the end of school year and final exams but celebrating it at Sánchez-Casal HQ gave us a big push.

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Then it was New York’s turn, the tour’s 3^rdleg took place at World Gym in Setauket. They had a great turn out, the number of participants was very high, 80+ children. Eva Borras and I gave several talks for parents about Tennis and the Mental Pillar.

Then we went, to Ciudad de la Raqueta in Madrid. The response was spectacular, most of the clubs in the city participated, we even held a forum about women’s sports with the Secretary of State for Sports, Maria José Rienda and Anabel Medina and Virginia Ruano.

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In September, the Casper Tour arrived at Key Biscayne, Miami, the truth is, the kids enjoyed getting to play the tournament there and we were able to reach 75 participants.

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We had a great turn out at Puente Romano in Marbella, they achieved a resounding success with a magnificent inscription of more than 90, and mental talks by Maite.

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Finally, during the same weekend as Marbella, ASC Florida took over with more than 120 participants and a spectacular environment, many international kids who were preparing for the Orange Bowl came to the closing event and turned it into an unforgettable moment.

This is just the beginning, in 2019 we will kick off the tour in Alicante, Spain then Atlanta, where we will take the tour to a new venue. We will expand and reach 10 cities next year, and in the future, we hope to take the circuit to many other corners of the world.

I can only thank all everyone who made the circuit possible, Casper’s family, the clubs, Yiang, Mike, Tito Perez, Koki Marti, Juan Yuste, Campuzano, Sergio Troncoso in Spain and Rogelio de Haro here in Usa. Also thank you to those who have participated and helped: Marisa, Blanca, Marina, Joe from the Help to Diabetic Child Foundation, Luis from ICI, Chema, Koke, Iñigo, Xavi, Angelica, Susana, Dani, Eva and the sponsors as Head, Leotron, Mapfre, Lauretana, Locos por la Musica for their support. The purpose of establishing Casper’s legacy has been achieved and we must continue to turn the Tour into a reference circuit and to establish itself over time.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year. I hope that we will continue working on our common goal: to create opportunities in tennis, in education and in life.

Happy Holidays,

Emilio Sanchez
CEO and Co-Founder of the Academia Sanchez-Casal

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“OUR BIGGEST ASSET IS THAT WE BUILD CHARACTER”

Posted on 14 December, 2018

Interview with Emilio Sánchez, CEO and Founder of the Academia Sánchez-Casal.

This year, Sánchez-Casal Academy celebrates 20 years of history. What does Emilio Sánchez Vicario think of when he looks back over the past 20 years?

This December, we begin the celebration of our 20th anniversary. When I look back, I can tell you that we have helped many athletes take some amazing personal journeys, and that we were a fundamental part each and every one of those journeys.

The academy is a never-ending source of joy to me, as I see the journeys of the student-athletes become part of their DNA, and they use the skills and values that they learned here for a long time after they leave. I cannot forget that we are what we are thanks to the people and the staff. It is people who take care of people, and this is our biggest strength, because our people are special and make a real difference. I could not be more grateful to the people who are still with us after all these years, but also, to the ones who left and took their own different paths. Therefore, I say thank you to all of them. ASC has become what it is today, a great Academy, on the back of their hard work, effort and dedication.

Does the academy have something of your own personality?

I’m a dreamer. I follow my dreams, I keep going even when it’s difficult, and I persevere. Dreams keep me alive and awake, and my biggest dream is making students dream, but they should dream big, and dream to become the best version of themselves. Every child should become the best version of themselves that they can be, and that’s not an easy thing to achieve.

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How did the idea of opening a tennis academy with its own school begin?

ASC was founded in November 1998. ASC was created in order to fill a gap that existed in Europe, as there were no opportunities back then to combine high performance tennis with high school studies. We soon realized that we were a potent force for creating opportunities in tennis, education and life. This sentence soon become our mission, and since then it hasn’t changed. We became experts in how to guide student-athletes, coaches, and adults in their development as tennis players, at the same time as working hard on their education.

After 20 years of history, what are you most proud of?

I could easily talk about being proud of results, success, titles, or top players, but my biggest joy comes when I realize that we didn’t only build tennis champions, but that we are also great in technical training, that we have developed an incredible teaching system, that we know how to coach, and we have experts in physical and mental training. However, where we are really better is in maintaining our values. We are respectful, we all work really hard, and approach the immense jobs ahead of us with a discipline that is non-negotiable. Therefore, our biggest asset is that we build Character.

But building character is not easy. How do you do it?

You are right, it’s not easy, but we teach values rather than just talking about them. Values are taught by example, and my team has those values imprinted on their identity. If I analyze my behavior as a player, or my siblings’ behavior, we were respectful, we made a huge effort every day and we were very disciplined. Sergio Casal was the same, and everyone on our ASC staff shares these values. You simply cannot work with us without them.

When students come to ASC, they don’t have a lot of experience, but when they leave, they know they have learned something that will help them for any life match they play in their future. Values build character, and the right attitude can multiply the outcome, so parents often congratulate us and thank us for helping their children work on those values and develop their character.

