MONTREAL -- Kelly Murumets calls herself a mediocre tennis player who loves the game. http://www.cheapjerseysnflchina.us/Nike-Nfl-Jerseys-Rd-21_San-Francisco-49ers-Jersey-Hy-81/ . Now she will get to run what may be Canadas hottest sport. The Toronto resident was named president and chief executive officer of the sports national governing body Tennis Canada on Friday. She hopes to use the growing popularity of tennis to get more people playing at the local courts and to develop more Milos Raonics and Eugenie Bouchards. "We have experienced unbelievable success in the last number of months and years," she said. "If we can continue to build on that success, I think we can inculcate a culture of tennis in this country. "Its really getting the children and youth of this country playing on courts in their neighbourhoods, just picking up rackets and playing. Its really changing the culture of Canada." A lot of the presidents job is finding sponsors and raising money to finance programs across the country that may produce the next tennis stars, as well as running the Rogers Cup and other tournaments. She couldnt have walked into a better climate for that. Canadian tennis is on a high, with Raonics rise to a career-high 10th in world rankings (the Thornhill, Ont., resident is currently 11th) last summer, and with Vernon, B.C. native Vasek Pospisil not far behind at 30th. They helped Canadas Davis Cup team reach the world group semifinals in 2013, their best performance of the modern era. On the womens side, 19-year-old Bouchard Montreal had fans on the edge of their seats as she battled into the semifinals of the first grand slam event of the season in Australia this week. TSN reported more than four million watched the 2012 Wimbledon junior girls champions semifinal loss to Chinas Li Na. That sparked a run of ticket sales to see Bouchard and the Canadian womens team face Serbia in a Federation Cup tie Feb. 8-9 at the 4,000-seat Claude Robillard Centre in Montreal. "There is no more exciting time for tennis in Canada than right now, and wow, I get to be part of the team that will take Canada to the next level -- to the moon," she said. Murumets was introduced to the media by Tennis Canada chairman John LeBoutillier at Uniprix Stadium, which is part of the national training centre that helped produce Raonic, Bouchard and others. The centre opened in 2007 under former president and CEO Michael Downey, who announced in September he was stepping down to become chief executive of the prestigious British Lawn Tennis Association. He took over that job officially on Jan. 6. A search committee found Murumets, who was president of ParticipAction, an independent non-profit organization that supports healthy and active living for Canadians. Murumets looks to have plenty of enthusiasm. She has no specific projects in mind, but will spend her first weeks learning about the organization and seeing what can be done. Her goals are "getting more tennis rackets in more hands more often, continuing to deliver world class tournaments and developing the talent that makes us all so proud to be Canadians. Beyond that, the (Tennis Canada) team will help me understand where we need to focus." Before he left, Downey had hoped to start a national membership program for tennis players, and to land a tournament for Vancouver to go with the Rogers Cups in Montreal and Toronto. "We were looking for a person that would bring leadership and who would develop quickly a passion for tennis, whether he or she was a tennis player or not," said LeBoutillier. "And someone who wasnt coming for a year or two and then moving on to something else. "The hiring process went very smoothly and the committee made a unanimous recommendation to the board about a week ago." Murumets will officially begin her new position on March 3. In the meantime, she plans to spend a week playing and taking tennis lessons in Arizona. She comes armed with a load of university degrees -- a BA from Bishops, a masters in social work from Wilfrid Laurier and an MBA from Western. She recently resigned from the board of governors at Bishops. She was also president of a telecommunications company before joining ParticipAction. "I wanted to change the world," she said of her social work studies, adding that she returned from private business to not-for-profit organizations because "I believe we can change the world. "We have a chance to inspire Canadians to be more physically active -- to pick up a racket and play." Cheap Chargers Jerseys . Atletico midfielder Raul Garcia scored with an impressive header in the 43rd minute, and its defence did the rest as it gave Valencia no chance to rally at its Mestalla Stadium. Diego Simeones side moved six points clear of Real Madrid, which has a game in hand, while Barcelona remained within four points after coming from two goals down to beat Villarreal in its first game since the death of Vilanova. Cheap San Francisco 49ers Jerseys . Washington obtained right-hander Doug Fister from Detroit for infielder Steve Lombardozzi and left-handers Robbie Ray and Ian Krol on Monday.DENVER -- With no basketball to coach, George Karl is tending to his other passion in life: fighting cancer, a disease hes beaten twice. The Denver Nuggets coach lent his voice Tuesday to the American Cancer Society and Quest Diagnostics, which are teaming up on a nationwide cancer prevention study. It aims to follow 300,000 people for 20 to 30 years to see how genetics, lifestyle and the environment affect cancer risk. "There are a lot of people who want to get into this fight who dont have cancer, and this is one way," Karl said. Karl is 21 months removed from a brutal battle with neck cancer, which came a few years after he beat prostate cancer. His son, Coby, is a survivor of lymph node cancer. Karl said hes spending his spare time during the NBA labour impasse speaking at cancer charities and encouraging people to join the fight against the disease. Karl missed the end of the 2009-10 season because of his illness, then returned last year and guided the Nuggets through the Carmelo Anthony minefield while also recording his 1,000th win, joining Larry Brown, Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan and Phil Jackson as members of the NBAs most exclusive coaching club. Hes looking much stronger and leaner than he was last season, and his voice is much stronger, which makes it easier for him to talk about preventing cancer. "Im very passionate aboout it.Cheap 49ers Jerseys. . I enjoy talking about cancer," Karl said. "I enjoy talking basketball more, Id like to be able to talk basketball but I cant right now. But you know, my family, everybody has been touched somewhere along the way." The NBA locked out its players and cancelled the first month of the season. The sides are meeting again this week with the remainder of the season hanging in the balance. Several Nuggets decided to play overseas during this season. Karl finds himself stumped without a team to teach. "I dont know if the words difficult. To me its just strange. I dont know what to do," he said. "I go to work almost every day when Im in Denver and then about 11 oclock, Im going, What the hell am I doing here? Were not allowed to do anything. Were ready. Were ready for the season. Weve just got to wait and see where it goes." Without hoops, Karl is continuing his fight against cancer even though hes been cured. "Im in a stage of survivorship, so basically my treatment is to try to be healthy," he said. "So much of what Im trying to do is nutrition-oriented, environment-oriented. Im a big believer that genetics is the field where I think discoveries are going to be made in the very near future, stem cells. I think we are on the verge of successfully making major hits on the battle against cancer." ' ' '
