The University of Manitoba Tennis Club (UMTC) president, Craig Hillier, stated that UMTC has received $4,000 from Tennis Canada to assist in the development of a competitive women’s tennis team.
In an interview, Hillier pointed out that the tennis program is open to students.
The Manitoban: For the benefit of those who do not know UMTC, what is it?
Hillier: The University of Manitoba Tennis Club is a recreational club that is open to mainly students at the University of Manitoba and what we try to do is to provide a space for them to play and to learn and build relationships with other students. The club that we run not only includes students but also alumni and staff members as well. Although, the club is geared toward mainly providing for students. So currently, the last few years, we’ve opened the membership to anybody that is willing and able, and historically we’ve had mostly alumni as part of our membership but currently we have approximately 50 members and then we also have a waitlist as well. We’re trying to house as many people as possible in the club.
M: You said it is open for students. I am a student. Why must I devote a portion of my time into playing tennis?
H: Well, tennis is an amazing life sport and the one thing that we can all benefit from tennis is well-being and one of the things that has been established with tennis through tennis research is that tennis generally extends a person’s average life age for an extra nine or ten years. So, it’s something that we can have fun with, that it’s a very inclusive sport which I absolutely love. […] It’s a great way to maintain your health and well-being at the same time. So that’s one of the benefits of the club is that everybody can kind of come together and have some fun and we try to have some fun drills.
M: In the University of Manitoba sports program for example, the Bisons soccer are playing in a competition, Bisons football are also playing in a competition. At UMTC, are you engaged in any competitions?
H: Yes, so we have been for the past two years we have actively put together a male competitive team and we take a team of six members to a Prairie Invitational tournament in Alberta and one year it’s in Calgary and the next year it’s in Edmonton. And we compete on a university level against University of Alberta and University of Calgary and we currently are not a U-Sports level team but that is something that I aspire to build here at the University of Manitoba.
I’m looking to establish more of a competitive team that trains year-round. That’s not something that we currently have but we’re working towards that. […] We haven’t historically had any female competitive teams as of yet and that is something that I’m actively working very hard to try and implement for this year. […] I have been very fortunate to receive some funding from Tennis Canada. They’ve given me $4,000 to help develop the women’s program here at the university. […] The Tennis Canada funds are going to be the initial start to sending the women’s team, so my goal is to fully pay for the women’s component so that they don’t have to pay for traveling to Alberta, and it’ll be Edmonton this year, and competing in the Prairie Invitational for the first time in the history of the university.
M: In your previous interview with the Manitoban, you indicated that you want to get tennis to everyone, I want to find out if something has been done in that order.
H: When you say ‘get to everyone,’ yeah, we’re trying to get the word out to more people. What we have done this past summer was we held the first annual UMTC tennis tournament and we did a singles tournament on one weekend for both men and women and then we did a mixed doubles and a doubles tournament the following weekend. So, we were able to hold a tournament and not only give back to our members, our club members, but also put it out there in the community and have some community players come and play. So, from a competitive standpoint we were able to kind of, and through that tournament we were able to advertise that there is a UMTC. Tennis is being played at the University of Manitoba on both a recreational and a competitive level.
M: When it comes to planning, I know there is a short-term plan, a mid-term plan and a long-term plan. At UMTC, in the short, in the mid and in the long-term, what are the plans? Where do you want to get UMTC?
H: The short-term plan you know and one of our guiding principles is for everyone to have fun and increase their well-being and health as a part of the club. So, we’re trying to make it as fun as possible. […] Trying to reach as many people as possible within the confines that we have here and the courts that we’re given. My short-term goal will be to maximize as many people as possible and enjoy health and well-being. I guess over the next few years let’s say I would like to be on the competitive side, I definitely want to make sure that there’s an established women’s program. I want to have tennis athletes that are playing competitively. […] My goal would be to continue to max out the recreational side, increase student membership […] and then on the competitive side try and strengthen our team so we can compete on the national level and build a deeper team.
For those interested in playing tennis with the UMTC, you can sign up on their website at umtennis.github.io or email them at umtennis@gmail.com.