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Does Emilio Sánchez think that the Academy has been successful during the past 20 years?

Our success depends on the success of our players, and their success is not to win, but to become the best competitor that they can become, and the only way to do this is through character. When our student-athletes make the right use of basic values, then we know that we have been successful.

You have students coming from all over the world, is that an advantage or a difficulty?

The journey at ASC is very fulfilling, and student-athletes become part of a huge family of kids from every continent. The sharing of each person’s story makes the overall story of our academy even stronger. All of our top players have similarities: they work really hard, they are professional, they care for the others, and are respectful, but they are also all-around players with great technique, they apply tactics well, they are physically strong, and they have amazing minds, regardless of where they’re from.

What would you say to a young tennis player who wants to succeed in this sport?

I´m waiting for you at Barcelona or Naples to define and to work hard on all four pillars: Technical, Tactical, Physical and Mental. Do it through our three-core values Respect, Effort, Discipline and develop your Character with us in order to become the best that you can become.

Interview with Emilio Sánchez
CEO and Founder of the Academia Sánchez-Casal

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A COACH THAT CARES IS A COACH YOU CAN TRUST

Posted on 5 December, 2018

By Emilio Sanchez, CEO and Founder of the Academia Sanchez-Casal

COACHING SERIES: INTERVIEW WITH ASC FLORIDA JUNIOR PROGRAM DIRECTOR, VICTOR HUGO CAMARGO.

At first glance he seems shy, or maybe he is, but as soon as he speaks, his low tone captivates you. His arguments are very strong, and he knows how to put himself in your place. Víctor Hugo Camargo puts effort into what he does, he is always available, and the ASC values are his DNA. He is involved with attention, his greatest virtue is that he cares about others and gives everything for them. He is a tireless source of ideas and seeks perfection by teaching, he is an inexhaustible source of inspiration, and being with him, in a group or on the court next to him, is a motivation to keep fighting. Eddie Herr victory 2017

He spent ten years at the Sánchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona and he has been at our Naples facility for the past two years. He has played many roles, from tournament coordinator to Junior program director and every day I continue to learn from him. Victor Hugo spends every day on court and is coach to one of our best players, Jerry Shang, who arrived at our academy in Naples in 2016 from ASC Nanjing. Jerry is a student with privileged skills and incredible potential, we know how difficult it is to retain him in our humble infrastructure, given the aggressiveness of our rivals, but what is certain is that so far, both Victor Hugo and Jerry have worked at giving the best of themselves and obtaining outstanding victories like that of Eddie Herr 2017 and Clay Court Nationals 2018.

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Thank you, Victor Hugo, for your loyalty, your values and for giving everything, working with you is a blessing and I hope we continue working together for many years. It’s a pleasure to have you as part of the Sánchez-Casal team.

Emilio Sanchez
CEO and Co-Founder of the Academia Sanchez-Casal

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The Professional Tennis Registry awards the Emilio Sánchez Vicario Foundation

Posted on 23 November, 2018

By Daniel Muñoz Pozo, Head of Communications & Media at Sánchez-Casal Academy.

The Emilio Sanchez Vicario Foundation (FESV) has received the Best Institution 2018 award in the annual Professional Tennis Registry (RPT) awards during the 24^th Professional Tennis Week, in recognition of their solidarity work through tennis.

The Professional Tennis Registry, as an awards entity, is at the forefront of innovation and technical education in tennis. It pays tribute to people, entities, and institutions that, through their daily activities, are at the foundation of Spanish tennis and contribute to creating and expanding its base.

Emilio Sánchez Vicario decided to start his own Foundation in 2010, with the mission of promoting personal development and social integration through sports and education. At that time, Emilio explained: “I would like to give something back to tennis and help the different social sectors in need. Through the Foundation, we can provide the possibility for disadvantaged groups can improve their way of life by using the values of sport and education”.

This philosophy quickly took shape through different projects that have been growing and expanding ever since. Currently, the FESV has several schools where tennis is taught as a means of social integration, in Barcelona (Hospital Sant Joan de Déu and Academia Sánchez-Casal), Madrid (Ciudad de la Raqueta– Blind Tennis and Adaptive Paddle), Seville (Adaptive Tennis School), Toledo (National Paraplegics Hospital of Toledo) and the recently launched international tennis circuit, the Casper Tour.

Ms. Marisa Sánchez-Vicario as the President of the Foundation collected the awards in recognition of the foundation’s work through its various schools and events. These events include the Forums for Solidarity, a Music Festival, the ATP Challenger Tournament, the ITF Tournament Wheelchair, and Tennis Clinics.

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In this year’s ceremony, the following people and institutions also received awards: Álvaro Carbonell (Best Director Award); Javier Conesa (Best Professional); Tenis Carlet (Best Club); Oliveira Tennis Pro (Best School); Pepe Aupí (RPT Partner); Ferrán Martínez (Best Professional Work); I. Gallardo (President); Eurosport (Best Communications Media); Carlos Martínez (for his work as Svetlana Kuznetsova’s coach) and Adolfo Gutiérrez (for his work as Álex de Miñaur’s coach). There was also a tribute to Virginia Ruano, for her magnificent professional career.

