IN HONOR OF WOMEN’S SPORTS

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By Tatiana Batalla and Ivette Nieto, Marketing Department ASC Florida

Today is the international women’s day, a date that commemorates the struggle of women for their participation on equal terms with men, in society and in their full development as a person. It was not until the French Revolution, where women marched towards Versailles, together with men, in a claim of social equality under the motto “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité“.  Years later, in Spain, as of March 8, 1910, women acceded to Higher Education on equal terms as men “Equally enrollment of students“.  In 1994,  the taste of victory was finally given to the women’s movement, when the United States proclaimed March 8 as the  “International Women’s Day in the United States”.

Meanwhile, in the world of sports, women still struggled due to the lack of recognition. There was clearly lower media coverage and gender stereotypes; as a result, raising barriers and making harder for women to gain a place in the world of sports.

“Sport is not something for women, the body becomes masculine when exercising, women are less capable, etc.”

And then, women’s achievements proved they were wrong. When Gertrude Ederle was the first woman to cross the English Channel by swimming in 1926. Katherine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston marathon, and Simone Biles, aged 19, who suffered from Attention deficit disorder (ADD) and hyperactivity, won four gold medals and one bronze in artistic gymnastics.

“Women play less sets and attract less audience”

Today we celebrate all the women who made history and helped us enjoy sports as we do today: Althea Gibson was the first black tennis player to win a match in the English Tournament in 1951. In 1970 [9] women started the WTA circuit paving the road to women in professional tennis. In 1973 the US Open announced they would equally distribute their prize money between men and women, inspiring other Grand Slams tournaments to do the same. In 1990, the English Charlotte Cooper made history by being the first professional tennis player and 90s Olympic champion.

Andy Murray and John McEnroe explained the reason for having a female coach “It is not about if it’s male or female. It’s about knowing what you are doing, and she knows everything about tennis”.

The path of women’s professional tennis was strongly marked by Arantxa Sanchez, winner of 3 Roland Garros and 1 US Open, the first Spanish women to become number one in the world in February of 1995. She became the women’s inspiration and the image to follow at all times. In the 80’s and 90’s, Arantxa made tennis girls realize that sports is not only a men’s thing, and that women also have the right and the opportunity to be professional sport players. “The youngest of Sanchez Vicario has the desire to fight “, “She never gives up”, “The queen of women’s tennis”.

Today, women represent an important factor in the sports industry. According to Nielsen Sports, a survey across eight key markets around the world (US, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia and New Zealand) found that 84% of sports fans are interested in women’s sport (Nielsen Sports, 2019). In 2019, Nike launched the motivational commercial “Dream Crazier” where Serena Williams, champion of 23 Grand Slams, invites women to feel proud of their madness and promotes the equal treatment for male and female players.

In honor of women’s sports, in honor of equal treatment between men and women; to all female role models like Arantxa Sanchez  who made a difference. In honor of the daily  improvement of women in the world of effort, values and opportunities. In Sanchez-Casal we have a girls’ competition group inspired to change women’s vision, break walls and become the best version of themselves and to have a succesfull future in a world full of opportunities.

Tatiana Batalla and Ivette Nieto
Marketing department ASC Florida

Sanchez-Casal Anual Program

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ASC & ESIS ALUMNI COMPLETES EXTREME CHALLENGE

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By Joanne Burns, Head of ES International School, ASC Barcelona

Sam Bencheghib is an environmental activist who just completed an ocean to ocean, six month, 3,000+ miles run across the United States, from NYC to LA, in order to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the oceans.

Sam is an ESIS / ASC Class of 2015 Alumni. In his senior year at ESIS, he was the President of Student Council, and worked actively to promote environmental awareness and other worthy causes through his role. Notably, while still in 11th grade, he organized a ping-pong tournament for Haiyan, with the proceeds going to victims of the Typhoon that struck earlier that same year. Then only 16 years old, Sam petitioned the Head of School at the time: “When I heard that more than 10,000 people were feared dead, whilst over 12 million people have been directly affected and 1.9 million people have become homeless in the aftermath of the typhoon and do not have a bed or roof to sleep under, I wanted to utilize all my resources in order to make a change, to somehow help those millions of people.”

