Tennis: Sebastian Ofner trains children in his regular club

The Styrian tennis figurehead Sebastian Ofner visited his regular club ESV Bruck, where he spent an afternoon training with the next generation of tennis players at the site of the STTV’s Hochsteiermark Regional Performance Centre.

The year 2017 was Sebastian Ofner’s most successful tennis career so far. In the meantime, St. Stephen’s church is number one. In addition to Dominic Thiem, Mareiner is not only one of the biggest tennis players in Austria, but also an important role model for the young tennis players.

It is all the more pleasing that the responsible persons of the RLZ Hochsteiermark around leader Lukas Labitsch and the Obersteiermark adviser of the Steirischer Tennisverbandes, Christian Mayer, succeeded in winning the number one of Styria and current number 132 of the ATP world ranking list as patron of the regional achievement center Hochsteiermark. In the future, Ofner will train two to three times a year with the next generation of tennis players and pass on his experience.

The starting signal was given this week with a training afternoon at the Brucker Tennishalle. Sebastian Ofner played with the girls and boys from U8 to U11 and gave them useful tips on how to improve their game.

“This is a great experience for our youngsters, because the kids can learn a lot from a professional and can take a lot for their own play,”Labitsch says. Ofner himself also liked the training with the young talents:”I can give the kids advice on what they have to pay attention to if they want to progress in tennis. If time permits, I’d be happy to do it. It is fun and a matter of the heart to pass on my experience,”said Ofner.

Andreas Leber, head of competitive sports and junior coordination at STTV, as well as Kid’s coordinator, also followed the training in the Bruck tennis hall. As the main responsible person for the kids area in Styria, Leber acts as an interface to the regional performance centres, of which there are already five throughout Styria.

“In addition to the daily training, such initiatives, as well as our great talent focus with Sebastian Ofner, Gu? nter Bresnik and Wolfgang Thiem, have contributed enormously to the motivation of the children in Graz,”said Leber.