John McEnroe Tennis Academy Announces Partnerships with SportsLab NYC and Hourglass Performance Institute

New York, NY, April 8, 2015 (Newswire.com) - The John McEnroe Tennis Academy announced today that it has expanded its partnerships with two elite organizations, SportsLab NYC and Hourglass Performance Institute, with the goal of maximizing athletic performance, mental performance and preparation, and the well-being of JMTA students. Both companies provide on-site services at JMTA at Randall’s Island, as well as off-site services, and are available to the over 800 young athletes who attend the Academy at its Manhattan, Long Island and Westchester locations.  

“Our goal from the start of JMTA has been to develop complete players - well-rounded young people who can reach their potential as tennis players and beyond tennis. We think that these two partners will help our students to become physically and mentally stronger and more mature,” JMTA Founder John McEnroe said.  “We want our JMTA students to be smarter, stronger, fitter and faster, and, maybe most important, able to deal with competition and adversity in a tough, well-adjusted manner, on and off the court.”

Our goal from the start of JMTA has been to develop complete players - well-rounded young people who can reach their potential as tennis players and beyond tennis. We think that these two partners will help our students to become physically and mentally stronger and more mature.

John McEntroe, JMTA Founder

JMTA Director, Lawrence Kleger, explains, “As the sport of tennis continues to evolve, athleticism and athletic performance, recovery and injury prevention are all critical to the successful player. So too are the psychological elements of the game of tennis, including mental toughness, the capacity to deal with adversity, and the psychology of winning, vital to a player’s success. SportsLab NYC and Hourglass Performance Institute are providing word-class support to our JMTA players in these essential areas of development.”

Led by Andrew Small, SportsLab NYC is committed to education, innovation and excellence, offering a multidisciplinary and seamlessly linked approach to therapy, rehabilitation and performance. SportsLab is working closely with JMTA staff on all aspects of the physical development, nutrition and well-being of JMTA athletes, both when they are training at Academy locations, and when they are competing off-site and in their day to day lives.

“The John McEnroe Tennis Academy goes well beyond the traditional approach to the development of young tennis players.  We are excited to be able to work holistically with JMTA players, with the goal of developing well-rounded athletes who will become tennis ambassadors for a lifetime.” Small said.

Led by Domagoj Lausic, Ph.D., the tennis division of the Hourglass Performance Institute (HPI) provides mental performance services which teach athletes to master their thoughts and emotions, so as to execute their sport skills optimally under any and all circumstances. HPI offers traditional sport psychology services, including goal setting, imagery, concentration, relaxation, positive self-talk, communication, emotion regulation, thought control and stress management.  In addition, HPI uses state-of-the-art technology to collect objective and reliable mental performance data, and analyzes such data in the context of specific measures of performance, to maximize its capacity to assess and train athletes.

“We are very pleased to partner with JMTA to provide essential services built on HPI’s evidence-based techniques and innovative philosophy.  The goal is to enhance the development and performance of young players at all levels,” Lausic explained. “Our philosophy is exactly in step with John and his team - to make sure that we are supporting every aspect of athlete health and well-being.  In many cases, especially for the young players, the mental game is just as important as their physical development or their tennis skills.”

About The John McEnroe Tennis Academy
In September 2010, tennis legend John McEnroe launched the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in his hometown of New York City at the SPORTIME Randall's Island Tennis Center in Manhattan. SPORTIME Randall's Island is the flagship location for the Academy and for SPORTIME's 13 clubs. John's passion and belief is that great players can be developed in urban settings, while still having the opportunity to live at home, pursue their educational goals, and participate in a variety of sports and extracurricular activities. Through community outreach, the Academy works to recruit the most talented and the most highly motivated young athletes in the New York City Metropolitan area. In September 2012, JMTA expanded its geographic reach to SPORTIME locations in Westchester and on Long Island: SPORTIME Lake Isle, a beautiful, 8-court, state-of-the art year-round facility in Eastchester, New York in lower Westchester; and SPORTIME Syosset in central Long Island, an 11-court indoor facility that is SPORTIME's high performance training center on Long Island. Under the guidance of JMTA Managing Director, Bennett Schlansky, and JMTA Director, Lawrence Kleger, and inspired by the vision and daily presence of Johnny Mac, JMTA now offers its training programs and world-class staff of teaching professionals at three locations in the New York Metropolitan area. JMTA professionals work as a team to deliver a training program that will assure the best possible outcome for serious junior players; a program that will enable JMTA players to make the most of their abilities, while supporting them in their academic pursuits and in living balanced, healthy lives.