 

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Sam’s efforts to help those in need and raise awareness about the environment did not end when he left ASC. Alongside his brother, he cofounded Make a Change, while still playing College tennis at LeHigh University. His first big initiative involved travelling with his brother on plastic bottle kayaks down the world’s most polluted river, found in Indonesia. The media attention their efforts received inspired Indonesia’s biggest mass cleanup of that same river, proving that one person’s efforts truly do make a difference.

 

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Make a Change World

 

His ocean 2 ocean run started on July 26, 2019, and finally finished on February 1, 2020. “It’s hard to put into words what finishing this 3055 mile journey across America and jumping into the Pacific Ocean feels like. It definitely wasn’t easy to get there but despite all the obstacles along the way, physically, mentally and emotionally, it was a life changing experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life,” says Sam Bencheghib.

After speaking and engaging with over 8,000 people face-to-face along his journey, from students, small town mayors, business owners, to state governors, he knows that there is still a lot to learn about the plastic industry in the United States, and the lobbying behind it.

Sam wrote to us at ASC and ESIS this week with an update on his journey. I recommend you watch the video links he provides in his message below – they are worth the minutes of your time! Take a moment and live the experience that Sam has dedicated himself to over the past six months.

“I finally finished my 3,055-mile run across America last Saturday, Feb 1st, and what an incredible feeling it was to jump into the Pacific Ocean after running 20-30 miles a day miles for 6 long months !!

 

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📷 Devin L’Amoreaux

 

After a week of reflection, it’s hard to put into words what finishing this journey feels like. There were a lot of difficult moments, from the extreme weather conditions, the crossing of the Rockies in Colorado, to the injuries, to the general exhaustion physically, mentally and emotionally… But despite all these obstacles, this run was a life changing experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I learnt so much about the plastic industry in this country and the lack of awareness, education and action going on when it comes to plastic.

The Grand Finale last Saturday was a beautiful event with 200+ people. Surrounded by friends and family – we organized a big beach-clean up as well as a run-along for the last 3 symbolic miles where 70 runners from the Adidas Runners community joined me.

 

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📷 Jacqueline Verdugo

 

I wanted to reach out to thank ASC and ESIS for being a part of this incredible journey with me.

I’m also attaching a press release below with some information on my run – I am doing a big media outreach to continue spreading the message of protecting our oceans and would love your support. I am excited to begin working on a documentary about my Ocean2Ocean run and can’t wait to share a trailer with you very soon.

Finally, a nice touch to end this run, I participated in a contest along with 28,186 other applicants to win a free apartment in NYC for a year from YouTubers Ryan Serhant, Casey Neistat and DudeWithSign – and I WON! I’m still processing the fact that I won this contest. Here is a fun video (link below) about the day I found out I won. I’m beyond excited to move to NYC starting next week to bring Make a Change to NYC and focus on building our environmental media company NY branch.

 


 

Let me know what I can do to help! And would love at some point in the future, to come speak in Barcelona!”

Sam knows he’s always welcome in his old home in Barcelona. As a campus actively working to eliminate plastic, we honor his legacy, and his achievements, and work hard each day to be responsible with the environment. Thank you, Sam, for being an example for us all to follow. We look forward to welcoming you back to Barcelona soon.

 
Make a Change

Joanne Burns
Head of ES International School, ASC Barcelona

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A successful day for ES international school

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By Ivette Nieto and Tatiana Batalla, marketing department at Sánchez-Casal academy 

ES international school was getting ready for the visit of the Middle State’s Association of colleges and schools. For our ES international school in Florida, the visit of the Middle State’s Association is really important because is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performs peer evaluations and regional accreditations of public and private schools in the Mid-Atlantic United States and certain foreign institutions of American origin. Our ES international school of Barcelona, Spain had been accredited two weeks prior to our visit with perfect score. Now, it was our turn, and everybody was anxious for the final speech of the women in charge of the process.

