http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/s...agewanted=1&seid=auto&smid=tw-NYTStraightSets
Collete Lewis about another advertisement piece about JMAC academy:
"Twelve-year-old Ingrid Neel is the subject of this article from the New York Times, which explores her exposure to John McEnroe via his new tennis academy in New York. I saw Neel play for the first and only time at the Junior Orange Bowl this year, and perhaps because the surface was Har-Tru, the coming-to-net slant of her game wasn't immediately obvious to me. She did display variety and confidence, but I have to admit that I was surprised to read in this piece that she was No. 1 in the 18-and-under Northern section rankings. She is, after all, very small, and not one of those girls that has physically matured early. Given McEnroe's previous experience with touting a youngster, that being, famously, Donald Young, I approached this story with trepidation, but it is handled well, with a minimum of hype. And while it is primarily about Neel and her family, it is also about the choices necessary for all those who live in places where the competition isn't world class. I had thought McEnroe was emphasizing a local angle to his academy, yet that isn't what this article implies, and I would think attracting students to such an expensive city, with indifferent weather, would be extremely difficult, given the other options available. If they do "work at the net more than any other program," as Neel's mother says, that could be a selling point for some, but there is a huge population base in the area, so I'm unsure why McEnroe is not getting the best local players. Instead, he calls his staff "overqualified," which doesn't make a lot of sense, unless you believe that talent simply arrives at your doorstep, just needing a few tips before going out to win slams."
Collete Lewis about another advertisement piece about JMAC academy:
"Twelve-year-old Ingrid Neel is the subject of this article from the New York Times, which explores her exposure to John McEnroe via his new tennis academy in New York. I saw Neel play for the first and only time at the Junior Orange Bowl this year, and perhaps because the surface was Har-Tru, the coming-to-net slant of her game wasn't immediately obvious to me. She did display variety and confidence, but I have to admit that I was surprised to read in this piece that she was No. 1 in the 18-and-under Northern section rankings. She is, after all, very small, and not one of those girls that has physically matured early. Given McEnroe's previous experience with touting a youngster, that being, famously, Donald Young, I approached this story with trepidation, but it is handled well, with a minimum of hype. And while it is primarily about Neel and her family, it is also about the choices necessary for all those who live in places where the competition isn't world class. I had thought McEnroe was emphasizing a local angle to his academy, yet that isn't what this article implies, and I would think attracting students to such an expensive city, with indifferent weather, would be extremely difficult, given the other options available. If they do "work at the net more than any other program," as Neel's mother says, that could be a selling point for some, but there is a huge population base in the area, so I'm unsure why McEnroe is not getting the best local players. Instead, he calls his staff "overqualified," which doesn't make a lot of sense, unless you believe that talent simply arrives at your doorstep, just needing a few tips before going out to win slams."
