Four Bermudian tennis coaches shared ideas with their regional counterparts when they attended an International Tennis Federation conference in Trinidad.

Steve Bean, Cayla Cross, Brent Smith and Evan Heyliger were sent to the event as part of the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association’s continuing education initiatives.

While in Trinidad, Cayla Cross sat for her ITF Level 1 coach examination. Heyliger, who spoke at the conference at the invitation of the world governing body, has since headed to Guatemala to undertake the process of acquiring an ITF Level 2 coaching badge.

Smith was sent to the conference in his capacity as the Bermuda Special Olympics coach.

At the end of the conference, Bean, one of the island’s most senior coaches with an ITF Level 2 qualification, also attended an additional ITF Tutor-Junior Tennis Initiative workshop.

“The conference was exciting from day one right through,’’ Bean said. “The tutorials were well-presented with lots of practical information that I can readily implement in Bermuda.

“We had lots of group work, time on court, videos, interesting speakers and again, this made the conference very worthwhile to me.

“I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to attend. The last day of the conference, JTI workshop was especially appreciated because of the format. The group presentations allowed me to pull everything together and organise my thoughts.

“I plan to use the information personally in my coaching and also I feel knowledgeable enough to present to local coaches in Bermuda.”

For Cross, the only female among the Bermuda contingent, the conference was an eye-opener.

“I was happy to be part of history as the highest percentage of women present at the conference,’’ she said.

“They put heavy emphasis on this conference having the most number of women they’ve ever had in our region.

“Our children deserve quality coaching techniques and steady development. I realised that there are major levels to this elevation, which requires a certain hunger, grit and passion. I was instantly challenged to step my game up and shake my training regime up a notch.

“Leading up to the trip, I found myself preoccupied with daily lessons while busy preparing my mind for passing the ITF Level 1.

“This opportunity was presented to me by Richard Mallory, the BLTA national tennis director, and John Goede, the ITF development Officer, who ensured that this was the perfect time to achieve two things at the same time.

“I was completely blown away at the conference. Each facilitator was well prepared and organised during their presentations. The topics discussed were timely and precisely targeted to my present coaching career.

“I left feeling highly motivated and excited to share my new knowledge with my students and other local coaches.

“I feel like I had a benchmark to self-evaluate my own performance as a coach. I heard other coaches' experiences and picked what I can add to my own style.

“If I had to choose which topic was most interesting for me it was the children’s under-6 presented by Isabella Baston from Canada, specifically because the majority of my clientele are in this category. The relevancy was timely and the hands-on demonstration was greatly appreciated.”