She quoted: “ESIS was a full and reach experience. We had a warm reception at the ES international school. We have asked students, staff and families to tell us what they see special in your school; The students and families have described your school as a family, as a community of learners. Everyone we spoke to from the staff was interested in developing the students as scholars, as athletes and as example human beings. The families of the student-athletes love the fact that students can concentrate on tennis but still get the education needed in order to be successful.

The second question was; Why they chose ESIS? The most common answer was that parents, students and teachers are happy that tennis and academics is all in one place. The parents support the work of ES international school. They describe this place as a special place, a small school but a family environment. We as MSA accreditation group are impressed by the way the school and the academy come together to do what is best for the student. We are impressed by the degree of collaboration of the administration, students and teachers that make this ES international school of learners possible were student-athletes can work. We are impressed about the perfect working relationship between Barcelona and Naples. This school has strengths and weaknesses but one of the most important strength of your school is the level of concern that there is for the students. They are aware that the work that you are doing has the best interest for them. The teachers are always available to go the extra mile for them.

We applaud you for being living examples and being fully committed to perform the schools mission statement of creating opportunities in tennis, education and life. We have witnessed that all members of the community and students maintain mutual relationships of respect, effort, discipline and trust. The ES international school and Sánchez-Casal Academy are willing to work together to make those weaknesses strengths. With that being said, the ES international school meets all 12 of the accreditation standards.

We say goodbye knowing that the ES school is a learning environment that supports students and athletes. Lastly we want to tell you to keep protecting and respecting your mission and vision statement for your school and keep working towards achieving all your objectives as an organization for the student’s performance. We say congratulations to you all. From the Middle States association, we are pleased to announce that ES international school has been accredited for 7 more years.”

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Tatiana Batalla and Ivette Nieto 

Marketing department at Sanchez-Casal Academy 

Sanchez-Casal Anual Program

 

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An unforgettable international experience – ASC

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By Eva Pascual, Marketing department, Sánchez-Casal Academy.

When other parents ask me why they should enroll their children in the Summer Camp of Sánchez-Casal Academy, I can give them many reasons, and all of them are compelling arguements.

I talk to them, for example, about having confidence in a totally committed staff, about the quality of tennis teaching and the exclusive training method, and about the 24/7 attention to the player, among others things. But there is one argument that seems particularly enticing to me: the extraordinary international atmosphere that students live and breathe at the Sanchez-Casal Academy campus.

 


 

There are many schools and sports entities that claim to offer cultural diversity, but let me give you only one piece of information to begin: since 2011, players from 100 different countries, and from 5 different continents, have visited Sánchez-Casal Barcelona. Citizens from more than half of the countries in the world have trained with us!

If we look at the 2019 figures only, we were visited by players from 67 different countries, who also come from all 5 continents. The variety of cultures, ways of understanding the world, ways of expressing themselves in different languages and coexisting harmoniously in our Academy, provide an incredible personal enrichment experience for all the players that visit us throughout the year.

There are many benefits of living such an international experience, and I would like to highlight some of them:

An international environment calls into question many of our cultural ‘assumptions’: premises that we take for granted in our environment and that may be radically different in another environment. It opens our minds and makes us rethink our basic assumptions, discovering that there are lots of ways of thinking that are different from ours.

 
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Sharing concerns, approaches, and difficulties with people from other cultures helps us to have a better understanding of global issues. We become more minded open, more understanding and more flexible to find solutions to common problems.

Connecting with people who speak another language also forces us to make an effort to improve our communication skills. It helps us to improve our own language skills and introduces us to the parlance of other tongues. In young children, the impact on their motivation to learn languages is awesome. And the improvement in self-confidence that unfolds due to exposure to previously unknown situations, is also amazing.

All of this is can be summarized in the term international mindedness: a fundamental concept of IB philosophy, which is the educational framework that students in the onsite ES International Elementary School have been following for the last 2 years. It’s true to say, however, that the ASC community was living and breathing the values of international mindedness in its day to day for many years before the IB curriculum was introduced.

