Priscilla Frederick when

they both medalled at the

2019 Pan Am Games. We

have no doubt that Jody, a

Doubles semi-finalist al-

ready this year, will be in

contention for the NSA

again. Tennis hasn‘t won

since 1997. On the admin

side, repeat nominee Di-

anne S. Hillhouse was third

placed behind swimming

and basketball. Congratu-

lations to all the winners.

Associations have been

urged to improve their sub-

missions. The challenge for

us, therefore, though there

is limited allowed space on

the submission forms, is to

continue to get specific re

what goes in to our athlete

and association achieve-

ments, and what the out-

comes mean.

The Antigua and Barbuda

Sports Awards was held

February 15th 2020. Three

of our four nominees were

finalists in their respective

categories. Brasha Dyer

was second for junior

sportswoman of the year

while Justyn Raeburn was

third for junior sportsman of

the year. Both fields were

very competitive – with

eight contenders in

Brasha‘s category and

seven in Justyn‘s. Both

started 2020 strong:

Brasha, Caribbean and

Central American Tennis

Confederation (COTECC)

ranked #2, and Justyn

#35, both for 4 weeks

before slipping – Brasha

to #3 and Justyn to #42.

The other athlete nomi-

nee Senior Sportsman of the

Year Jody Maginley easily

had the most competitive

category. The top three in

his category were body-

building‘s Bernard Percival

Jr., cricket‘s Rakheim ‗Jimbo‘

Cornwall, and winner

track‘s Cejhae Greene.

Jody was with Cejhae and

Sportswoman of the Year

Tennis Antigua-Barbuda at the National Sports Awards

#KnowYourAthletes Going Forward

We will continue, not just in

the build up to the Sports

Awards, to spotlight our ath-

letes—to make sure their

accomplishments are well

documented as we continue

to help them access as many

opportunities as we can. Like

the return of Wadadli U14

boys (Jaydon Marcano,

Justyn Raeburn, DeAndre

Weeks) to the World Junior

Tennis Championship for the

first time in 11 years; Aysha

Maginley‘s showing at Gal-

lieo Universidad in Guate-

mala; and Sibley Charles‘

performance at three U18

events in Mexico. Other

COTECC U14 player rank-

ings as of 2020 are Zoey

James (who was #24 for

four weeks and is now #26),

Ariel Kelsick (#26 for four

weeks, now #28), DeAndre

(#45 for four weeks, now

#54). The work of spotlight-

ing our achieving athletes

will continue; to make the cut,

continue to grow and play

your best tennis.

Tennis‘ top performer at the Antigua and Barbuda Sports Awards was Brasha Dyer who placed second for the female junior athlete of the year. (Sports)

Kudos from Our Face-

book: ―GREAT YOUNG TALENT‖ -

RE BRASHA

―ONE OF MY FAV PICS‖ -

PRISCILLA FREDERICK

COMMENTING ON PHOTO

FEATURED ON PAGE 3

―THANKS TENNIS ANTIGUA

FOR THE LOVE AND SUP-

PORT! REALLY DO APPRECI-

ATE IT! LOVE IT WHEN WE

SUPPORT EACH OTHER!‖ -

CEJHAE GREENE

BRASHA DYER 2

JODY MAGINLEY 3

DIANNE HILLHOUSE 4

JUSTYN RAEBURN 4

SUPPORT THE WORK OF THE ABTA

4

Inside this issue:

March 2020 Volume 1, Issue 1

A N T I G U A A N D B A R B U D A T E N N I S A S S O C I A T I O N

#Know Your Athletes

―My personal highlight of

2020 was getting selected

by COTECC to go to the

grade 1 tournament in Ta-

basco, Mexico which was a

great experience for me.‖

Brasha was also selected to

compete at the Abierto

1000, a grade 1 event in

Mexico. Just being selected is

a reflection that she drew

notice due to the level and

consistency of her play in

2019. Nine (9) singles wins in

15 matches played across

Latin America and the Carib-

bean. This includes appear-

ances in the COTECC Barba-

dos Junior International Un-

der 14, the Trinity Cup in

Tacarigua, JITIC Central

America in El Salvador, JITIC

Caribe Under 14 in Tacari-

gua, Sagicor Santa Lucia, the

Trinidad Summer Bowl, and

the Antigua and Barbuda

Cup an ITF J5 event-

competing U18. She‘s won

three (3) consecutive Doubles

titles. Two (2) National titles;

is ITF ranked (863 Singles,

101 Doubles) for the first

time in her young tennis ca-

reer.

What‘s on the line for 2020?

Everything. ―My goal in tennis

for 2020 is to end my Under-

14 career maintaining a high

COTECC ranking and winning

all of the under 14‘s tourna-

ments I can.‖ That‘s a winning

attitude!

The Antigua Girls High School

student‘s year began with a

4-week run ranked COTECC

#2 and a trip to the Domini-

can Republic with Zoey

James and Janae George

Alexander (pictured) for

World Junior Pre-Qualifiers.

