Julius on the rise

performance training under the USA’s Professional Tennis Registry.
In fact, there are only less than 50 out of 14 000 members in the world of tennis with all the three certifications in adult development, junior development and high performance training, and Zimbabwean Mashonganyika is among the elite few.
Professional Tennis Registry provides quality education, global certification, and unsurpassed service to tennis teaching professionals and coaches.
With more than 14 000 members in 117 countries, PTR is an inclusive and diverse organisation whose members strive to “Make a World of Difference” in growing the sport of tennis.
Speaking from his base in the United States yesterday, Mashonganyika said he was now looking at opening one of the best tennis academies in Africa and promote the game of tennis in the continent.
“In Africa and Zimbabwe, I am the only one who has worked hard to achieve this high tennis qualification,” Mashonganyika said.
Before his latest achievement, Mashonganyika, in April this year, became one of the most qualified Zimbabwean tennis coaches when he got a Professional Rating after writing a United States Professional Tennis Association examination.
Mashonganyika, who is currently based at Waukegan in Illinois, United States, wrote the USPTA examination on April 15 and passed it with flying colours.
The examination covered the following topics: teaching skills, playing skills, business and programming, history of tennis, equipment and restringing, Dynamic (NTRP) National Tennis Rating Programme, court maintenance, little tennis, USPTA history, professional conduct and rules. And Mashonganyika, a product of Albert Nhamoyebonde’s Mufakose Tennis Coaching Agency here in Harare, emerged from the examination with a Professional Rating, making him one of the most qualified coaches from this country and in Africa.
Mashonganyika started playing tennis at the age of 10 at Mufakose Tennis Coaching Agency in Mufakose under the guidance of the agency’s director, Nhamoyebonde.
He also received further tennis lessons through the Coca Cola Junior Development programme at Tendayi Primary School in Mufakose with the help of Lazarus Manjoro, Richmore Murape, Shepherd Manyumbu, the late Matthew Kapuya, Vigil Magorimbo and Claudio Murape.
Mashonganyika later became an assistant coach at Mufakose Tennis Coaching Agency and was responsible of their junior development programme for a very long period of time.
During his playing days at Mufakose High 2, Mashonganyika was the top seed and the team captain and he represented the school during the inter-schools competitions and helped them to win a number of trophies and shields.
In 1995 to 1997, Mashonganyika went to work for the Mashonaland Tennis Board under Tennis Zimbabwe as a development coach under its chairman Cosmas Chandisarewa.
He also played in the First League for Mufakose Tennis Club which was the first all blacks team to play in the league from 1992 to 1996.
Mashonganyika later joined the White Rhinos Tennis Club under its chairman the late Kid Maregedze and played number one in the singles and number one in the doubles from 1997 to 2004 in the Harare Tennis League and helped the army club to be promoted to play in the Third League.
He was then employed by White Rhinos Tennis Club under the Army School of Sports as the head of tennis development from 1998 to 2008. Apart from playing tennis for White Rhinos, Mashonganyika was the secretary-general of the Tennis Coaches Association of Zimbabwe (TCAZ) from 2003 to 2008.
He then went to work at Champs Tennis Academy as a professional coach in Cape Town, South Africa, from 2009 to 2010.
That was before Mashonganyika moved to upgrade his coaching skills from top tennis coaches in the United States in March 2010.
He is currently working as a professional tennis coach in the Midwest Tennis Programmes in Illinois, United States, and is a holder of several tennis coaching courses which includes the PTR Adult and Junior Development Professional, PTR Performance Instructor, ITF Coaching Course, USTA Coaching Courses, and the USPTA Professional, which he has just passed.
The following members have achieved certification in all three PTR Education and Certification Pathways (Adult Development, Junior Development, Performance)
Claudio Armandi, Sundar Arumugam, Josh Bates, Samuel Brobbey, Chris Canady, Ludovit Cap, Robert Carlbo, Kendall Chitambar, Alessandro Ciotti, Troy Crichlow, Alexander DeCecco, Doug Eng, Desmond Evans, Maria Francesa, Vasiliy Guryanov, Michael Haddad, Aaron Hutt, Alejandro Justiniani, Chris Marra, Julius Mashonganyika (Zimbabwe), Robert Migliorini, David Norvell, Brian Parkkonen, Tito Perez Rios, Barry Poole, Tyler Purskey, Richard Reyes, Pepe Rigamonti, Ryan Sawyer, Herbert Schnaubelt, Simone Spigner, Oliver Stephens, Matthew Stevenson, Juan Stiegwardt, Clay Taylor, Ian Thomson, Patrick Tibbs, Diego Valdenegro, Francisco Vazquez Altamirano, Alejandro Villar Elias, Stephen Walker, Seth Walrath, Donald Widener.