This international mindedness is possibly the best life lesson your child will experience at ASC, and it make their stay in Sánchez-Casal an unforgettable experience for life.

Eva Pascual
Marketing department, Sánchez-Casal Academy

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The Sánchez-Casal Academy & ES International School Go Green

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By Ivette Nieto and Tatiana Batalla, Marketing department, Sánchez-Casal Academy.

What is happening to the oceans?  

A question once asked by a young ASC student-athlete of Sánchez-Casal Barcelona Sam Bencheghib. When he graduated in 2016 he already had clear goals and objectives: Make a big impact on the world. Today, we want to share his success with all of you and show you our little piece of change that we are making inspired by our alumni Sam Bencheghib who has achieved great things next to his brother and sister by co-founding the company “Make a Change in the World.”   

Sam Bencheghib started with a purpose: Create awareness of what is happening to the environment across America. We reached out to him to know his current location and when we got his answer, we could feel his passion and his motivation of the project he is doing described in two sentences. He explained: “I am currently in full preparation mode of our next project called Ocean2Ocean where I’ll be running 3,000 miles across America, from NYC to LA. My objective is to raise awareness about plastic pollution. Also, by being the first person to do this on recycled shoes, I hope to ignite a national conversation of what each one of us can do to make a change.”  

This project inspired our ESIS International School in Naples. This year, students and staff members are exploring ways to make a positive impact in the world by becoming more aware of what is going on with our planet and of how they can recycle more and consume less. The ESIS International School students don’t use plastic, but rather their own water bottles; they also recycle and pick up any trash they find. They are planning to visit a local waste management plant to observe recycling streams for various materials, such as paper and plastics.  Also, the Sánchez-Casal Academy has replaced disposable plastic cups, has reduced waste, and has distributed recycling bins.  

Also, we are trying to impact the community to add them to our efforts. For that reason, we have distributed posters around our academy and school with messages meant to raise awareness about the importance of recycling. We believe that if everyone adds their own grain of sand, together we can make a difference. The future of our world is in our hands and with a small movement that you can make a habit of, we can change the world for a better future.    

Sam grew up thinking in the bigger picture, motivated by a cause that concerns everyone. He didn’t grow up thinking of going pro to be the best athlete in the world but instead, he used his means of being an athlete to contribute in a race that would help to change the world. For that reason, we feel proud that he is a part of our family.  From Sánchez-Casal, we want to dedicate to him a video to let him and his team know that we are aware of his work, we support his cause, and we are turning our Academy and School into a green place. Go Green! 

 


Ivette Nieto and Tatiana Batalla 
Marketing department, Sánchez-Casal Academy

Sanchez-Casal Anual Program

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LET YOUR CHILDREN FOLLOW THEIR DREAMS

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By Eva Pascual, Marketing department, Sánchez-Casal Academy.

When children are young, parents want them to learn to play sports, specifically because it is a healthy habit. Maybe we push them to play football, hockey or another sport because it is the sport we also like. Perhaps, they begin with some multi-sport classes and, afterwards, opt for one of the sports they have been practicing, like tennis.

 

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As time goes by, training becomes more demanding: more days, more hours, and more effort. Usually, young athletes will begins to compete. They begin to feel the motivation of learning and improving, and then they feel the excitement of overcoming an opponent, of competing and winning.

And one day, they might tell us that they want to be a professional tennis player. And we realize that yes, they have talent. But we know how difficult it is to become a professional athlete. Pursuing their dream will take many hours of their leisure time and also many hours of study.

Could it be worth to try it out? Or do we have to push this idea out of their minds?

Our children will have to sacrifice classes, miss school time, and negotiate agreements with teachers, asking for exam changes. They will have to study at night, in the car, on airplanes, or in hotels while away on competition. Will they still be able to follow the academic program of their school? Will they be able to access a university if their priority is sport? What will happen with their future if they fail while trying to reach the elite? On the other hand, what will happen if you don’t support them and they give up on their dream without ever trying to achieve it?

