2009 IC Junior South American Challenge

INTERNATIONAL TENNIS CLUB OF BRASIL

INTRODUCTION

The IC South American 16 and Under Junior Challenge has taken place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at the Sociedade Harmonia de Tenis, one of the most exclusive tennis clubs in Brazil, in the period of September 16 and 19, 2009. Four teams took part: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. Brazil turned out as the champion, followed by Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.



CLINIC
On September 16, a clinic for 11 handicapped children, was organized. These children have been taken care of by the AACD Association, the largest of the kind in Brazil, http://www.aacd.org.br . The clinic was conducted by a group of specialized professionals, with a large experience in this field, headed by Mauro Menezes, one of the most outstanding brazilian professionals, and an ex-Davis Cup player. The entire event was accompanied by several Club's officials and members, and by the IC's of Brazil representatives.


The clinic started with mutual introduction and children's familiarization with the professional team, who would later conduct the clinic. Different types and sizes of raquets and balls were introduced to the children, leading finally to the tennis balls and adequate size of tennis rackets for the children. Finally, the children were invited to enter the court, where they had the opportunity to learn the basic movements of the game and to hit a tennis ball, the first time in their lives. All children showed great interest in the game and the entire envirement. At a certain point, totally unexpected by the children, the brazilian team entered the court to join the children and to play with them. The children took effective part in the game and showed their great enjoyment. After the game, the children were invited to gather at a large lawn, aside the court, to take part of a small picnic, composed of different types of sandwiches, water and soft drinks. But before they started to enjoy the pick-nick, the children were faced with another surprise: all of them had been awarded by the brazilian team's members, with medals which they had deserved through their participation. After the pick-nick, and an effusive farewell, the children left the club on their way "home". The clinic was a great success particularly from the view of all children's active participation.


CAPTAINS MEETING.

At the Captains' Meeting, held that afternoon, the Tournament’s General Empire made it very clear that the ITF Rules and Regulations would be followed during the event. During that Meeting a lot of discussion took place, especially with respect to the present rules regarding the "third" player. All details referring to the Captains' Meeting have been informed separately. See below.



OPENING CERIMONY
September 17, the first official day of the event, started with the Opening Ceremony, where a parade of all 4 teams, all dressed in their respective uniforms, took place, together with the play of the national anthems of all four countries, and the inauguration speeches of the Club's and IC's of Brazil officers. The Tournament Director officially “opened” the event.



RESULTS

Immediately after the Opening Ceremony, the games started.

Results: Brasil vs Argentina 5:1; Chile vs Uruguai 4:2
On September 18, the results were as follows:

Brasil vs Uruguai 6:0; Argentina vs Chile 5:1
On September 19, the remaining results were:

Brasil vs Chile 5:1; Argentina vs Uruguai 4:2
The individual results of all matches are summerized on the attached Scoreboard.



CLOSING CERIMONY

On September 19, after all matches had been finished, the Closure Ceremony took place, with presence of the main officials of the IC Council, the Sociedade Harmonia de Tenis club, the delegate of Uruguay, the sponsors, the tournament's officers, and the officers of the IC of Brasil. After speeches of various of these officers, medals have been distributed to all players and captains who had participated in the event, and special medals to the winning team. A special trophy was given to the IC of Brasil, whose team had won the South Amereican challenge. The event’s closure was declared by Eugenio Saller, the Honorary Secretary of the IC of Brasil.



GENERAL INFORMATION.
All the participants of the event stayed at the Golden Tulip Park Plaza, one of the better hotels in Sao Paulo.
The meals were served as follows: breakfast in the hotel; lunch and dinner in the club.


Trasportation included the airport-hotel-club transfer, on September 16, the day of the arrivals of the teams, the day-to-day transportation service on September 17, 18 and 19, and the transfer hotel-airport, on September 19 /Argentina/ and September 20 /Chile and Uruguay/.
The day-to-day service consisted of the hotel-club transfer, early in the morning, and the club-hotel transfer, after the dinner.
A special van was available for unexpected "urgent" needs.



The Wilson balls were used in all the matches played.



The event was largely advertized , both in various news papers and a tennis magazine.


RULES - REGULATION.
At the Captains' Meeting, that took place on September 16, the Tournament's Empire, Luiz Parada /bronze badge/,in presence of the captains of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, the Delegate of Uruguay, Gilberto Sainz, and of the Tournament's Director, made very clear that the ITF Rules would be applied in all cases Alter some discussión, it was agreed that the only exeption be the one that refers to the “round-robin” rule. Copies of the IC Rules have been distributed at the beginning of the meeting, together with overall information concerning various aspects of the tournament and of the club facilities. The captains agreed that the first day the teams would play each other according to the result of the draw; the second day the winner would play the looser of the day before; and the third day the remaining matches would take place. According to the ITF Rankings, Brazil was selected as nr. 1 and Uruguai as nr. 2. The draw that followed, determined Brazil to play Argentina and Uruguay to play Chile, the first day.


A great discussion took place regarding the possibility to select the nr 3 player, the first day. One opinion was that it was impossible because

of two reasons: first, because, according to the present rules, each team consists only of two players; second, because the third player is only allowed to play singles, after one of the two players had been injured, and was uncapable to continue playing. Uruguay insisted on the contrary. After a long discussion, it was agreed that this year such procedure would be accepted, but that a new Rule, in this respect, would be elaborated by Uruguay and Brazil, and would be sent to the IC Council for due analysis, with the hope that the present Rule be updated for 2011. This recommendation will be sent to the Council, via Julian, in the next future.

The fact that the nr. 2 player could not have a better ranking /ITF-Cosat/ than the nr. 1, has been ratified.


All captains, and the delegates of Uruguay and Brazil, Gilberto Sainz and Eugenio Saller, respectively, recommend that the Council consider officializing the third player, thus each team would consist of three players, rather than two, even if this would mean an additional cost to the sponsor. It is felt that a thourough explanation and clear justification to the sponsor of the necessity for the respective change, is necessary. After all, the proposed change is based on a large practical experience and good sense. It also is felt that should the sponsor not be willing to spend the additional money, then the extra cost would be carried by each IC, that would decide to send three, rather than only two players.


São Paulo, October 05, 2009.

Eugenio Saller
Honorary Secretary
IC of Brazil