ITF

OBITUARY JEAN-CLAUDE MARCHON ITF World Winter 2020 43 The ITF will continue to monitor the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and work closely with tournament hosts and the relevant authorities to prepare for this event. As always, the priority in all decision making will remain the health and safety of participants. Nations and players are also advised to wait until the tournament fact sheet is published, expected in January 2021, before making travel and/or accommodation arrangements. The full schedule of ITF Seniors World Championships in 2021 is now complete with the Young Seniors World Team & Individual Championships also in Umag from 12-25 September and the ITF Super-Seniors World Team & Individual Championships in Mallorca, Spain from 10-23 October 2021. Matt Byford, ITF Juniors & Seniors manager said: "The ITF is delighted that an alternative host for our Seniors World Championships has been secured so quickly and would like to thank the Croatian Seniors Tennis Association, Croatian Tennis Association, Plava Laguna and the City of Umag for their cooperation. "The World Team & Individual Championships are a great highlight of the ITF Seniors calendar and it is fantastic for our playing community that they can now look ahead to June 2021 after the unfortunate cancellation of the event this year." to the tennis academy). Marchon also produced the documentary 'Birth of a tennis' for the ITF, a classic feature on how tennis can be played anywhere in the world. In 2001, the ITF Coaches Commission introduced the first ITF Awards for Services to the Game in Coaching. Marchon was the first mini- tennis expert to receive this distinction. In 2002, the FFT and the International Lawn Tennis Clubs awarded him a diploma for his contribution to the development of mini- tennis, both in France and around the world. Marchon was a true pedagogue and a visionary, whose charisma, dynamism and humanity were appreciated by both the children he trained and the coaches he inspired. His love for tennis, coaching and education can be witnessed daily by those who follow his example when introducing beginners to tennis. Marchon served as regional technical counsellor of the Ligue de Paris from 1978-1993, before joining the French Tennis Federation (FFT) as their first national coordinator of mini-tennis in 1994. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he collaborated with the ITF's development programme to spread the concept of mini- tennis in Africa. His approach revolutionised the coaching of the sport by placing the development of motor skills at the heart of the learning process for children from the age of five. Working in collaboration with Christian Rieu, Marchon authored several books on the subject of tennis coaching, most notably 'Tennis: corriger ses défauts' (Tennis: correct your faults) and 'Mini-tennis, Tennis, Maxi-tennis', both co-authored with Rieu, and 'L'enfant d'abord, l'eleve ensuite: du mini-tennis á l'ecole de tennis' (First the child, then the student: from mini tennis The ITF was saddened to learn of the death of Jean-Claude Marchon, who passed away in October at the age of 87. Regarded as the father of mini-tennis, the Frenchman dedicated his life to making the game accessible and enjoyable for beginners, particularly young children, and ranked among the world's most brilliant and passionate tennis educators. The ITF has confirmed that the men's and women's 85 and over category of the annual ITF Seniors World Team Championships will be renamed to recognise two legends of the sport – Lorne Main and Angela Barrett (née Mortimer). Member associations were ITF dedicates Seniors trophies to Lorne Main and Angela Barrett invited to make nominations for the naming of the Men's and Women's 85 Team Cups and following a unanimous vote by the ITF Seniors Committee, and approval from the ITF Board, it was confirmed they will be named the Lorne Main Cup and Angela Mortimer Cup from 2021. Lorne Main, nominated by Tennis Canada, not only competed on the Seniors Circuit for over 30 years, winning titles at every age category he competed in, but also competed at Grand Slams and represented Canada in the Davis Cup as both a player and captain. Main, who passed away in October 2019, was the first recipient of the ITF Outstanding Achievement Award in Seniors Tennis and remains one of only four recipients of the prestigious honour. Angela Barrett (née Mortimer), nominated by Seniors GB, was Britain's leading tennis player in the 1950s, with a distinguished international career in which she won three Grand Slam titles and reached World No. 1. She captained Britain's Federation Cup team from 1967-70, was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1967 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1993. CLICK FOR VIDEO

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