 

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Emilio Sánchez and Sergio Casal went through this experience. They know well how difficult it can be to combine studies and tennis: they suffered through it themselves. They managed to reached their goals, but they have also seen many other children and young people who decided not to risk it, who at some point abandoned the path of training towards the elite.

For that reason, they created an Academy where it is possible to combine tennis with school, guaranteeing the best sports training, physical preparation, and mental development, but also, guaranteeing the best academic education as well. An Academy with its own American school, ES International School,  which has the accreditations of international organizations (MSA) and national organizations (Generalitat de Catalunya), and prepares students from 1st to 12th grade. ES International School offers careful academic guidance and personal advice, in order to guarantee both the acquisition of academic skills and the development of individual strengths and talents.

 

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In addition, thinking about the future of their students beyond the school stage, they have developed a university orientation process to make it easier for students-athletes to continue to develop their sports skills at the university level. They are registered and respect the academic requirements of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

As Emilio Sánchez says , “Our academy graduates go to Harvard, they go to Duke, they go to Columbia … but they also go to Wimbledon.“

Thanks to the Sánchez-Casal Academy and ES International School you don’t have to ask yourself what path your children should follow if they want to be a professional tennis players. You can be open minded until the end of their school stage and even beyond, if they also play college tennis. Now, the future is in your hands. Therefore, if any of your children want to be a tennis player, nothing is stopping you from helping them to follow their dreams.

Sanchez-Casal Anual Program

Eva Pascual
Marketing department, Sánchez-Casal Academy

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FROM NÁPOLES TO NAPLES, TO THE ENDLESS LOVE FOR TENNIS

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From one director to another:  

Naples was a unique experience to us: The practices, the USTA tournaments, the cultural exchanges, were unique and unrepeatable. The tennis academy in Naples has experienced a full week of useful knowledge to be able to adapt in our training method. Starting from Naples and the greatness about this wonderful trip more than admiring the structure and the common organization, since the beginning, the three values of the identity of ASC marked us. The respect, effort and discipline are 3 key points integrated for the members of the academy and visually appear as a motivation, in each spot of the academy. They appear as a motivation printed in the steps of the stairs that lead to the entrance of the facility. Three values that are so true for us and for everyone. In life, like in tennis, the three values that make you be part of this family, of their second home.     

We are thankful for giving our group the importance, for welcoming us as a part of the ASC family. 

The Sánchez-Casal system has a unique system of teaching called ASC 360 Tennis System®. A system that allows the players to focus at the highest level on the tennis preparation and that ads all the effort and discipline needed in the practice. 

The Sánchez-Casal system is, in fact, the ideal project that the Sanchez-Casal tennis academy of Naples has always defended, since it was born in 2001 and that allows our academy to be in complete harmony with the programs, projects and structures of ASC. 

We have lived a week of knowledge and hard work in the big “Industry of values and tennis” one of the most beautiful academies and with more improvement of the world. Out of all the treatment from the point of view of public relations:  the respect to the hosts, the capacity to interact with everyone and an excellent week of tennis, with excellent teachers that work untiringly since the sunrise until the sunset was the best of all the experience. 

We are coming back to Nàpoles (Italy) with a lot more experience, with more motivation and enthusiasm, with the wish of making our academy better and extend our knowledge to everyone, students, technics, enthusiasts and experts. We are convinced that we have ASC as a point of reference.                       

We are happy to know that our school in Italy is growing every time from the root with the result of the hard work that we do in the tennis system of 360.  

We are grateful that for these 7 days of study and passion. We are thankful to Emilio Sánchez for being a big reference and great teacher and for being kind and friendly to us.  

Lastly, we are happy that we have achieved third place in the absolute national ranking of schools of tennis in Florida. The tennis academy in Nápoles won the tricolor period with more than thousand of schools participating. An amazing outcome.   

From Nápoles to Naples, that the love for tennis never ends. 

