2013/05/23

Meet Cari Champion of Tennis Channel on Approach Shots

Meet award winning broadcast journalist, television personality, current anchor and courtside reporter for Tennis Channel – Cari Champion.

Champion has worked across the country covering network news, entertainment and sports stories of national interest for ABC, CBS, NBC, and other cable networks.

A native of Southern California, Champion graduated from UCLA and moved to Florida for her first reporting job.

While working in Florida, she covered the Williams sisters superstar status in tennis. And as a local news reporter Champion quickly created a name for herself which allowed her to cover more nationally televised events – from Florida’s hurricanes to the high profile ‘dog fighting’ case of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, Michael Vick.

GVTN caught up with Champion to pose a few questions about her career and working at Tennis Channel.

GVTN: How did your career path take you to Tennis Channel?

Cari Champion: After graduating college I began working as a local reporter in a small market. As a local reporter, I would cover anything newsworthy from sports to entertainment. I worked in West Virginia, Florida and Atlanta. When I moved back to Los Angeles, my agent told me about a job at the Tennis Channel. It was a natural fit, they wanted a journalist who covered sports.  The timing was right and I was excited about working for the channel.

GVTN: You’ve covered other sports and have worked in news, how does covering tennis compare? What are the unique challenges involved? What are perks?

CC: Tennis is very different from any other sport I have covered. The fans are experts—many have played or still play tennis—and they can quickly identify and outsider.  Which means, as a journalist you must learn the sport and actively participate in the tennis community.  I really enjoy that aspect of covering the sport. Basketball or football does not give you that intimate experience at all times. Traveling is the most challenging and the perk of covering the sport. Challenging because you need to learn or adapt to a new community or country quickly but it’s also a perk, there are very few sports that my colleagues cover that will allow them to see the world.

GVTN: You’re in the studio doing Court Report and you seem to be always on the road, what have been your favorite tournaments, moments and /or events you’ve covered since joining Tennis Channel?

CC: To be honest, I enjoy working in the studio and sideline reporting. However, the French Open has been one of two highlights so far. During that Slam I was able to work with so many tennis legends and broadcast pioneers like Martina Navratilova, Lindsay Davenport and Bill Macatee.

In studio: interviewing Andre Agassi about his autobiography “Open” was not only a highlight at Tennis Channel but for my career. That interview changed my perspective on how I view him and the world of sports

GVTN: You are active on twitter. What role do you think twitter plays in the tennis world?

CC: Twitter makes it so much easier to get and receive information. I live on Twitter when I’m covering events or tournaments. Many times, a player or coach or reporter will update their twitter and Ill have the information right away. And while its necessary to always fact check before you run with ANYTHING, it helps in the fact gathering process.
That’s invaluable when I need to interview someone or if I know I need to research the information that has been published on the site.

GVTN: What would you like people to know about you?

CC: I’m a die hard Los Angeles Lakers fan. I grew up in a Laker family and if I tried to like any other team in the league they would disown me.

I love tennis, I play it well enough but I’m also taking lessons—slow and steady will win the race.

Hot yoga is the way!


From “Court Report” to covering the “Slams” watch Cari Champion on Tennis Channel. Follow her on twitter @CariChampion and on her website www.carichampion.com.

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USA TODAY Golf and Tennis Editor Joe Fleming on Approach Shots


Journalism veteran and current USA TODAY golf and tennis editor Joe Fleming took a few questions on how his periodical approaches the coverage of tennis.

Global Village Tennis News: As both the golf and tennis editor of USA TODAY what are the unique challenges in covering each sport?

Joe Fleming: Frankly, tennis is the greater challenge for me because USA TODAY does not have a dedicated tennis writer on staff. I write when I can, and I have a contract writer, Douglas Robson, who covers the Slams for us. And we use Doug for all sorts of features/news stories as they come up. Tennis also is so global, spread all around the world, and the players hail from so many places. Golf is global, too, of course, but our main focus is on the U.S.-based PGA Tour. The other issue for me is the prominence of the Slam events, which so overwhelms the regular tour events. It’s hard to draw attention to what’s going on in tennis outside the Slams. Golf has that problem, too, but it is less of a factor: The PGA Tour is on network TV every weekend from January through September.

GVTN: Which sport is more “media” friendly and why?