Brasha Dyer

Page 2

#Know Your Athletes

Shout out to our media partners for spotlighting our athletes. The article above in the Daily Observer breaks

down our athletes’ performance in the DR which is important because it’s not always about the outcome but

about each game, each set, each match, and the exertion and growth it reflects.

“Brasha’s tennis has developed here. She hasn’t gone to any other academy, so it just shows that the program

that we have here is just as strong as in the region and all that is required is more assistance,” - Coach Cordell

Williams, president of the Antigua and Barbuda Tennis Association (ABTA) to the media.

4. Shak and I lost the first in

a close set but the team and

coaches never lost hope in us.

We tried our best to stay in

the moment and we grew in

confidence as the match went

on. Fortunately we were able

to come out on top.‖

He loves playing for his coun-

try. ―It is definitely a differ-

ent emotional investment to

play for Antigua and Barbu-

da in the Davis Cup...a lot of

pressure is usually on my

shoulders to give us a shot at

A highlight for ITF and ATP

ranked Jody Maginley, in

2019, was his Doubles win at

Cancun M15 Futures (he‘s a

2020 semi-finalist). His per-

sonal highlight though was

repping the 268 at both the

Pan Am Games and Davis

Cup. In the latter, he recalls

winning his singles match,

before a deciding doubles

with partner Shakir Elvin in

their match-up against Pana-

ma. ―…the winner would stay

in group 3 and the loser

would be relegated to group

winning. I embrace this and

love the support from my

team and everyone back

home. I love representing

Antigua and Barbuda and

my record has shown con-

sistent growth in the last 3

years."

His ultimate goal ―is to com-

pete in the 4 grand slams:

Australian Open, French

Open, Wimbledon, and US

Open".

Jody has been playing pro-

fessionally since 2017. He

Jody Maginley

Page 3

Volume 1, Issue 1

counts Doubles wins (2018,

Dominican Republic; 2019,

Mexico) as his career high-

lights to date. But did you

know that he might have been

a cricketer? ―Everyone that

knows me well knows that I

love cricket. I played both

competitively until my early

teens …I don‘t think my love

for cricket ever died though.

I‘m a huge West Indies fan

and I couldn‘t be more proud

of the Antiguans and Barbu-

dans in the West Indies team

right now.‖

placed third at the National

Sports Awards with his first

nomination (it‘s Dianne‘s se-

cond).

He is ranked #2 nationally,

playing at both the Under 12

and Under 14 level.

Justyn netted wins at the Car-

ibbean Junior Invitational

(Under-12 Doubles, in addi-

tion to being a quarterfinalist

in Singles), and Nationals

(Under-12 and Under-14

Singles); and was a semi-

finalist in the pre-

Independence tourney (Under

-14), Singles quarter finalist

and Doubles Finalist (Under-

14) in the Wadadli Bowl,

and Semi-Finalist in the Con-

Dianne Hillhouse serves as

public relations officer, assis-

tant general secretary, and

junior development adminis-

trator of the ABTA; she is also

director of two of our major

youth development tourna-

ments – the Wadadli Bowl

and the Caribbean Junior

Invitational, which she also

chairs; and is involved in or-

ganizing the Antigua/

Barbuda Cup, and oversee-

ing Nationals and Pre-

Independence tournaments.

She is also tennis mom to two

COTECC ranked tennis play-

ers—the first, Djeri Raymond

is a former COTECC number

1. Now comes Justyn Raeburn

(currently COTECC #42) who

solation Round of the Barba-

dos Junior Invitational (Under

-14).

Dianne has been pivotal to

the development of the ABTA

Junior Programme, which

gives our athletes opportuni-

ties to compete and grow.

The boys‘ game is under

populated but via the pro-

gramme our athletes are

able to match-up against

peers from across the hemi-

sphere and beyond.

Our Junior programme is

about helping our young

people access opportunities

for development and we

commend Justyn for making

the most of those opportuni-

ties.

Mother-Son Combo: Dianne and Justyn

National Tennis Centre,

Campsite, St. John‘s, Antigua

and Barbuda

Phone: +1 (268) 461 -

7331/772- 4642

E-mail: anu.btennis@gmail.com

Facebook: https://

www.facebook.com/

tennis.antigua

Writer and Editor of

#KnowYourAthletes:

Joanne C. Hillhouse

http://jhohadli.wordpress.com

Also find us on

Antigua Nice

The Antigua and Barbuda Tennis Association has been overseeing developments on

and off the court since 1975, as a not-for-profit affiliate of the International Ten-

nis Federation. It has primarily focused on identifying and nurturing young talent

via its schools programme, classes in club settings, competition locally and region-

ally, and networking to create opportunities for players to go on to university. You

can support the work of the ABTA by volunteering. Contact us. Ask to be put on

our mailing list and/or connect with our social media, if you would like to receive

fundraising, tournament, or other updates. Coming soon: the 8th Caribbean Junior

Invitational—entry deadline April 8th 2020—fact sheet and registration forms

linked.

They‘re number 3!

#KnowYourAthletes Help Your Athletes Grow ABTA

A N T I G U A A N D B A R B U D A T E N N I S A S S O C I A T I O N