Aldo Russo 

CEO Nápoles Tennis Academy 

 

Sanchez-Casal Anual Program

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Artur Diyarov- The passion of becoming an ASC coach

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By Artur Diyarov, coach at Academia Sánchez-Casal  

My name is Artur Diyarov. I Enrolled in Sanchez-Casal Barcelona in 2008 as a student-athlete and I graduated in 2013. I am from a little town in Russia and I went from student-athlete in the Barcelona family to coach in the ASC family. I have worked in 3 different continents, in Sanchez-Casal Barcelona, in Sanchez-Casal Florida, and I am currently in Sanchez-Casal Nanjing situated in China. It is my 3rd year in China. Going to China was the best decision I took because of the different lifestyle. I oversee the traveling team of the Sanchez-Casal academy in China and I have traveled around 50 weeks during my first year there, so I was barely in the academy.   

When I first came to Sanchez-Casal Barcelona as a student, I didn’t speak English or Spanish, so it was a very challenging task to adapt because, with no common language, and coming from a small town in Russia moving to a big city like Barcelona with a lot of people from different cultures wasn’t easy. But I stepped up and became who I am today thanks to the academy.  

Tennis is one of the newest sports in the Chinese culture, the players developed it fast and are starting to see the tennis world. The Chinese tennis players are hardworking and dedicated so it was easy to develop the sport. I became a tennis coach thanks to my passion; My passion comes from a key person in my life, Antonio Hernandez (coach in ASC Barcelona). He helped me and influenced me when I was a player. He changed my life for better and was a second dad to me, he was and still is my idol. Antonio believed in me when we can all agree on that I wasn’t the best example of a role model, but I still wanted to make him proud, so I changed my life for better. He has impacted my life and that is what I have learned and apply to my current role as a coach. I try to make an impact on people, helping them to build up as players, as persons and in their life’s. Is the Passion that drives me to do this job.  

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I love challenges, so I decided to start this new path of my career by going to China. I found a great place to improve, one with a different mentality and a different culture. China gave me the balance to focus on myself as a person and as a coach. I want to be the best in what I do because the attitude towards everything you do should have the ultimate goal of being the best in what you do.  I have the drive and the passion to achieve it and I am going to do it by giving 100% on and off the court, by impacting on people’s life because, for me,  to be a coach means to make kids come out of their comfort zone and to be a huge part on people’s life not only by throwing balls, but also making young student-athletes become better persons.  

To me this transition from student-athlete to coach made me understand and be an example of the three values we defend in this academy. Respect as the power you have to win the respect in someone’s life. Effort as the hard work, as to give your best and be the best at what you can. Passion meaning pure drive and in general Sanchez-Casal as all the three values together, as a family. So, for that reason and many more I will pursue my objective of being the best at what I do next to Sanchez-Casal academy, more than a place but a family to me.  

 

Artur Diyarov  

Coach at Sánchez-Casal Academy 

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AFTER 20 YEARS, WE ASK OURSELVES WHO WE REALLY ARE

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

Normally it is very difficult to talk about yourself, but tennis gives players the habit of having to review ourselves, to find out what are our areas of improvement, and makes us create new habits to reach our goals. I love this process and I try to do it personally every now and then. I’m a coach, and therefore I need to be coached and coach others.

After 20 years of making opportunities in tennis and education and being a world renowned academy in Europe, I tried to apply the same process to our Tennis Academy and School, ASC and ESIS. But I found that it was a difficult thing to do because we have students, parents, teachers, coaches, and employees and they all think differently. A few years back we reviewed our philosophy, and we asked ourselves who we really are; it was a very interesting process. Students and parents saw us as a turning point that changed their lives. They kept talking about values like effort, respect, discipline and hard work. Teachers and coaches had a different view as educators, while employees had another one as workers. Finally, we summarized our values as Respect, Effort and Discipline (RED), and we promoted these values and tried to embrace them.