JF: Both have their strengths … and weaknesses. I love tennis’ mix of fabulous personalities … there’s no Petkorazzi in golf. And I personally love the fact that they come from so many places. And I give the nod to tennis’ athletes in terms of their connection with fans, their embrace of new media. Some golfers have bought in, of course, but I find golfers overall a bit more reserved. (Some of this is no doubt a function of age.) I think tennis also has an advantage with its female stars, who occupy the same level as the men. Not so in golf. As in all sports, tennis’ big stars can be hard to get to. Golf does have one huge star (Tiger Woods), and he’s American … USA TODAY does try to focus on Americans (the home team, if you will). Tennis’ huge stars don’t move the needle in the USA the way Woods does. But, as mentioned above, golf has a steady, reliable presence on networks TV in the USA. Tennis does not.

GVTN: Does USA TODAY have any sort of “philosophy” in its coverage of tennis?

JF: First, for many reasons, we place our emphasis, effort — and money — on coverage of the Grand Slams. The vast majority of our yearly budget goes into the four majors, and particularly Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Second, we try to concentrate on American players. Again, for USA TODAY (we call ourselves The Nation’s Newspaper, after all) they are the home team. That means focusing on Americans at the Slams … and, in what has become an annual story, really, the state of the game in the USA. Where are the next stars? Are tennis’ governing bodies in the USA doing what’s necessary to find those stars and promote the game. Third, we look for trends, breaking news and good reads. As for the week-to-week regular-tour events, those do get adequate coverage online. In the print edition, they get short shrift … space restraints, mostly. Although we do find room for bigger play, say, in March, for the back-to-back combined events in Indian Wells and Key Biscayne and in the summer for the US Open series.

GVTN: How do you see the future coverage of tennis?

JF: The future already is here. Blogs — bloggers are covering events regularly, perhaps more than traditional media are now. Twitter — I can follow matches pretty closely by monitoring the various Tennis Twitterati (my word). You might be amazed at how loyal — and knowledgeable and insightful — some of these people really are … about their favorite players and the game itself. I expect more of this. I think there is more room for the kinds of stories USA TODAY tries to do now, not always tied to results but focusing on the personalities and the trends in the game. I also worry that some of the mainstream media might end up doing less and less. That might not be a concern for everyone, but as someone who works in the mainstream media it worries me.

GVTN: If you could change anything about covering the world of tennis, what would it be?

JF: More regular, consistent and understandable TV coverage. A challenge, of course, because the tours are playing all over the world. But it is a problem.

GVTN: Are you a tennis fan yourself and do you play?

JF: I am a tennis fan and have been as long as I can remember. My first real memory was being shocked to hear that Jimmy Connors had lost to Arthur Ashe in the 1975 Wimbledon final. I watch when I can, and I follow each week. As for playing, I love to play but don’t get out as often as I would like. My game is a work in progress; I spray it from the baseline and cower at the net … probably could be voted worst player in all of tennis media. Alas. … Frankly, if USA TODAY needed a representative to play in a media tournament, I would tap Doug Robson, who played tennis at Yale.

Joe Fleming has been a journalist for 22 years. He’s worked for the Arkansas Gazette, the Desert Sun and USA TODAY. Since 1997 Fleming has been with USA TODAY and became the golf and tennis editor in 2006.

In his spare time he enjoys playing golf, traveling, reading, eating and whiling away the hours in a good bar.


Find Joe Fleming on twitter: http://twitter.com/USATgolftennis

Read the USA TODAY tennis page: www.tennis.usatoday.com

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Evan Zeder of Athletic DNA on Approach Shots

Approach Shots with Evan Zeder – Director of Sales, Athletic DNA



Athletic DNA is the “new kid” on the tennis apparel block. It’s currently worn by tennis professionals Robert Kendrick, Rajeev Ram, Peter Luczak and Ryler DeHeart in addition to coaches and juniors. Athletic DNA’s Director of Sales Evan Zeder talked to GVTN about the company’s present and its future:

GVTN: How did “Athletic DNA” get its start?

