The National Seniors Tennis Committee is an advisory committee that exists to support, guide and promote Tennis Canada’s Seniors Tennis mandate. The Committee meets four times per year, and each representative is expected to report back to their respective provincial association board. The committee is comprised of a Volunteer Chair, the Seniors Coordinator, one Tennis Canada staff representative, and 12 representatives from Tennis Canada’s six regions who are enthusiastic and active on the tennis scene. If you have questions about senior tennis in general, grass roots programs, tournaments, rankings, or world team selections, please feel free to contact the committee member in your region by email.
Irwin Tobias: Committee Chair - itobias@mayfairclubs.com
A Toronto resident, Irwin Tobias has been involved in tennis and the tennis business for more than 35 years. He has been employed in various capacities with the Mayfair Racquet & Fitness Clubs for 35 years including club management, tennis and special event programming and tournament organizer at the club, provincial and national levels.
Irwin developed the popular Wilson/Mayfair Senior ITF Circuit in 2002. Since the onset of this Circuit, senior tennis competition in Ontario has taken off in leaps and bounds. Entries have continued to grow and more than 230 players participated in the four-tournament circuit in 2008. The reputation of this Circuit has spread across Canada, with British Columbia organizing ITF senior events, and Quebec and P.E.I. demonstrating a keen interest in developing their own senior circuit.
As Chair of the National Seniors Tennis Committee since 2007, Irwin provides the leadership necessary to help Tennis Canada fulfill its Seniors mandate.
Steve Stevens: Senior Coordinator - sstevens@tenniscanada.com
Steve is the Seniors Coordinator for Tennis Canada. He is a fixture at Tennis Canada and his name is synonymous with Seniors Tennis. Steve was the manager of the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club for thirteen years from 1969 until 1982. He was the president of the Ontario Tennis Association from 1982-1985, a member of the OTA board from 1978-1987, and a member of the International Lawn Tennis club of Canada since 1982. In 1984, Steve became the secretary of the Canadian National Seniors Committee. Since 1991, he has been coordinating the Canadian International Senior teams along with other duties that include compiling the senior rankings and looking after the needs of Canadian senior tennis players. Steve’s advice to senior players is to keep playing. “Continue to play tennis because it’s good for you both physically and spiritually. It’s an active sport which encourages sportsmanship and fair play – it helps you face the give and take of everyday life. You win some; you lose some - never give up. If you don’t get the ball over the net the first time, try it again.”
Atlantic Region
Raymonde Breau - raybreau@nb.sympatico.ca
Raymonde has been involved as an active participant in senior tournaments throughout Canada. She has participated in the outdoor summer nationals every year since 2003, having loved her first experience at Mount Royal in Montreal, and has not missed a summer nationals since. She supports all of the tournaments in the Atlantic region. She is constantly promoting local tournaments in and around the Maritimes and other areas of Canada. Raymonde is also forming a committee to bring indoor tennis to New Brunswick.
William Buckland - williambuckland@hotmail.com
Bill resides in Sydney, Nova Scotia and has served on the Nova Scotia Tennis Association as a board member for many years. He has served two terms as club president of the Cromarty Tennis Club in Sydney and is currently a director of that facility. Bill played on the Men’s Over 50 (Fred Perry Cup) team in 2006 in Durban, South Africa. He has played in Provincial, Atlantic and National tournaments for many years and has volunteered his time to the sport of tennis for more than 35 years.
Quebec Region
Caroline Frenette - laura_caroline@hotmail.com
Caroline began playing tennis at age 13. She was a competitive junior player and was ranked provincially in the top five in Quebec. She took a hiatus from tennis and returned to the game in 1998. She has represented Canada on the international Women’s Over 35 (Suzanne Lenglen Cup) and Over 40, (Young Cup). She has been involved with the Quebec Senior Ladies Tennis Association since 2003, with roles that encompass special projects, tournament directors and treasurer.
Charles Ashton -c.a.ashton3@sympatico.ca
Charles has been on the board of directors of the Quebec Tennis Federation for many years. He established with the help of Michel Dagenais, a tennis school from 1975 to 1987 in the Montreal region. He was assistant director to head tennis professional Andre Lemaire at the Centre Sportif Carrefour from 1979-1981. After a stint as a teacher, he graduated from Université de Montréal in law and became a member of the Bar in 1983. A ranked player in Quebec in the 1970’s and 80’s, he played for the U.Q.A.M. team that included Louis Cayer and Jean-Pierre Boivin. After leaving teaching because of the demands of the legal profession, he returned to playing senior competition and most recently won the over 55 doubles at the Eastern Canadian Indoors in Montreal in March 2008.
