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| Folkes-Stevens Indoor Tennis Center |
Chat Live with ODU men's and women's tennis coach Darryl Cummings and Matt Halfpenny, coordinator for the Folkes-Stevens Indoor Tennis Center Thursday, Sept. 18 at 4:30 p.m.
Darryl is in his 15th season as the men's coach and 17th as the women's coach. He has led the men's team to an appearance in the 2007 NCAA tournament, while the women's squad captured the 2001 CAA championship. Cummings is the only coach to be honored as both the CAA women's tennis Coach of the Year (1993,94 & 2001) and the men's Coach of the Year (1996, 2005, 2007). He has also been named Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year and Virginia Coach of the Year by the USPTA.
Matt Halfpenny, a 1998 graduate of Charleston Southern where he competed for four conference championships, winning titles in 1996 and 1998. He is a former women's tennis assistant coach at William and Mary. He has also worked as a pro at
The Sommerville (SC.) Tennis Club, the Brickyard Plantation as well as being Director of the North Carolina State University Wolfpack Junior Tennis Camps from 2002-06.
Just click on the live chat box and send in your questions about the upcoming tennis season as well as the state of the art Folkes-Stevens Indoor Tennis Center.
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Moderator: Good evening everyone.
Welcome to today's chat
with head tennis coach
Darryl Cummings. |
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| Karen (Virginia Beach): How is the NCAA tournament set up? |
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Darryl Cummings: The tennis NCAA tournament is just like basketball. 64 teams make the tournament and if a team wins their conference they are automatic. The tennis also offers a 64 singles draw and a 32 doubles draw. This year the tournament is at Texas A&M. |
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| Amber (Portsmouth): How many community tournaments do you run or plan to run? |
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Darryl Cummings: Izak is currently playing pro tennis and is ranked around 240 in the world. He is playing Davis Cup this week for South Africa. Zoltan is working in the financial world in NY. This year Izak played the US Open qualies and Zoltan and I were there supporting him. It is pretty cool that they stay in touch. |
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| Rhonda -Norfolk: Any chance of one of the national
tennis powers player either the
Monarchs or Lady Monarchs here? |
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Darryl Cummings: It is considered hard court and it plays very close to the US Open surface. |
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| Larry (Chesapeake): Darryl,
Not to put you on the spot,
but are there anyother college
indoor facilites like this in
the county? The Folkes-Stevens
Center is truly an outstanding
place. |
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Darryl Cummings: Larry, this is the kind of spot I liked to be put on. Many believe our facility is top 5 in the country. We are having trouble finding the other 4 at this point. |
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| Tammy: How do I go about getting a membership? |
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Darryl Cummings: Tammy, you can get a membership by calling 683.5312 and ask for Matt. If you join in the next couple of months your membership come with 6 hours of free court time. |
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| Paul (Norfolk): Will the scholarship tennis tournament ever be played at
Folkes-Stevens? |
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Darryl Cummings: Paul, good question. At this point we really like keeping it at the VBTCC as long as the Shiflets and Sugie are willing to do it. They have been great for this tournament; however, we may offer additional events and opportunites at the Folkes-Stevens Indoor Tennis Center. |
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| Lauren (Virginia Beach): Will ODU be hosting anyother national tennis events? |
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Darryl Cummings: Lauren, our schedule is constantly evolving and we are adding events all the time. We will be adding various USTA events and in 2009 we host the CAA tournament. Thanks for your support, Darryl |
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| Karla (Suffolk): Darryl, as an alumni
you have seen ODU grow a lot.
What makes this school so unigue
and appealing? |
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Darryl Cummings: Karla, I really like the school and the area. I consider it a semi-urban school which and offers many activites outside of the university. I heard someone once called it the Pepperdine of the East. |
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| Paula ( Chesapeake): What are the biggest differences
in collegiate tennis when you played to now? |
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Darryl Cummings: Paula, there are a few differences.... Each team has an opportunity to go to the NCAA's now by winning the conference. We did not have that in our days. The collegiate game is much more competitive now and more efforts are put into player development. |
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| Julie (Norfolk): WIll ODU be hosting the CAA
Championships?, If so, what are the dates? |
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Darryl Cummings: Julie, yes we will be hosting the CAA tournament and the dates are April 16-19 and we you can come out and support the Monarchs. |
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| Tom: Matt,
What are your duties at the Tennis
Center? |
| Matt Halfpenny: Tom, I serve as the facility coordinator wich pretty much meands market, maintain, and manage the facility. We balance the membership, outside activites, along with the collegiate team. |
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| Scott (Newport News): Matt,
What got you interested in administration? |
| Matt Halfpenny: Scott, most of my enjoyment in tennis has come from the organizational side. I enjoyed coaching and teaching; however, I really enjoy the challenge of coordinating a club or a program. The Folkes-Stevens Indoor Tennis Center is a very enjoyable place for me to work and it is a great match for desired career path. |
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