Daniel Muñoz Pozo
Head of Communications & Media at Sánchez-Casal Academy.

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Thank you Luis and Tim for the ICI Courses

Posted on 12 November, 2018

By Emilio Sanchez, CEO and Founder of the Academia Sanchez-Casal

This year is our 20^thyear anniversary, looking back it’s amazing how fast it went, I could write pages and pages of our success and relationships with amazing people. It brings a smile to my face when I hear testimonials from past players and they talk about hard work, effort, discipline, and respect. Our mission of creating opportunities in tennis, education and life is stronger than ever and it makes me proud to look back and see that base of our success and values are still intact.

Today I want to share how I started the International Coaches Institute courses for. About 20 years ago, Luis Mediero visited me and convinced me to do the first ASC-RPT coaches’ course, after seeing how we trained. Since then, many coaches, more than a thousand have been educated under those courses in Spain and USA combined. A few years later, Tim Heckler, CEO of the USPTA, invited us to attend a USPTA conference, where he became interested in teaching his coaches the ASC 360 system and he encouraged us to create the ICI courses. Tim came to every seminar and was so enthusiastic that he even sent his son to train at ASC Barcelona, with the goal that his son would gain the same inspiration and love for the game that he had. It was humbling to find out that he chose us instead of an academy in the US. It was a huge responsibility, but we succeeded, his son went to college to compete and today he works in the industry. After Tim’s untimely passing, Luis and I decided to push the ICI courses deeper and have it become his legacy. Since our first course in 2007, more than 1000 coaches have passed through our programs, we initially started with the level 1-performance training, then developed the level 2-transition from junior to pro. We teach everyone the chains of drills, our philosophy, pyramid, 4 pillars and they practice on court more than 60% of the time with our students from the academy. We’re so proud of our course and hope to continue Tim’s legacy.

For 2019 we are presenting new programs:

Our new Doubles course Level 1 will show how to use doubles to improve singles, and for coaches, how to maximize the space on court with 4 players at same time. All the experience that we used in doubles together with Sergio to become top in the history, 44 title wins, 9 masters, 14 years Davis Cup in one full course of two days or two modules of one day.

We’re also presenting new one day courses with modules of every chain and the option to choose one of the pillars. It’s going to be an exciting 2019.

Emilio Sanchez
CEO and Co-Founder of the Academia Sanchez-Casal

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Strategic dietary planning is profitable and advantageous

Posted on 2 November, 2018

By Sergi Bonillo, Food and Beverage manager at Academia Sánchez-Casal, Barcelona.

When, what, how and how much we eat powerfully affects our energy levels and, as a result, also our performance and productivity. We must be aware of what we eat, but if we want to go one step further, we must also eat with strategy.

To maintain our energy levels, we must have a snack every 3-4 hours after each main meal. Then, we should not wait more than 2 hours after a snack to have another main meal.

This strategy prevents our metabolism from slowing down and provides an appropriate level of glucose to the blood in order to keep our cells working at the best level of performance. Having an eating strategy also prevents a decrease in muscle mass.

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Therefore, at Academia Sánchez-Casal, we establish 3 main intakes per day: breakfast, lunch and dinner, which are alternated with 2 strategic snacks called “Energy Points”. The Energy Points contain solids and liquids to help maintain our student-athletes energy levels high.

The solid foods we offer in our Energy Point are usually fruit, vitamin and protein energy bars, nuts and, occasionally, non-industrial pastries. All these products are carefully selected and meet the high nutritional requirements that our nutrition department establishes, even when they are processed foods. Processed foods that are selected contain whole grains, do not have hydrogenated fats, and have the lowest possible amount of preservatives and chemical elements.

In the liquid food category, we offer whey protein shakes (Whey 00) mixed with chocolate and / or fresh fruit and skimmed milk. For our youngest student-athletes, we offer isotonic drinks composed of minerals, carbohydrates and vitamins, which help them to replenish energy levels after a hard workout. This type of drink not only hydrates but also supplies energy. At Sánchez-Casal, we only offer products from leading sports nutrition companies, who can guarantee both professionalism and rigor in the quality of their products.

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Nourish yourself to perform at your best level

It is important to know when to eat each meal or snack, and remember that breakfast is one of the main meals, as eating early in the morning helps metabolism to activate and produce energy. By eating a good breakfast, we can focus and be mentally alert for longer periods of time. Breakfast should always contain the 3 macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Throughout the morning, we must use strategic snacks to maintain energy levels and increase nutritional intake. A snack will also be necessary in the afternoon, after lunch.

Lunches and dinners should be part of a balanced daily diet, which strategically distributes the consumption of carbohydrates, protein and fats appropriately according to the specific needs of each person.

Sergi Bonillo
Food and Beverage manager at Academia Sánchez-Casal Barcelona

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