Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/6178/-1/140/
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Two of Anguilla’s top tennis players attend a College Recruiting Camp in the USA
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One of the main goals of the Anguilla Tennis Academy is to provide educational opportunities through tennis. For that reason, both Vallan Hodge and Denny Derrick are currently in Richmond, Virginia at the Robious Sports, Club trying to impress the various college coaches in attendance. The College Week Tennis Camp is managed by Cris Robinson, Director of Tennis at Robious. He has generously invited Denny and Vallan to be his guests free of charge.
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Denny Derrick
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The College Week Camp, from August 18-22, hosts elite college coaches such as Brian Boland of the University of Virginia (number one ranked team in the USA), Bob Bayliss of the University of Notre Dame, Brian Kalbas of the University of North Carolina, Paul Kostin of the Virginia Commonwealth University and many more. Denny and Vallan have been employed by the ATA for three years and have worked hard to not only improve their tennis games, but also their coaching skills. Just last year, Vallan was promoted to Head Tennis Professional at Malliouhana Hotel and Spa and Denny Derrick recently received the most outstanding tennis player award at the Anguilla National Sports Awards.
This outstanding opportunity was made possible in large part by Mr. Mark Phaup. Mr. Phaup has been volunteering for the ATA ever since he and his wife Dr. Linda O’brien moved to Anguilla. Dr. O’brien is the new veterinary doctor at the Morlen’s Veterinary Hospital and Mr. Phaup, who has recently retired, was a former ATP tour tennis professional and has graciously given generously to the ATA financially and in kind. Mr. Phaup organized all of the accommodations for the two young aspiring tennis pros as
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Vallan Hodge
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well as lobbied for their pro bono involvement in the tennis camp.
With hard work and dedication, the ATA hopes to see Denny and Vallan attend university on a tennis scholarship. Mitch Lake, Founder of the ATA, is extremely proud of these two young men and wishes them the best of luck. He too went to college on scholarship and wants to see many young persons in Anguilla follow in his footsteps.
Jason Allen