Evan Zeder: Athletic DNA began in Seattle with an academy in Seattle run by Michael Calkins and Dan Willman, who had been having success with their junior program of which 3 players reached number one in the 12 and underage division. When the idea of how to build upon this success came about, there were thoughts of taking the traditional routes and building more academies and spreading out the talent, but instead, we wanted to capture what was going on with these players, and more specifically, why they were having success. When we began to see how not only each players tennis improved, but also their attitude, work ethic, and overall discipline, we thought the best way to capture that would be to brand what was happening with the athletes. So when names began to be thrown around, the team looked at what embodied an athlete, and what makes them who they become, and when you embody everything I previously mentioned, the name Athletic DNA came to Dan and fit perfectly for what we wanted to build.

GVTN:With so many “players” in the tennis apparel market, what makes Athletic DNA clothing unique?

EZ: There are a couple of things which make our apparel unique. From a product standpoint, we have been product testing our clothing with our players on tour and our juniors for well over a year before we even began selling it. After working with our athletes and hearing what they wanted from their clothing, the number one response was they wanted lighter weight, as well as making the cuts more specific to the movements of the game. We made sure when we introduced our product that it was some of the lightest material out there, and could also perform at the highest levels. Players like Robert Kendrick were playing in Grand Slams testing out our product before we sold an item, because we wanted to make sure it could hold up in the toughest conditions.

Another thing that separates us is our dedication to the sport as well as the focus on grassroots. Everyone involved in this company has a tennis background, and we feel as though the sport has been lacking in the”edge” it needs. Tennis is one of the most difficult sports out there,and has some of the best athletes in the world, and we just feel it isn’t being marketed that way. We want to showcase our athletes and make sure these players get the respect they deserve. Part of this is our focus on grassroots and junior development. We have a large junior program which rewards discounts to players who compete at the highest national level, and the harder they work and higher their ranking gets,the bigger discount they can receive.

GVTN: Does the company plan on having apparel for women in the future?

EZ: Yes, we do, and hopefully sooner rather than later.  As I mentioned we have taken our time in the past with our product making sure they are of the highest quality and can perform in the toughest environments, and of course, look good in the process. We are currently in the process of testing product and putting together a women’s line, unfortunately it just takes time. The goal is to have the first pieces of the women’s line by Summer of 2011.

GVTN: Your company invests in the development of the sport through sponsorships programs, how does that work?

EZ: The ADNA Select program is designed to help junior players reach their goals and motivate them to become the best athlete they can. We have an online form where players can go in and fill out their information on who they are and some of their rankings. After I see this form, I am able to look up the players USTA ranking as well as some of their tournament results. Depending on what it is, they player can qualify for a discount on our clothing, and through this discount, we bring on players for one year contracts, and ship them clothing four times a year. The other thing we do is travel to a lot of junior tournaments, supporting our players and also giving bonus items at different times. For instance, this year we gave a travel bag to everyone of our players who made Easter Bowl, and we also had a personalized shirt with each players name on it for every ADNA Select member. The way we go from tournament to tournament is changing soon. In the upcoming month, I will be traveling around the country in an Athletic DNA RV, and plan on going to a lot of junior tournaments as well as a lot of places where our athletes train.

GVTN: Where do you plan on taking the RV?


EZ: My plan is to start the trip in the RV in November from Seattle, head down the West Coast all the way to Texas, then head over to Florida with it towards December. After this we will head back to Arizona for a couple of tournaments in January. This is the basic fall schedule, and we plan on putting it on our website soon. The other thing we want to do is stop during the weeks at a lot of clubs and training facilities for our juniors and fans of Athletic DNA. So if any people would like to see the Athletic DNA RV pull into their club and do a promotional event, feel free to email info@athleticdna.com and we can try to set it up!


GVTN: What are the company’s short term and long term goals?

EZ: In the immediate short term we want to continue to develop and increase our product line for mens, and then develop our women’s line going into 2011 and 2012. We also want to continue to grow our ADNA Select program, as well as introduce new programs for people who we feel represent Athletic DNA, and are not just junior players. We want to put an edge to the sport of tennis, and showcase the athleticism of its competitors.

Long term is something we are looking into, but not focused on right now. I think starting up in this industry if you look too far down the line you can get lost in what your brand represents and who you truly want to be. Hopefully our grassroots efforts can help develop and motivate an athlete to be one of the next great American tennis players, and after that, who knows…

For more information Athletic DNA’s products visit www.AthleticDNA.com. Follow Athletic DNA on Twitter: twitter.com/Athletic_DNA.



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