Ronney Wins Coveted National Youth Sports Double-Goal Award from the Positive Coaching Alliance

April 28, 2009, San Diego, CA – Karen Ronney, girls tennis coach at Patrick Henry High School,  won Positive Coaching Alliance’s coveted Double-Goal National Coach of the Year Award for her positive impact on coaching athletes and writing a comprehensive parenting book that has garnished 13 publishing awards. Ronney was selected from a nation-wide search of hundreds and was named a Double-Goal Coach Award recipient – whose first goal is winning, and whose second, more-important goal is teaching life lessons through sports. She was honored by the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) at the Eighth Annual National Youth Sports Awards Ceremony sponsored by Deloitte at Stanford University on Friday, April 24. The award was presented by Olympic Swimming Gold Medalist Summer Sanders among a crowd of approximately 400 who attended the event at Maples Pavilion.

Ronney is a veteran USPTA and PTR tennis pro, National U.S. Tennis Association QuickStart and RCW coach, tennis camp director and a National Special Olympics coach “Winning this award is a great tribute to Karen’s work with youth athletes, considering there are 4 million youth sports coaches nationwide,” said Jim Thompson, PCA’s founder and executive director and author of The Double-Goal Coach. “More importantly, Karen’s work with youth athletes makes them winners.”

Leading her team to last season’s Eastern League championship, Ronney employed an unusual mix of teaching both tennis and life skills. “I would like the lessons learned through sports to transcend into life,” said Ronney, author of Proud Parents' Guide to Raising Athletic, Balanced, and Coordinated Kids: A Lifetime of Benefit in Just 10 Minutes A Day. Since its recent release, Proud Parents’ Guide has won the prestigious Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best Parenting Book 2008, the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval 2009, Best Parenting Book 2008 from iParenting Media Awards by Disney, and Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Award in 5 categories. The book was selected by San Diego Public Library in the 43rd Annual Local Author Award for 2009 and will be entered in the city’s extensive library catalogs.

“We have personal notebooks for each player, where she writes to me and I write back. Through this notebook program we addressed life goals and sports goals, and that’s how we blended sports and life. It was easy for kids who were verbal, but it was miraculous for the introverted, because I got to know them in a way that had not been possible before. It feels safer to some kids. It’s non-confrontational, and they don’t have to look at me to say something, so it’s less intimidating.”

In addition to the notebook program, Ronney also employs unique methods to inspire athletes and improve communication such as team-bonding tie-dye t-shirt parties to make their competition uniforms, a mentoring program called “Secret Pals” that pairs younger and older athletes, and the use of innovative coordination and agility exercises outlined in Proud Parents’ Guide. Ronney, a former touring professional and an NCAA All-Conference standout from CSUN, also uses many of these techniques with toddlers preschoolers and special needs athletes.

Ronney was one of a select few who received PCA award, which also included a presentation of the Ronald L. Jensen Award for Lifetime Achievement to Tara VanDerveer, Stanford University Head Women’s Basketball Coach, who has won two NCAA Championships and an Olympic Gold Medal as coach of the 1996 U.S. Women’s National Team. Joining VanDerveer at the event are many of her current and former players, including two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, former WNBA star and PCA National Advisory Board Member Ruthie Bolton. Also featured: Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer and PCA National Advisory Board Member Summer Sanders.

PCA Interview with Coach Karen :

http://www.positivecoach.org/uploads/mp3/Karen_Ronney_Interview.mp3

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Coach Karen Assists Tennis Great

Martina Navratilova

at the USTA National QuickStart Launch at DisneyWorld

Orlando, Fla,-  Thousands of kids and their families had a taste of tennis at the USTA's  QuickStart Lauch in March at DisneyWorld, Florida. Coach Karen was one of about two dozen pros invited from all over the country to coach at this event, which was a part of ESPN's The Weekend at Disney Hollywood.

Coach Karen assists tennis legend Martina Navratilova at the USTA National QuickStart Launch at DisneyWorld in March .

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Ronney Receives the 2009 USPTA San Diego Division Community Service Award

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Coach Karen Ronney Selected to Teach

at the 2008 Author Ashe Kids Day

to Kick Off the U.S. Open