 
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As a leader, I try to align all these different perspectives of our mission and values according to who is evaluating us, and it is very rewarding.  The main idea is to show our true identity, as I’m tired of telling myself we are something different from our reality. Understanding my true identity is the first step of self-improvement: to do anything else goes against my nature of analyzing myself to become better.

Fortunately, I got some unexpected help without asking for it. We had the visit of MSA a few weeks ago. They are our school accreditors, and they made a deep analysis of our essence. The conclusions of their report were outstanding; all my doubts disappeared as they were reading their report to the committees. The faces of the directors, teachers, and coaches as they were listening to the MSA representatives were shining, and every sentence was more powerful than the previous one. I almost had tears in my eyes. Our efforts were worth every minute of it: all the hard work, discipline, commitment, and hours invested by the team in the students was rewarded by this report. I could never have expected this outcome. That’s why I would like to share with you their comments about who they felt we are:

 
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“ESIS and ASC can be summarized by the words “family” and “community.” The parents and students love the fact that they can concentrate on tennis or another sport and still experience an education that will enable them to be successful in life.

ESIS is a small school, but it is one that is vibrant with activity. We are in awe of the level of student, staff, and community participation in the life of this school. We were very impressed with the way the school and the Academy come together to do what is best for each student.

We applaud you for the degree of cooperation among the administration, teachers, staff and coaches that makes this possible – student athletes can work on becoming excellent in their sport and excellent students. Know that your students appreciate this reality of your school.

We are also impressed by the uniformity with which the parents with whom we spoke support the work of ESIS. We were told by the school administrators that the community supports the students and the administration will strive to provide whatever is necessary to make sure the students have what they need and what they want.

We heard from your students that a strength of your school is the level of caring and concern the teachers have for their students. They told us that their teachers are always willing to go the extra mile with them, and that their teachers are always available to them.

We want to applaud you for being living examples of your printed Mission and Vision. The administration, faculty, and staff of the school and the Academy are fully committed to fulfilling the school’s mission statement which is closely related to the mission of the Academy.  We could see and feel that all members of the community – adults and students – maintain and develop relationships of mutual respect, effort, and discipline with a sense of trust and openness. You know the areas of your strengths, as well as your weaknesses, and are willing and able to work together to move those weaknesses to strengths.

The classes we observed were student-centered.  Teachers were helping students to think and make decisions on their own. We applaud the implementation of the IB PYP program in the elementary school and the curriculum guides in the middle school are excellent. We congratulate the initiative in the Creative Writing class where the students spend the year writing their novel which concludes in the publishing and marketing of these novels!! 

The campus is huge and open.  The students commented how much they loved the outdoor space on the campus.  The campus is beautifully maintained. The school provides an aesthetically appealing learning environment that supports both students and teachers.

We concluded that ES International School meets all 12 of the standards for accreditation. Therefore, the team will recommend to MSA that ES International School be re-accredited for seven years.”

 


 

I always try hard to come out of my comfort zone and improve, and I thought I had to make some improvements at ASC, but when such an important organization tells you that you are family, community, respect, effort, discipline, values, trustworthy, openness, a think-tank, that you improve character, care about others, help in decision-making, and a aesthetically appealing learning environment that supports both students and teachers, what else can you expect to achieve? I’m so proud of what we do.

I want to congratulate everyone and want them to know that I am thankful and inspired by my team of teachers, coaches and employees and what they offer the students and families who decide to study with us. This report makes everything worth it. I feel so lucky to be able to be part of the development of these kids, mold their character through tennis and education and be part of their lives.

Sanchez-Casal Anual Program

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

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Mr. Eddie Herr, I am Missing You

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

In the US, one of the most important dates of the year is Thanksgiving Day. After living here for seven years, we have started to understand this tradition and to feel part of it. The only problem is that when you have a tennis academy for kids from 10 to 18 years old, most of them have a goal to compete in Eddie Herr at IMG Academy on that weekend. Therefore, every year we have to put together a big group of players and drive up north with the travelling teams. This year on top of that I had two of my kids competing: 15-year-old Emilio and 13-year-old Valentina. That’s why for the ASC Florida players and my family, it’s difficult to celebrate the holiday.

