SAMANTHA MARTINELLI SWEEPS THE ASICS EASTERBOWL IN SINGLES AND DOUBLES, SHE IS PART OF A TENNIS PROGRAM IN LAS VEGAS

Written by: Staff on 12th April 2015

SAMANTHA MARTINELLI SWEEPS THE ASICS EASTERBOWL IN SINGLES AND DOUBLES, SHE IS PART OF A TENNIS PROGRAM IN LAS VEGAS |

NO QUIT’s Martinelli Sweeps Singles & Doubles Titles at ASICS Easter Bowl . FYI to date “NO QUIT ” has helped over 85 students get college scholarships ! BRAVO RYAN !

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (April 10, 2015) Sam Martinelli has won both the singles and doubles titles at the prestigious ASICS Easter Bowl Championships, an ITF Level 1 and USTA Level 1 National Championships. The Easter Bowl in Palm Springs has been a premier showcase for American junior tennis for decades. Martinelli adds her name to an impressive listing of past champions including Tracy Austin, Pam Shriver, John McEnroe, Andrea Jaeger, Jennifer Capriati, Zina Garrison, Jeff Tarango, Andy Roddick, Sam Querry, and Donald Young.

Martinelli credits her strong family support system for the victory by stating, “Thanks to my parents Angelo and Danielle, and my grandparents Edward and Elizabeth Pokorney, who have all supported me since I started this journey at the age of 3, I would not be the player I am today without their financial support and constant belief in me.”

Samantha Martinelli. Photo by Dave Kenas.

Sam Martinelli, coached by former NCAA Doubles Champion Tim Blenkiron, trains at his NO QUIT Tennis Academy in Las Vegas.

Martinelli says, “Coming to the academy has changed me in ways I never thought possible. With help from Tim I have made crucial changes to both my tennis game and mentality that made winning this tournament possible. Without Tim’s instruction and emotional support, I would never have accomplished the things I have.”

“I’m most proud about the improvement Sam has made in her fitness, mindset and attitude,” says Blenkiron. “Over the last two years she has really bought into our philosophy and it’s been an incredible thing to see.”

Martinelli credits her training and preparation at the NO QUIT Academy in getting her in top shape for the tournament. In addition to tennis training, Martinelli credits yoga to her success by saying, “Yoga is good for calming your mind and it helps you think and not be so cluttered…it helps during matches.”

Sam Martinelli. Photo by Dave Kenas.

Martinelli is also part of the Inspiring Children Foundation and their elite TEAM BRYAN program sponsored by Bob and Mike Bryan. Through the foundation she has learned to excel as a student, leader and athlete. Martinelli mentors and coaches countless children each week to give back.

“When a player trusts their mentor and the mentor believes in them, magic can happen,” says Foundation manager Trent Alenik. “We’ve seen that special bond between Tim and Sam and it has helped her go to a whole new level.”

In discussing the mentorship between her and coach Blenkiron, Martinelli states, “He’s really amazing. We train up to four hours a day and he really has been able to help me, both on and off the court.”

Blenkiron has helped develop and coach over seven players to reach top 5 rankings in the USA. With this win, Martinelli may take over the #1 national ranking, a first for her, having reached #4 in the 12’s. This will make for the 12th level 1 national championship and 65th national title won by a Blenkiron NO QUIT Academy student; coming from players such as Asia Muhammad, Kimberly Yee, Patrick Kawka, Kristofer Yee, Jeff Vongman, Julia Baltas and now Sam Martinelli.

This is Martinelli’s first singles national championship victory and second in doubles.

Martinelli hopes to follow in the footsteps of past foundation and academy alumni by using academic and athletic excellence to gain entry into a top University and to play some professional tennis. 78 of the Foundation and Academy alumni have gone onto college at schools such as Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Vanderbilt, Penn, Georgetown and Villanova.

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION

The Inspiring Children Foundation was started over 10 years ago by Ryan Wolfington and Marty Hennessey. With the support of entertainment legend Tony Bennett and Andre Agassi’s father Mike, as well as the #1 doubles team in the world Bob and Mike Bryan, the foundation has been able to raise over two million dollars to help hundreds of at risk youth annually.

The Foundation’s goal is to provide the ultimate environment for a child to become their best in all areas of their life. This includes excellence in academics, athletics, inter-personal skills, leadership, as a mentor and someone willing to be mentored. We hope to arm children with a variety of ways to grow intellectually, spiritually, physically and in their relationship with themselves and their community.

Our program is designed to go deeper into the subjects of life, personal improvement and the pursuit happiness. In the end our long term goal is to help children to become professionals at life, to get scholarships to college, to find self confidence, so they can share this wisdom with their families, friends and communities. We have seen our young leaders become examples of extraordinary living and happiness, which has created systemic change and has completely changed the lives of hundreds of families. To date over 85 children have earned college scholarships to schools like Stanford, Princeton, The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School Of Business, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Villanova, The Citadel, BYU and many others. More importantly many of the alumni have gone on to become kind hearted human beings who are close to conscience, where doing the right thing is a primary focus.

To learn more about the Inspiring Children Foundation, please visit www.InspiringChildren.net

ABOUT THE NO QUIT TENNIS ACADEMY

In 2002 Ryan Wolfington set out to recreate Tim Blenkiron’s extremely successful “TEAM AGASSI” program. In doing so he built one of the largest and most successful tennis academies in the US. In 2007 when Tim Blenkiron came off of coaching on the WTA Tour Blenkiron took over the Academy and took it to new heights. Three years ago Tim Blenkiron’s NO QUIT Tennis Academy was selected by The Tennis Channel as being “Top Five” in the US. Many consider the program to be the best tennis, academic and leadership program in the country. The USTA is now duplicating the “Excellence Team” concept co-founded by Blenkiron in eight cities. Blenkiron as a coach has helped develop over 25 players to become ranked top 50 in the country and 7 to top 5 rankings including three players to become ranked #1. His Academy players have won over 65 national titles and 12 National Championship titles. His Academy has helped over 85 students to gain scholarships to play division 1 college tennis into the best colleges in the US.

For more information on the NO QUIT Tennis Academy please visit www.noquittennisacademy.com.

Topics: ASICS Easter Bowl, Itf, Samantha Martinelli, Sports, Tennis, Usta