Ontario Region
Sheila Cunningham- rumsam@sympatico.ca
Sheila has been involved in tennis since the age of 10 when she played her first NYTA tournament in North York, and went on to play many more tournaments at both the provincial and national level. She attended the University of Kentucky in 1984 on a tennis scholarship and received a degree in Arts and Communications. Upon returning to Toronto she started her working career in the real estate field. She has served on the Ontario Tennis Association board for the last four years. Tennis is still a major part of her life and she represented Canada on the Women’s Over 45 (Margaret Court Cup) international team in 2008. She continues to compete on a regular basis in senior tournaments both at the provincial and national level.
John Payne- john.payne@rogers.com
John was born in London, England and came to Canada in his early years. He has a degree in economics and business from York University and while attending York played on the York varsity tennis team. John is an avid player and one year set a personal record by playing 16 senior tournaments in the U.S. and Canada. John has represented Canada in senior competition playing twice in the Fred Perry Cup and once in the Austria Cup. John has a strong interest in expanding the enjoyment of the game and was instrumental in promoting senior tennis at the 2008 Rogers Cup event in Toronto.
Prairies Region (Manitoba/Saskachewan)
Marcia Jackson- marcia.jackson@justice.gc.ca
Marcia attended the University of Saskatchewan, receiving her B.A. (distinction, in English and political science) in 1980, and her LL.B. in 1982. She is a lawyer with the Department of Justice Canada and has been practicing law for 25 years. In 1979 she was awarded the M.J. Coldwell Prize in Canadian Affairs for the highest combined standing in Canadian economics and Canadian affairs. Marcia has held at various times #1 provincial ranking for women’s tennis, badminton and squash. She is currently ranked 1st in her province and nationally ranked 5th in the over 50 age group in tennis. She has also been a board member of the Saskatchewan Tennis, Badminton and Squash associations.
Tom Brown- busmgr@theuwsa.ca
Tom has represented the region on the seniors committee for more than six years. He has been a competitive tennis player for more than thirty years and is still active on the local and national scene. He plays competitive squash as well and is the Men’s over 45 National Champion for 2008. His goal is to win a national tennis championship. Tom is the Business Manager of the Student Union at the University of Winnipeg and works as one of the assistant pros at the Winnipeg Winter Club. He is also a part-time squash pro at the University of Winnipeg, Duckworth Centre.
Alberta Region
Sue Gilbertson- sue.tennis@telus.net
Sue has been a frequent participant in the Eastern and Western Indoors as well as numerous Outdoor Nationals. She has been selected many times to represent Canada on international teams both as a player and team captain. She has served as a committee chairperson for several Western Canadian Indoor tennis tournaments held in the city of Edmonton, hosted by the Royal Glenora Club and Saville Sports Centre. Sue is a member of the Saville Sports Centre as well as an active member, Hall of Famer and past board director of the Royal Glenora Club. Sue was the recipient of a Tennis Canada Distinguished Service Award in 2007 in recognition of her dedication and outstanding contribution to tennis in Canada.
Hans Maciej - inhamaciej@shaw.ca
Hans has been volunteering at the club, provincial and national level for 50 years. He was manager of the Canadian tennis team at the 1979 Pan American Games and also chaired the National Seniors Tennis Committee from 1987-1994. He was chosen the 1983 volunteer administrator of the year at Tennis Canada, and won the 1989 Alberta Government Achievement Award for tennis. Hans is a member of the Tennis Alberta Hall of Fame and won a Tennis Canada Distinguished Service Award in 2005. He has won several Western Indoor Seniors titles in singles and doubles. He won the Canadian over 75 Singles championship in 2003 and was a member of the 2005 Bitsey Grant Cup squad that won the team world championship.
Bristish Columbia Region
Janice Holloway - j.holloway@telus.net
Janice has played tennis since early childhood and over the years has been a member of the West Vancouver Tennis Club, Burnaby Tennis Club and currently the Vancouver Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club. She has served as president of British Columbia’s Senior Women’s Tennis Association and has been involved as tournament director for the B.C. Senior Women’s Grand Prix for the past eight years. Janice has won many national events in her senior career and at year-end 2008 was ranked the number one Women’s over 55 player in Canada at the end of 2008. Janice has represented Canada on many international teams and feels tennis is an extremely important part of her life that brings great enjoyment and fulfillment.
Robert Exell- rexell@shaw.ca
Robert began playing tennis at 17 years of age and trained everyday with future Canadian tennis star Grant Connell. He received his Tennis Canada coaching certification in 1979 and began coaching tennis at the North Vancouver Recreation Commission. He was the British Columbia Men’s Over 45 Singles Champion in 2005. He represented Canada in 2004 on the Tony Trabert Cup team, (Men’s Over 40 team) and in 2006 on the Dubler Cup team (Men’s Over 45 team. He is currently a tennis professional at the North Shore Winter Club in North Vancouver.