Before I talk about their terrible experience at IMG, I want to go back in time. Thirty-seven years ago I flew for the first time to the US to represent Spain at the Orange Bowl. I arrived beforehand and was told to participate at the Eddie Herr tournament. I took a bus from Miami to Bradenton and had an incredible experience. I competed and had fun, but what I remember the most is Eddie Herr on one side, who was like Santa Claus. He was all around, knew every player, and cared for every one of us that came from so far away. On the other side obviously was Nick, who was always looking to connect with all talented kids  to convince them to come to train there. The reality was that I was so impressed by them and they made me feel so good, that the tournament was so special I even tried to convince my parents to send me there. But with the economic situation of my family that was impossible. Mr. Eddie Herr was an incredible person, who loved tennis and built an incredible event with the love and passion he had for the sport.

Now let’s go back to last week. The kids left with the illusion of going to a top event. The qualies gathered 128 kids per category, times 6 categories in the 12-16 ages, which equaled more than a thousand players including the 18’s. Out of the 60 courts, only 33 hardcourts were used to play the tournament. The sign-in for the event started at 10 a.m.  for kids under 12, then it was the turn for the under 14 and finally the 16, with the sign-in finishing around 4 p.m. Schedule of play came out later than 10:30 p.m., making it very difficult to plan ahead. Many of the kids didn’t play the next day and there was no chance to practice unless they signed up for a camp on site. Valentina played around noon and lost. Emilio was supposed to play at 4p.m., but apparently the organizers made some mistakes in the draw and they had to redo it. As a result, they put him in one of the last matches and he ended up entering the court at 11:20 p.m. He complained and they told him, “You guys have to play now, like that you guys can spend the holiday with your parents.” They made the same comment to two other players from Mexico and China, who obviously didn’t care much about that since their parents are thousands of kilometers away. They put another ASC player in the 16’s category instead of the 14’s, and at the end they replaced him, took him out for another of our players that they also forgotten to add in the draw. We complained to USTA, they blamed UTR, UTR sent us to IMG, and IMG to USTA; this was the perfect triangle. My coaches tried to help, but the treatment they received made them feel like they had nothing to do with the issue; this happened instead of overcoming rivalries and thinking about the athletes to make them feel great about their experience and have a nice memory of the event and the place.

I even called the USTA and they told me to call IMG. I called, left a voice mail, but they never called back. I just want to make them aware of the problem, but they had such a mess that they never called back. I’m so sad. I miss Eddie Herr and his spirit, his way of taking care of kids, of  inspiring them to persevere in this great career and to make a tournament that would stay in their memories like it happened to me. Instead, today you go to this amazing facility, you pay $145 to play a match, $15 a day to park 15 minutes away from the facility, and $20 for a meal. They force you to book a hotel with their agency, paying at least 10-20% more than the normal price, and overall they make you feel like a number.  What a pity.

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I just want to remind everyone that we’re all responsible to wake-up the passion to love this sport and that these kids independent of their level arrive there with a dream and that we need to keep their dream alive. My kids arrived home saying, “I never want to go back to that place.” In my case, that is not a problem, but how many kids will feel so disappointed that they will leave our sport?  There is a lot of talk about the problem of keeping players in competition, and Eddie Herr is just the tip of the iceberg, because in many other events they do the same, turning this sport into just a business. Here is where we really need to analyze what is happening and the USTA should really improve the requirements to the organizers. We should all try to make the tournaments become an experience, be much more fun, offer courts for practice, have a well done schedule, and help kids enjoy rivalries and love to be the best version that they can be in everything, but mainly having fun and competing. Until we recover that spirit, the spirit that Eddie Herr imprinted on me and many others, we will not solve the problem. We can’t continue having such a terrible environment for kids who should be enjoying the ride and not suffering because of the inability of the organizers. Until we find a pyramid that makes competition fun and desirable, we will lack many talented kids that will choose other sports that are more friendly in competition and are more fun.

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

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pretournament camp

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