Austria’s most successful tennis player of all time Barbara Schett trained with the STTV squad players, saw young female talents, chatted with the STTV President at the Star Talk and attended this year’s STTV Christmas party at the tennis court in Graz.
Together with the STTV trainer team, Schett designed a two-hour training session with the best girls in Styria as early as the morning, and in this joint training session with the STTV trainers, he gained an insight into the current level of performance of the young Styrian talents.
“We are particularly pleased that Babsi was able to return to Styria this year and actively supports us in her role as patron of Kids. The intensive contact and exchange of ideas with former and current world-class players, who are at the pulse of the tennis world, is a decisive component of our youth work. Babsis professional tips and inputs from the world of professional tennis are always pointing the way for the optimal development of our players’ careers. In the future, she has also agreed to be our “girl’s ambassador”, says STTV President Barbara Muhr. In October of this year, the starting coaches Günter Bresnik and Wolfgang Thiem worked together with the Styrian number 1 in men’s tennis, Sebastian Ofner, on the STTV’s general review with the next generation.
“I always like to come to the Styrian Tennis Association. Here in Styria, all those responsible do a great job for the further development of mass and competitive sport. This is exactly the kind of professional environment that is needed to enable the future tennis generation, among other things, to make the first successful steps in their career possible,”said Schett.
In the early afternoon, the focus was on a very special action: for the first time, there was a sighting, to which only girls were invited. STTV is thus launching another targeted initiative to revive women’s tennis. Once again, this makes us a pioneer in the Austrian tennis landscape. Around 50 girls from all over Styria faced the attentive glances of Barbara Schett and the entire STTV trainer team.
“With our regular sightings, we want to ensure that no potential talent escapes us. It is very important to us that we get in touch with the parents as early as possible. If you are interested in a cooperation, we can immediately communicate all important information of the STTV career ladder transparently. I’m really pleased that we were able to arrange a pure girl’s sighting this time,”said Andreas Leber, the sports director of STTV.
The Styrian Tennis Association (STTV) is the third largest professional association in Styria with around 25,000 members, 225 clubs and 8,000 championship players in 1,150 teams. Kerstin Peckl and Sebastian Ofner are the current number one of Styrian women and men.
After the Star Talk at the Schett from the worldwide tennis sewing box, the three winners were allowed to have a training session with Barbara Schett and STTV trainer. It was an honour to stand on the pitch with the former No. 7 in the world. Babsi and Evi gave us great tips and both of them play incredibly well themselves. Thank you to STTV for this great experience,”said the three winners in unison.
In the late afternoon, the focus was on the traditional double Christmas tournament and the players, who had travelled with their coaches from all five regional STTV performance centres, were happy to be able to stand at the venue together with the former WTA No. 7 and the current Eurosport moderator.
The final and most eagerly awaited highlight was the presentation of the Christmas presents. Barbara Muhr, Barbara Schett and the STTV board of directors played Christkind and handed over their Christmas presents to all the children present in person:”The new STTV Hoodie will accompany our players at the tournaments from now on and will certainly be worn with pride,” said Barbara Muhr in her closing words.
With this event, STTV marked a final highlight in the domestic tennis scene and once again underscored the great commitment of all those responsible at the Styrian Tennis Association at the end of the year.