Position Available: Elite Tennis Parent

JOB DESCRIPTION:

—Positive team player needed for 168-hour-per-week position.

—Candidate must possess a universal desire to be screamed at, talked down to, and be willing to be hated 5-6 days a week.  

—Successful applicant must have an uncanny sense of Buddha-like calmness in an often psychotic, stressful, chaotic environment.  

—Candidate must be willing to work early mornings, late evenings, and most weekends.  

—Candidate must be willing to forget about their own personal interests, workout routines, sports, and hobbies.  

—Candidate must not expect vacation due to year-round tournament obligations.  

—Successful applicant should plan on missing traditional family holidays due to Thanksgiving Nationals, Winter Super Nationals, Spring Break/Easter Bowl, Labor Day, and Memorial Day events.

REQUIREMENTS:

—HR Skills: Interviewing, hiring and firing tennis coaches, trainers, hitters, and off-court specialists...with the enthusiasm of Donald Trump.

—Accounting/Banking Skills: Possess an extremely thick check book and be willing and able to max out all major credit cards.  

—Designated Driver: Must be willing to put 100,000 miles on family car and enjoy most meals behind the wheel.  

—Understanding and Patience: Be willing and able to except that your child will occasionally forget everything they were taught during the last $5,000 worth of lessons.

—Scheduling Manager: World-class juggling skills to organize ever-changing schedules of booking practice courts, times and logistics, hired hitters, practice partners, lessons, and events.—Booking Agent: Flexibility to book last-minute airlines, cars, and hotels.

—VIP/24-hour Courier Service: Laundry runs, racquet re-stringing, drug store pharmaceuticals pickup and delivery service, bed-time psychology sessions.  

—Fashion Coordinator/Personal Shopper: Purchasing only the latest shoes and matching clothes.  

—Maintenance Knowledge: General maintenance of equipment, for racquet re-gripping, and clothing malfunctions, for zipper repairs.—Parental Intuition: Must have uncanny ability to become expendable and invisible in a moment's notice, then bright-eyed and happy to help two minutes later.  

—Match Performance Review: Must be willing to evaluate a crummy performance by first pointing out 50 positive observations.—Match Day Parental Duties: Addressed in <em>Match Day Preparation</em> eBook.

Separate list TBD later.

WAGES AND EXPENSES:

There is no pay for this position. All the work- and travel-related expenses will not be reimbursed.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE:

Required reading: The Tennis Parent's Bible.

JOB BENEFITS:

The children of successful applicants will cultivate the following life lessons:

1. Time-management skills

2. Adaptability and flexibility skills  

3. Ability to handle adversity  

4. Ability to handle stress  

5. Courage  

6. A positive work ethic  

7. Perseverance  

8. Setting priorities  

9. Goal-setting  

10. Sticking to commitments  

11. Determination  

12. Problem-solving skills  

13. Spotting patterns and tendencies  

14. Discipline  

15. The understanding of fair play and sportsmanship  

16. The development of focus  

17. Persistence  

18. The importance of preparation  

19. Dedication and self-control  

20. Positive self-image

"There is only one "most talented" athlete and every parent has it."

Frank Giampaolo is a veteran author whose acclaimed book, The Tennis Parent’s Bible, is being used by ITF leaders, academy directors, parents, and coaches worldwide. Frank’s second book, Championship Tennis—an all-inclusive guide to maximizing players’ potential—was written with TENNIS.com's Jon Levey. It was released in April 2013 with worldwide publishers Human Kinetics in both print and eBook formats.

Giampaolo’s innovative approach has earned him numerous honors, including being named the 2001 USPTA Southern California Tennis Director of the Year, and being voted a top teaching professional in consecutive years by Southern California Tennis & Golf magazine.

Giampaolo founded the Mental–Emotional Tennis Workshop in 2002; since then, participants in the program have gone on to win more than 75 U.S. national titles. The five-part Mental Emotional Tennis Work Book Series is available online. His students have won ATP and WTA tour singles and doubles titles. Giampaolo pioneered the Tennis Parents Workshop in 1998 and has conducted seminars throughout the United States, Mexico, Australia, and Canada. Additionally, he hosts a blog site, www.tennisparentsolutions.com.

Frank is a popular international speaker. He has appeared on NBC’s TODAY Show, Fox Sports, OCN World Team Tennis, Tennis Canada, and Tennis Australia. His instructional articles have appeared in Tennis View magazine, USPTA Coaching Publications, The Active Network, Parenting Aces, Tennis One, Tennis Australia, and Tennis New Zealand. He currently runs workshops at his high-performance training facility in Southern California.

Frank can be contacted at (949) 933-8163, or by email at fgsa@earthlink.net.